Kinetic NZ (Kinetic Urban / Go Bus / Johnstons)

The following list is of known buses both current and those previously operated by Kinetic NZ (Kinetic Urban / Go Bus / Johnstons).

Kinetic NZ is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating urban bus services in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch under the Kinetic brand, and urban, charter and Ministry of Education bus services in regional areas under the Go Bus brand.

History

Kinetic Urban (formerly NZ Bus, Stagecoach New Zealand)
Further information: NZ Bus Operator Information

In 1992, Stagecoach purchased Wellington City Transport, the largest bus operator in Wellington, from Wellington City Council. WCT had recently purchased the Auckland, Hutt Valley and north Wellington suburban bus operations of New Zealand Railways Road Services, then branded CityLine.

Stagecoach expanded its operations to Auckland in 1998 by purchasing Transportation Auckland Corporation (trading as The Yellow Bus Company) from the Auckland Regional Council.

In November 2005, the business was sold to Infratil. As part of the deal, Infratil were able to use the Stagecoach name and livery for five years from the sale.

In January 2008, the company bought Whangarei school and charter business, Adams Travelines (later rebranded as NorthBus), which then won the tender to provide the urban bus service for Whangarei as Citylink Whangarei, using super low floor buses. In May 2013 NorthBus was sold to Ritchies Transport Holdings.

In April 2016, NZ Bus announced that it would repower several buses with Wrightspeed gas-turbine hybrid powertrains.

In February 2017 NZ Bus announced it would begin the trial of a BYD K9 electric bus in Auckland.

In 2018, NZ Bus reduced the size of its Wellington operations, from 73% to 28% of the city's bus routes following a retender with many passed to Tranzit Group.

In December 2018, Infratil sold NZ Bus to Australian equity buyers Next Capital for A$218–240 million, including a vendor loan of A$20–30 million. The sale was finalised in June 2019, and at the time of the sale, NZ Bus operated over 740 buses and had 1400 staff. In March 2022, the business was purchased by the Kinetic Group.

In 2023, NZ Bus was rebranded Kinetic New Zealand, along with Go Bus's urban operations in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch.

Go Bus Transport
Further information: Go Bus Transport Operator Information

Go Bus Transport was formed in 2004 with the merger of C.J. Worth Ltd (trading as Blue Worth Coachlines), Hamilton City Buses (privatised in the 1990s), Simpsons and Hodgsons. In March 2020, it was announced the company and its 1700 buses would be sold to Kinetic Group, who is also the operator of Auckland SkyBus, subject to Overseas Investment Office approval. Approval was given in June and the acquisition was completed in August 2020. In 2023, Go Bus's urban operations in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch were rebranded to Kinetic New Zealand.

Johnston's Coachlines / SkyBus
Further information: Johnston's Coachlines Operator Information & Skybus NZ Operator Information

SkyBus began operations in New Zealand when it took over the airport express bus service, Airbus Express, from previous operator, Johnstons Coachlines, in 2015. In 2018, SkyBus added direct services from Auckland Airport to the North Shore stopping at Akoranga, Smales Farm and Westfield Albany. On Thursday 23 September 2021, the SkyBus Airport - Auckland City services were suspended indefinitely, and in August 2022, the remaining airside vehicles were transferred to fellow Kinetic Group company, Go Bus Transport.

In August 2016, Go Bus announced that they had acquired Johnston's Coachlines for an undisclosed sum. Johnston's is a tourism-based bus company with depots in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. The main purpose of the acquisition was the company's experience in the high-end tour market. It was stated that the companies will operate in a parent-subsidiary manner, as Johnston's will retain its own brand and division. The purchase did not include Johnston's Gray Line tours.

Fleet numbering
Further information: Kinetic NZ Fleet List

The company's fleet numbering system works as follows:
● Vehicles acquired from Kinetic takeover of NZ Bus: N-prefix
● Vehicles acquired from Kinetic takeover of Go Bus: G-prefix
● Vehicles acquired from Go Bus takeover of Johhnstons Coachlines: J-prefix
Note 'G' prefixes do not appear on vehicles, except for vehicles operating on AT Metro contracts in Auckland, which use the 'GB' prefix.