‘Headed for gridlock’: Where Christchurch is at with mass rapid transit

Wednesday, 21 May 2025

Aerial view of traffic coming into Christchurch on the Christchurch Southern Motorway (SH76).

With towns such as Rolleston and Rangiora growing rapidly, the Greater Christchurch area is sprawling.

And without a strong public transport network in place, a transport engineer and planner says the key routes in and out of the city are headed for gridlock.

A plan to implement a “turn up and go” public transport system, so frequent and fast that travellers could turn up and go, rather than schedule their journeys, was initially set for 2031 to 2034, but delays and funding struggles have pushed it out even further.

Light rail in Sydney, Australia. (File photo).

So, where is Christchurch at with mass rapid transit?

What is it?

Mass rapid transit is a public transport system that would operate on dedicated routes to ensure speed, frequency and capacity.

That would likely mean a combination of buses and light rail that would be separated from other traffic - the idea being travel would be faster than other options in and out of the city.

Popular, but pricey

Rolleston woman Rowena Holder is ready to see a stronger public transport network in Christchurch. (File photo).

Rolleston local Rowena Holder said existing public transport options were “terrible”.

“The choice is, take my car, pay for parking or have to walk a bit from my park to where I work, or spend an entire hour on the bus,” she said.

Holder said she could see huge benefit in a mass rapid transit system and a “nice and quick” rail option in and out of the central city.

Congestion in Riccarton, Christchurch. (File photo)

“I get that we don't necessarily have the population of Sydney or even Auckland, but if you're trying to encourage people to use public transport, that public transport has to be usable,” she said.

Transport engineer and planner Axel Downard-Wilke said if nothing changed in Greater Christchurch’s transport system, the city would gridlock itself.

“We have one of the fastest growing districts as a neighbour,” he said. “If nothing changes and the growth keeps up, people will just keep driving.”

“And having more buses running, stuck in general traffic, that is not the answer. That is not going to get people out of their cars.”

Transport engineer and planner Axel Downard-Wilke said mass rapid transit is vital to avoid gridlock in Christchurch.

Downard-Wilke wanted to see action on mass rapid transit and fast - but he wasn’t overly hopeful.

A preliminary business case - which went out to the public and was endorsed by councils in 2023 - found the system could cost between $3 billion and $4b.

“Nobody really wants to commit themselves financially,” Downard-Wilke said.

So, mass rapid transit is popular, but it’s pricey. And who will pay?

Government’s cold feet

Christchurch has the most congested rush hour in New Zealand but has the lowest spend on public transport, despite being the fastest-growing main centre.

When the 2023 preliminary business case was considered by councils, the project was led by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, and funding was pledged for a business case with much more detail.

But in 2024, central government retrospectively pulled that funding and it was passed back to Christchurch City Council as lead agency.

Downard-Wilke said the project needed support from central government. “No local authority can afford these things,” he said.

And he didn’t want to see yet another business case.

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“There is probably a metaverse of studies written over the last 25 years on bookshelves. And had we invested that money into building something we would be quite far along,” he said.

Rails or roads?

The Greater Christchurch partnership said it was still exploring where buses or light rail would be more suitable and gave a list of pros and cons for each.

Among the pros for light rail was the perception of “permanence and reliability”, as well as it’s capacity to carry up to around 300 people at a time.

The cons were the extra infrastructure required, such as rails and bridges, which would result in a higher cost, and that light rail could be noisier than other vehicles.

Buses would be an easier roll out, have the flexibility to avoid traffic disruption, more resilient to natural disasters and (if electric), likely the quietest option.

What next?

Since taking over as lead, Christchurch City Council had honed its focus to protecting a 22km mass rapid transit corridor between Belfast and Hornby, via the city centre.

According to the Greater Christchurch Partnership website, the route that connected the central city to Belfast in the north and Hornby in the southwest was prioritised to accommodate for population growth in the corridor.

But there was still appetite to stretch the network further.

In March, a group of Canterbury mayors said they would push for mass rapid transit from Rolleston and Rangiora into Christchurch when they put in a regional deal bid to the government. The timing of which was yet to be confirmed.

Downard-Wilke said he would officially get excited only once he saw a spade in the ground.