End of the line for Bridge Street bus hub

That same year, Nelson Mayor Mr W.J. Moffatt issued a notice of motion to allow the Nelson-Tahuna-Richmond route to operate from the north side of Bridge Street. In 1935, an official right to occupy the site was granted, allowing three buses to operate from Bridge Street for an annual fee of seven pounds and ten shillings.

Buses had been operating from Bridge Street for just eight years when a special report was presented to Council proposing a purpose-built bus terminal at Millers Acre. The plans, presented as offering strong value to the community, included restrooms, a waiting room and a small shop for refreshments.

As we now know, it would be another eight decades before the move was made.

“Even back in the 1940s it made sense for the Nelson bus hub to operate from Millers Acre,” says Nelson Mayor Nick Smith. “I know we sometimes joke about how long it takes councils to do things, but 85 years must be some kind of record.”

Over the decades that followed, plans for the Bridge Street site abounded. Between 1937 and 1991, requests were made to construct garages, passenger platforms and shelters, office buildings and extensions, restrooms, waiting rooms, a milk bar and even a day nursery.

The next major change came in 1998, when Nelson City Council launched a trial of The Bus public transport service. Five routes, operated by three companies, were introduced.

Nelson City Taxi Society managed the Toi Toi/Hospital and Brook/Maitai routes; Nelson Lakes Transport operated the Atawhai route; and Suburban Buses ran services from Nelson to Stoke via Tāhunanui and Bishopdale - all operating from Bridge Street.

The Bus later evolved into NBus and continued operating from Bridge Street for another 27 years. The final upgrades to the site occurred in 2023, in preparation for the introduction of the new eBus service.

Minor works were completed to accommodate the electric bus fleet, including the deconstruction of a small on-site building and a redesign of the interchange layout to support more than 200 bus movements each day.

In 2022 elected members approved Millers Acre as the new location of the Nelson Bus Hub.

“It’s a significant change, given the long history of the Bridge Street site,” says Mayor Nick.

“Council sought proposals for the development of this site to support our revitalisation plans for the inner-city last year and we are excited by the response. It will be used as a construction yard in the interim for the Bridge to Better project over the next year to help us minimise the disruption to Bridge Street businesses. We hope to be able to announce the site’s long-term future with a private developer later this year.”

At 7.20pm on Thursday, 18 December 2025, the final bus departed the Bridge Street interchange. With that departure, the site officially closed, bringing a 93-year chapter in Nelson’s public transport history to an end.