Christchurch council spends $100k on shuttle study to be told what others warned: it doesn’t stack up

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

A plan to resurrect a free inner city shuttle in Christchurch, pictured here in 1998, could be stopped by the regional council. (File photo)

A Christchurch City councillor is doubling down on a $100,000 shuttle bus study that largely repeats the warnings of the public transport authority and central city business association.

Councillor Jake McLellan says there is demand for a free shuttle service like the one council used to run pre-earthquakes, but external consultants found post-earthquake central Christchurch has sufficient services and the costs would far outweigh the benefits.

Central city business owner and industry representative Annabel Turley said if a study failed to prove value for money, it would be a bad look for the council to invest more into the idea.

“The council don’t have money to throw around like lollies.”

City councillors will decide at the full council meeting on Wednesday whether to pass the findings on to regional council Environment Canterbury (ECan) to continue the work, or if the city council should keep at it.

McLellan said if the handover to ECan has to happen, he wants the city council to offer to partially fund a trial - an offer regional councillor and public transport spokesperson Joe Davies told The Press could change things.

ECan has previously warned the city council it believes the central city is well serviced by transport options and, as the public transport authority, is unlikely to approve a shuttle unless proven wrong. The Central City Business Association also dismissed the idea at the time as being “like calling an Uber to cross the street”, arguing the CBD was compact and walkable.

The shuttle study, authored by consultancy firm GHD using council supplied evidence, found the service could cost between $900,000 and $1.6 million a year to operate, depending on the route.

The average user might spend about $22 more in the city, but if the shuttle was free, the additional contribution to local GDP would be only 42% of the operating costs at best. At worst, it would be just 21% of operating costs.

The impact on GDP was almost halved if users were charged to use the shuttle, which was modelled at $1.50 per trip. A charge increased the benefit-to-cost ratio, but the report warned against using that as evidence of commercial viability.

Turley, chairperson of the Central City Business Association, said the business community supported initiatives that “genuinely” increased accessibility and economic activity.

Christchurch’s post-earthquake CBD is considered compact and walkable - easier to get around than when the free shuttle existed.

“But this proposal doesn’t really seem like it’s got much value for money.”

As Turley told councillors in April last year when she dismissed the shuttle idea, the study found the central city had transformed substantially since the quakes, becoming more compact, walkable, and better serviced by other transport options like high frequency buses.

“If it’s getting pushed to go ahead, [the council is] clearly not reading the room.”

Christchurch City councillor Jake McLellan says the study fails to account for people with mobility issues who are missing out on the city centre. (File photo)

A council survey of residents also found fewer than half of respondents, or 45%, would likely use the shuttle.

The study said private operators would be advocating for or proposing to provide the service if it was as attractive as suggested.

McLellan, however, said the survey was not robust so he did not put much weight on it. He also said the study ignored the positive impact the shuttle would have for people with limited mobility who currently avoid the city centre.

He said the study, which cost just half of its $200,000 budget, was worth the money.

“It’s been a consistent call from the community to look at reinstating the service, and that’s absolutely something we needed to look at.”

A shuttle service without ECan’s permission was believed to be legally impossible, McLellan said, but he said he wanted to see that legal advice for himself.

Staff recommend councillors pass the study findings on to ECan, which is currently reviewing its bus network.

Davies said ECan’s position has been consistent: it believes the city centre is well serviced by public transport.

However, Davies said if the city council offered enough funding for a trial he would “absolutely” support it.