Sir Brian Souter has launched a new city-to-city express coach service in New Zealand, called ManaBus.com.
Fares for the new service, which plans to operate five new express routes between eight North Island destinations, will start from one New Zealand dollar plus a $1 booking fee. That’s similar to the lowest fees charged by major competitors, the InterCity Group and Naked Bus.
The Auckland-based company is owned by Souter Holdings, which also runs Fullers Ferries, Howick & Eastern buses and the Wellington-based bus service, Mana Coach Services.
Sir Brian said the company’s experience from many successful years of operation in the UK, North America, Poland and Finland has demonstrated there is a demand for fast, modern and innovative city-to-city express coach travel.
“We firmly believe that the introduction of new products and services, offering the consumer more choice at affordable prices, will grow the total transport market and encourage modal shift from the private car,” he said.
Souter Holdings is part of the global transport company Highland Global Transport and the Souter Investments portfolio of companies.
The launch of ManaBus.com has created 70 new jobs across the North Island while the fleet of new coaches were purpose-built by Tauranga-based Kiwi Bus Builders. The company reportedly wouldn’t say how much it had invested to start up the venture, other than ‘a considerable amount.’
