Cantabrians cling to cars despite cheaper bus fares

Monday, 4 September 2023

Public transport advocate Natalie O'Connell believes a good system needs to be “accessible, affordable and frequent”.

More than a year of half-price bus fares has failed to lure back pre-pandemic passenger numbers in Canterbury.

Bus patronage reached 85% of pre-Covid levels in the year to June 30, according to Environment Canterbury, which manages the Metro bus network. There were nearly 14 million trips in 2018/19.

The Government’s fare reduction, which started in April 2022, ended on June 30. New flat fares of $1 or $2 for those over 25 for Metrocard holders started on July 1.

ECan said current bus patronage was encouraging, after a driver shortage led to thousands of bus trip cancellations.

Meanwhile, the city council’s 2022 Life in Christchurch survey showed 96% of Christchurch residents report travelling by car, with 25% of respondents travelling by public transport more than once a month in the past year.

More direct routes and more frequent services were the top factors people said would encourage them onto public transport.

Advocate Natalie O’Connell, who will on Monday night speak at an expert panel discussion on the future of Greater Christchurch’s public transport, said a good public transport system needed to be “accessible, affordable and frequent” or people tended to choose private car ownership.

She was pleased with the new fare structure, but said buses were still not frequent or accessible.

While O’Connell said she enjoyed taking the bus, the 40-minute commute from Somerfield to the central city took 15 minutes on her bike.

O'Connell enjoys her commute by bus, but the same one by bike is 25 minutes quicker.

O’Connell felt “far safer” cycling, having experienced harassment on the bus.

For many young people, the bus was seen as a necessary evil ahead of getting a driver’s licence, amid a perception public transport was embarrassing, she said.

Most people based travel decisions on convenience and speed, but if you could add side benefits of being sustainable, low emission, healthier and community building, “that’s the combined package we need”.

Images of a possible mass rapid transit stop in Christchurch.

O’Connell wanted to see mass rapid transit, more high frequency bus routes and bus-only lanes, saying “if you’re stuck in traffic in a bus, you’re still stuck in traffic”.

University of Otago’s Rosee Hodgson, whose research focuses on equity in public transport from a public health perspective, said international research showed free and subsidised public transport were “powerful tools” for an inclusive and exciting city.

Standing room only is an issue on some routes, such as the Rolleston express bus, as bus patronage in Christchurch surpasses pre-Covid-19 levels. (File photo)

Young people told her the cost of public transport was a barrier, the process of getting a Metrocard could be difficult, and that at times they had experienced glitches loading money onto Metrocards.

“If we’re addressing public transport in our city, we have to take into account that it’s about more than commuters,” said Hodgson, who is also a panellist at Monday night’s event.

Transport planner Axel Downard-Wilke said the fundamental problem related to a lack of investment, political will, and the division of responsibility between the city and regional council.

With the city council managing parking and infrastructure such as busy priority corridors, and Environment Canterbury responsible for the networks, the regional council’s success depended on how committed the city council is, he said.

Once home to the largest tram network in New Zealand, Christchurch’s tram is now operated by tourism company Christchurch Attractions.

The city council’s biggest lever was “meaningful” parking management, he suggested - without which, ”any other fancy report is just a waste of time”.

“If parking is easy and cheap or free, why would you bother with a bus that doesn’t run that often, is unreliable, and gets stuck in traffic?”

But he said he was “convinced” that with political courage, public transport use in Christchurch could easily double within two or three years.

Environment Canterbury senior strategy manager Jesse Burgess, also on the panel, said the more money that went into the public transport system, the better it would function, attracting more people to leave their cars at home.

“We’ve become so heavily reliant on the car and have under-invested in public transport over the years, both at local and central government levels.”

Burgess is excited by Canterbury’s position as first to adopt the new National Ticketing Solution, a national public transport payment card rolling out next year.

“It’ll be a fantastic system where you’re able to get on and pay with your card, or your [smart] watch, tag on and tag off.”

What’s being planned already?

A proposal to revamp Christchurch’s public transport system, PT Futures, first mooted in 2018, was given a government funding boost of $78m earlier this year.

It is thought the proposal will hasten the timeframe for improvements, including 100 extra buses, 22km of new bus lanes, and more than 470 new bus shelters.

A recent meeting of the region’s mayors saw the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee agree to push ahead in exploring regional passenger rail, despite staff recommendations to hold off.

The Greater Christchurch Partnership’s mass rapid transit plan - which only considers light rail within the city limits - is yet to be completed.

Burgess said the mass rapid transit investigations could be light rail or rapid bus depending on how the business case panned out, with an arterial street corridor with 21 stops from Hornby to Belfast the preferred option.

Driving change: public transport futures, organised by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, is at 6pm on Monday night at Tūranga.