ECan in early stages of bus network review

Wednesday, 19 February 2025

Ever wondered what happens in the control room at Christchurch's Bus Interchange? We take you on a tour.

A much anticipated review of Greater Christchurch’s bus network is expected to heed the calls of communities “crying out” for better services.

Halswell in particular has been identified as an area needing better access to public transport, but communities in Christchurch East/Northeast are also on the radar.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is in the early stages of reviewing the network, something it has not done city-wide since 2014.

Both regional and city councillors say there is clear demand for more services in Christchurch’s outer suburbs: the obstacle was funding.

“We’re being asked to do more with less,” said ECan councillor Deon Swiggs, referring to the lack of central Government funding.

ECan is also considering a new bus between Darfield and Rolleston, which would be funded through a targeted rate. (File photo)

He said Halswell, Prestons, Hornby and Aranui were all areas where residents were “crying out” for more - or any - buses.

ECan set aside $400,000 to get started on talking to Halswell residents and other communities for a business case during its 2024-34 long term plan.

The funding was earmarked for the 2024/25 financial year, with regional councillor Joe Davies saying he had also asked staff to look at what reducing the city’s 28 routes down to 25 would look like, in order to increase bus frequency on busier routes.

Cutting back on existing routes might be necessary in order to service new ones, since public transport funding from “big brother” central Government was uncertain, he said.

Cr Joe Davies said cuts to existing low demand services may be necessary if ECan was to improve or introduce services within existing budgets. (File photo)

“The feedback we get is that people say they see empty buses. There is some truth to that … but we’re up 8% on bus patronage [compared to the year prior],” he said.

Those figures were expected to increase from late April, when five new electric buses will be added to route 7 - to Halswell/Queenspark - and reduce wait times to 5 minutes.

Andrei Moore, city councillor for Halswell, said new buses were a good start but thousands of people had moved into the area since the last network-wide review in 2014.

Cr Kelly Barber said there was a road running through over 1000 sections which could be ideal for a new bus service. (File photo)

Some residents in Kennedys Bush were a 45 minute walk away from the nearest bus, route 100, but they would need to transfer to a second bus to get into central Christchurch.

Kelly Barber, city councillor for Burwood, said Prestons Park residents often talked to him about the lack of public transport.

Route 135, which covered Marshlands and was the most accessible to Prestons Park - while the nearest bus stop was still almost a kilometre away from some homes - did not go into the city centre.

Cr Yani Johanson believed people would tolerate less frequent buses if it meant underserved communities could have them too. (File photo)

“It’s pretty disappointing,” Barber said. “There is a road right through the middle of about 1000 or 1200 new sections. People often ask, ‘why doesn’t the bus go through there?’”

However, a network review which could remove routes was exactly what worried Yani Johanson, city councillor for Linwood.

He said Christchurch East had lost routes in the last decade in order for ECan to boost services elsewhere.

“I think people would tolerate less frequent buses so that others can have them [at all],” he said.

ECan will be consulting the public on other changes to the public transport system in its upcoming annual plan, expected to be out for feedback from February 28.

The council is proposing to return to a two or three zone fare structure, making it more expensive to cross the Selwyn or Waimakariri district boundary by bus.

The council was also proposing a Darfield to Rolleston bus trial, funded through a local targeted rate of between $140-$178 per household.

It was initially expected to cost closer to $90 per household, but council staff told councillors in a briefing on February 5 that the bus operators needed to account for the cost of ‘dead running’ - the collecting and returning of an empty bus back to the depot in Christchurch.

The cost could decrease if a driver was found in Darfield, staff said.