Regional Public Transport Plan formally adopted

The Regional Public Transport Plan 2018-28 was formally adopted by Environment Canterbury at its council meeting on Thursday December 13.

Environment Canterbury chair Steve Lowndes said getting the Plan to the final stage of review is the result of a considerable piece of work.

“This Plan embodies a 30-year vision, a 10-year strategy and a three-year plan. It is many-layered and far-seeing,” he said.

The Plan sets out the long-term vision, policy and actions to encourage more people to use public transport more often and reflects the public’s desire to see a transformation in public transport by improving frequency, reliability, customer service and environmental sustainability.

“It was clear throughout consultation that the community supports public transport and is pushing for advances to make our public transport system even better,” said Lowndes.

Adoption of the Plan by Environment Canterbury follows last week’s approval by the Greater Christchurch Public Transport Joint Committee. For the first time, a significant component of the Plan, relating to Greater Christchurch, was developed by the Joint Committee agencies.

“This approach demonstrates the value of the Joint Committee, formed in 2016 with representatives from across Greater Christchurch, to ensure a continued appropriate focus on a growing urban population,” said Lowndes.

The Plan also outlines new ways of thinking about the delivery of public transport in Timaru, including work that has already started looking at the feasibility of an on-demand public transport service in Timaru. It also provides an opportunity to have a conversation about transport services in the smaller communities within Canterbury.

Next steps

Now that the review process is complete, there are a number of actions to follow in 2019, including detailed service reviews of all bus routes, and commencing a review of fare structures.

Learn more

Head to ConnectCanterbury.co.nz to read the summary of the key themes that came through in submissions and the recommended changes put forward by the Hearings Committee.