From a single bus in Temuka nearly 90 years ago we now have a fleet of over 1600 vehicles in depots around the country.

From small beginnings

Over its long history Ritchies Transport has grown into one of New Zealand’s largest and most successful bus companies.

We started from humble beginnings in 1935 in the small New Zealand town of Temuka and are now a nationwide business with teams and depots from Kaitaia in the north, to Gore in the deep heartland of the South. From that first bus all those years ago Ritchies have built up a diverse fleet of over 1600 vehicles and around 2,000 dedicated employees with a dedicated focus on providing the best customer experience.

Learn about our commitment to customers in our Customer Charter.

Our Customer Charter

Branches across New Zealand

Ritchies is structured into a nationwide network of branches provided with support by senior management and centralised systems in both Christchurch and Auckland. As corporate as this may sound, the company still manages to function as an extended group, management understands that their greatest asset is working as a large cohesive team. We have depots based in: Kaitaia, Whangarei, Dargaville, Albany, Birkenhead, West Auckland, Rotorua, Blenheim, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Gore and Queenstown. These depots are able to work together and use their resources across the whole of New Zealand. This ensures our customers get a consistent level of service, modern clean vehicles, local experienced drivers - the key factors that have helped us build the business.

Public Transport LEADERS

Buses, particularly in the instance of public transport, are seen as a local asset of all communities. Ritchies take a ‘hands on’ personal approach to business that fits in well with what we consider is our responsibility to maintaining the wellbeing of these communities. Our branch employees are the public face of our business, staff are encouraged to be proactive in their local communities. Reinforcing this Ritchies help, where possible, with local sponsorship of schools and sports. The nature of our business means that we are often a major local employer in the regions, to run a bus company you need Managers, Cleaners, Mechanics and Drivers. In the case of Drivers, we offer an education program to train suitable locals as drivers - we have a dedicated training facility in Auckland. Our branches work hand in hand with WINZ and the Department of Corrections to create a work pathway for the local unemployed. School bus transport is another core part of our community business. We transport many 1000’s of children, all over New Zealand, to school every day. In both urban and rural areas. These runs are part of the social fabric of local communities, enhancing this we often use older semi-retired locals to drive these buses. To make life easier for passengers and drivers we have developed a vehicle especially for these runs. These buses, based on a truck chassis, are easy to drive and maintain and give our older drivers new opportunities to continue to be active within their communities.

Innovation Leaders

Ritchies innovation doesn’t end with truck buses, throughout the country over the years we have continued to continually work towards better solutions. Ritchies were the first to introduce double decker buses to public transport routes in New Zealand, in 2016 importing 25 new double decker buses for use in Auckland. Overnight these buses increased the local public transport capacity by over 25%. We often find ourselves at the leading edge as our business continues to become more hi tech at every level. The buses all run Eroad tracking and monitoring systems, allowing us to see and record bus position, performance and driver habits and response. We have partnered with the Eroad developers to ensure we have absolutely the best product for our purposes. Our mechanics include diagnostic computers in their toolboxes, we run cloud based systems systems for vehicle and staff management. Ritchies executive team is constantly assessing industry developments and ideas worldwide, the ongoing goal being better efficiency and the increasing service expectations of our clients. The high standard of our new coaches reflects this, with better environmental and economic performance, increased safety by embracing the current European standards. New fundamentals for today’s passengers like USB charging points, air conditioning, bike racks, wheel chair access and WIFI are becoming more and more commonplace in our fleets.

Tourism Stalwarts

Ritchies are not just a public transport provider, a significant part of our business is Charter and Touring coach work. Tourism remains the largest industry in New Zealand and Ritchies have always been a part of it. Today's coaches are a far cry from our first vehicles, immaculately presented they are clean and fuel efficient. They come with all manner of options from onboard toilets and video screens, WIFI and USB charge points, Our large fleet has vehicles that can take a single person (Special Needs) to luxury vans and coaches, we always have the right vehicles available for the job.

Kaitiakitanga
A sense of guardianship and protection for our land

Our tour drivers love ‘showing off’ New Zealand and this goes hand in hand with having a deep appreciation of what we have here in terms of the environment and the culture.

Kaitiaki is a New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land. A kaitiaki is a guardian, and the process and practices of protecting and looking after the environment are referred to as kaitiakitanga. A kaitiaki is a guardian. This can be a person or group that cares for an area such as a lake or forest. Kaitiakitanga means guardianship and protection, a deep kinship between humans and the natural world.

It is a way of managing the environment, based on the Māori world view. It does not focus on ownership, but on authority and responsibility. Kaitiakitanga is concerned with both sustainability of the environment and the utilisation of its benefits.

Visitors are able to get a sense of kaitiakitanga through our tour drivers who see themselves as kaitiaki. Every day, all over New Zealand, our drivers give insights into the cultural and the natural history of this incredible land. Their passion for their job and a sense of national of pride is part of our inheritance. Our connection to the land and our unique culture, is an integral part of our makeup, as individuals and as a company. And is as important to the Ritchies culture as the professionalism we expect from our drivers.

All over New Zealand our staff are proud to take the opportunity to showcase and educate visitors on Aotearoa’s unique environment and culture. We see taking on a role of informal kaitiaki is as important as the driving aspect of our business. Helping visitors, both local and international, appreciate and consequently want to protect and become kaitiaki for this land and the culture is incredibly important for the ongoing preservation our natural and cultural treasures.

Manaakitanga – Projecting a true sense of New Zealand hospitality with a professional service ethic

At Ritchies we constantly get feedback about how our tour drivers have made huge difference to a visitor's experience. Through their professionalism, respectful friendliness and knowledge of the country and the culture. It is this spirit of manaakitanga that makes a New Zealand holiday unique.

In Maoridom, Manaakitanga means the process of showing respect, generosity and care for the people who use services, their whānau and communities. It also means to show respect and care for their information and stories. Mana is the essential life force within a person, place or object. It is central to Maori society and inspires the way that visitors are made to feel welcome. At its heart, the term refers to the need for reciprocal hospitality and respect between different people, groups, communities and cultures. Manaakitanga can be broken down into three parts: mana-ā-ki which loosely translates as ‘the power of the word’ and reminds hosts to be expressive and fluent in welcoming visitors. Another explanation has the words mana (prestige) and ki te tangata (to the people) – pointing out the importance of enhancing the mana which covers the integrity, prestige and power of guests.

We embrace these traditional values that have become part of the ‘kiwi’ lifestyle and encourage our drivers to do the same. We see, time and time again, that along with the landscape, our cultural heritage is an important part of the ‘New Zealand experience’ visitors have come here for. At Ritchies we know that by consciously making these concepts part of our operations we will continue to give visitors their dreamed of New Zealand experience.

THE BEST
SYSTEMS

A private company as large and widespread as Ritchies needs great systems. Our years of experience have seen us develop innovative systems for driver training, driver monitoring, vehicle monitoring and maintenance, safety and customer service. Align these systems with a lot of experience, ongoing reinvestment in innovation and you will gain a better understanding of the Ritchies culture.

THE BEST
STAFF

Ritchies have a staff of over 1800 across length of New Zealand. We enthusiasm and the 'can do' attitude. Our apprenticeship and training schemes continually bring new life to the business. We embrace a flat management structure ensuring good staff communication on all levels, this allows knowledge and innovation to be shared. We understand our staff are people and part of our family. Read more about Careers

THE BEST
VEHICLES

Ritchies have a fleet of over 1200 vehicles. New vehicles are constantly added to the fleet. Each new vehicle is seen as a chance to raise the standard of the company and we have high standards, Whether it is a 5 star coach or a small vehicle for a special needs child, we understand that the quality of our vehicles will make a direct impact on customer satisfaction, operating efficiency and costs. Read more about our Fleet.