A petition is gaining momentum to get a direct bus service back to one of Wellington's most popular tourist attractions.

Since the network overhaul in July, people wanting to catch the bus to the zoo from the CBD have to transfer at the Newtown bus hub.

Hundreds have now signed a public-led petition urging the regional council to reinstate a direct service.

The zoo's chief executive Karen Fifield says having to transfer buses isn't working for visitors and the petition shows this.

"We're very thankful that our community thinks this is a very important thing to actually re-establish a bus from the zoo from the city."

Fifield says visitors are finding it difficult to hub at the hospital, especially when children are in tow and the transfer buses aren't arriving for up to thirty minutes.

"It's not working and I do think that one of the things around the design is actually around human dimension. We're talking about moving people, we're not talking about moving a parcel."

The regional council's cost for the seven bus hubs around the city have now risen to $14.4 million.