A bus every 7.5 minutes: Govt spending $78m to revamp Christchurch bus network
From reporter Steven Walton:
A $78 million government grant to improve Christchurch's “unreliable” bus service will only cover about one-third the project's total cost.
Local councils and Waka Kotahi will cover the remaining $160m to ensure buses arrive every 7.5 minutes on key routes.
The Government money is coming out of the budget of the ditched $785m cycling and walking bridge planned for the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
A major revamp of the Christchurch bus network was first revealed in late 2020, but the time frame for the work was going to be about 12 years. The Government contribution, announced on Friday, would allow the revamp to happen within five to six years.
“This will offer people living in Christchurch regular and much more reliable bus services,” Transport Minister Michael Wood said.
Amongst the planned improvements are 100 extra buses, 22km of new bus lanes, and more than 470 new bus shelters. Some of the work has already begun, like adding bus lanes to Lincoln Rd.
The 100 new buses are being introduced despite recent struggles nationwide with a driver shortage. The shortage has caused thousands of bus trips being cancelled in Christchurch in recent months, frustrating commuters.
Wood said there had been “good progress” with the driver shortage in Christchurch. The shortage was now only 49 drivers, he said.
The 2020 business case for the city’s bus revamp said buses were unreliable and not as quick as taking a car.
It also estimated the revamp’s infrastructure (capital) work would cost about $115m, but Wood confirmed that number had now risen.
He said the revamp’s total cost would be $238m, but this figure also included the operational costs of running new buses and paying the new drivers. He was not able to say how much of the $238m cost was capital costs and how much was operational costs.
Of the $238m, the Government is covering $78m of it directly and the remaining $160m will be split between local councils and Waka Kotahi. Waka Kotahi and councils in Christchurch have already planned to spend millions on the revamp, but it is not clear how much each party will end up spending. Wood’s office has been asked to provide this detail.
Mayor Phil Mauger said it was great to be at the Government’s funding announcement on Friday, even though he voted against the revamp’s business case in 2020.
Asked if he would still vote against it, he said “probably not” because he had “learnt a lot more about how buses will make a difference [with reducing emissions]”.
Buses were a “good thing” that would help the climate change situation, he said.
Mauger said he also supported the 22km of new bus lanes, “as long as they’re in the right place”. Narrow roads should not be made narrower, he said.
“It’s all very well to have bus lanes everywhere, but if no-one else can get along [the road] everyone's going to get all snarly and upset.”
As part of the revamp, Christchurch’s main bus routes will have dedicated bus lanes with traffic lights that give buses priority.
The city’s main bus routes are Rangiora to Cashmere (#1), Airport to Sumner (#3), Rolleston to New Brighton (#5) and Halswell to Queenspark (#7). All of these services go into the central city and stop at the bus interchange.
The fifth main route is The Orbiter, which does a circular route.
The revamp aims to convert the main routes to “turn-up-and-go” services, where a bus would arrive every 7.5 minutes between 7am and 7pm on weekdays.
Presently, these routes only have a 10 or 15-minute frequency.
The business case for the revamp said 14 million trips were taken on Christchurch buses in 2018, and it hoped to increase this to 20 million by 2028.
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Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
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48.2% Yes
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49.8% No
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1.9% Other - I'll share below
Hero
“I was born and raised in war. To be honest, those are not good memories.
I really like Iran, and I really miss it, but I couldn’t be myself there. Even though my family didn’t like my decision, I left Iran. I promised myself that I would do whatever I can for all communities, especially for the kids, so they do not have the same experience I had.
I studied software engineering in Iran and left in 2006. I went to Malaysia and stayed in Kuala Lumpur for seven years. I was admitted to Lincoln University to do my PhD here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t afford the expenses. I requested a scholarship, but they told me I had to be there for six months first. So, I stayed in Malaysia and did my PhD in network security. In December 2013, I came to New Zealand with a work visa.
It took me a while to connect with the Iranian community here. I volunteered with the Multicultural Council, SPCA, and community patrol, and I established the Christchurch Iranian Society in 2017. Before that, I started working on Radio Toranj, the only Farsi-language radio show in New Zealand.
One of the reasons I started organizing cultural events was to showcase Iranian culture. I wanted to show people that we have delicious food, colorful dresses, traditional customs, and our own instruments. My hope was to show people that we are not what you see in the media.
I am working to involve all the communities that celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the Nowruz festival in March 2025. We want to share this celebration not only with our community but with the public as well. It’s better when it’s shared.
I remember the first time someone from Dunedin called me and asked, Hero, can you help? Something happened, and they keep declining Iranian visa applications. When I heard that, I felt insulted. We are still human, so how can they do that?
Through this journey, I’ve learned a lot. Every single day, people with different cases call me, and I try to share my knowledge and guide them as much as I can.
I have received several awards, including the Christchurch Civic Award and an Award of Recognition for my contributions to the community during the pandemic. In 2021, I established Canterbury Kia Ora Academy, a charitable trust. Through this charity, I can help other communities as well, not just the Iranian community.”
- Hero
View more stories, or nominate someone: @humansofchch
www.humansofchch.org......
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