Commuter crush in one of New Zealand's fastest growing towns

Friday, 19 May 2023

There are only three chances to catch a direct bus from Rolleston to Christchurch CBD in the morning. Reporter Keiller MacDuff found out how the strained bus services are coping with the volume of passengers.

One of the fastest growing towns in New Zealand is experiencing record bus patronage, but commuters are fed up with recurring cancellations, overcrowded buses, and lengthy trip times.

Rolleston’s population hit 28,000 last year and is continuing to grow exponentially as more homes are developed and more families move in.

Many residents commute to nearby Christchurch for school or work, and regional council and bus operator Environment Canterbury (ECan) says it shows in the record number of people taking the bus from the town.

Commuters Annie Lu, Nouna Likiliki and Kelly Frank wait at the Kidman St bus stop in Rolleston. There are three non-stop services into the Christchurch CBD on weekdays.

In the first part of the year, two of the three Rolleston buses – routes 85 (the direct city bus) and 820 (Burnham to Lincoln) – experienced the highest patronage ever recorded in a first quarter, while patronage on route 5 (New Brighton to Rolleston, via the city, Riccarton and Hornby) had also risen, an ECan spokesperson said.

But a post-Covid boost in the number of people travelling, combined with a driver shortage that has plagued bus routes across the country since 2021, has left ECan “limited in their ability to respond to this increase”.

A dedicated school service was being trialled this term, taking Rolleston-based students to city schools via the same route as the 85. It would be reviewed in September, but locals said it had made some difference.

“We have been able to do this as our school services operator does have sufficient drivers available,” the ECan spokesperson said.

Regular commuters Kelly Frank, Alice Lu and Nouna Likiliki welcomed the introduction of the extra school bus, as their bus was inevitably packed by the time they boarded at the last Rolleston stop.

Lu and other commuters get on the bus at the Kidman St bus stop in Rolleston.

“It wasn’t uncommon to have 20 people standing all the way into town,” Frank said.

Likiliki said while the school bus had helped ease pressure on the direct-to-city buses, she would have preferred another trip open to all.

“The extra school bus is often not full, but there’s always too many people on the normal bus.”

First quarter patronage on the 820 Burnham to Lincoln via Rolleston bus route – bus operator ECan says both the 820 and the number 5 city direct from Rolleston buses have had record use in the first quarter of this year.

The line of cars snaking past them on Kidman St to get on to the Christchurch Southern Motorway each morning stretched as far as the eye could see.

The women said the traffic was a hazard, citing an incident in March when a high school student was hit by a car while crossing to get to the bus stop.

Route 5 direct’s bus patronage for first quarter of each year between 2010 and 2023.

A Selwyn District Council spokesperson said they were not aware of the incident, but encouraged people to let the council know about such events.

“It assists our road safety engineers in planning road safety upgrades.”

Route 85’s bus patronage for first quarter of each year between 2010 and 2023.

Road safety would be considered as part of planned upgrades to Kidman St to tie in with Waka Kotahi’s development of the State Highway 1 overbridge from Rolleston Drive, the spokesperson said.

Likiliki, who bussed because of the cost of city parking and petrol, said the route had definitely got busier in recent years, a reflection of both Rolleston’s growth and increasing cost of living pressures.

She described hectic scenes before the school bus trial began, with people crammed into the aisle and the area designated for wheelchair users and pushchairs.

The 85 bus, which travels direct from Rolleston to the city, has become increasingly overcrowded but trialling an extra school bus appears to have relieved some of the pressure.

She frequently emailed ECan to complain about overcrowding and request more services, and said the council acknowledged her experience, but cited driver shortages as the reason more trips could not be added.

Lu said some commuters bypassed the council’s park and ride spot and drove to earlier stops on the route in the hopes of getting a seat, Lu said.

All the commuters The Press spoke to said cancellations were common.

“We sometimes have to catch the bus to Lincoln and call our spouses to come and get us,” Likiliki said.

While the driver shortage was having “a big effect” on routes 5 and 85, the number of missed trips “reduced significantly in April”, the Selwyn council spokesperson said.

In February, The Press revealed an average of 127 bus trips were being cancelled across the Greater Christchurch network each day.

The alternative to the direct bus, the 85 from Rolleston to New Brighton, made more than 40 stops during the same journey between Kidman St and the central Christchurch bus exchange, often taking more than 70 minutes.

Another frequent bus user, Scott Walters, who lives outside Rolleston, said he knew commuters who lived nearby but made a longer drive to meet the 86 Darfield to Christchurch bus, which is a double decker and provides better odds of getting a seat.