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Bus and ferry services in Greater Christchurch and Timaru
Last updated: 13 May 2026
Reporting frequency: Quarterly
Core service: Public Transport
Our Metro bus and ferry services aim to deliver effective public transport and access to social, cultural, education, and economic opportunities.
Metro bus and ferry services offer accessible, affordable, and sustainable alternative options to private vehicle travel.
Service measure targets will be assessed and updated on an annual basis in response to government funding certainty, and real-time phasing of proposed service improvements.
How are we tracking on our service measures?
Service measure 28: Percentage of customers satisfied with Metro public transport services
Target: 95% or more
How are we doing: The survey will be undertaken in quarter four. This target has been consistently achieved in previous years
On track
Service measure 29: Number of trips per capita per year in Greater Christchurch and Timaru
Target: 25 or more
How are we doing: 27
29 in Greater Christchurch and seven in South Canterbury
On track
Service measure 30: Percentage of fleet that meet quality criteria
Target: 80% or more
How are we doing: 84% – we audit our fleet a minimum of three times each year against quality standards
On track
Service measure 31: Number of safety related incidents (passengers and drivers) per 100,000 passenger trips
Target: 3 or fewer
How are we doing: 1.3
There were 142 incidents and 11.352M trips to the end of quarter three
On track
Service measure 32: Percentage of bus and ferry services that start on time
Target: Bus services and ferry services: 95% or more
How are we doing: 95% – bus and ferry services punctuality remained consistent with previous quarters
On track
Service measure 33: Proportion of kilometres travelled by zero emission vehicles
Target: 19% or more
How are we doing: Bus services 30.2% – the improvement (up from 29% last year) is a result of the reallocation of the zero-emission fleet across the network in 2024/25
On track
More information
These measures help us understand our customer experience, including safety and the reliability of our services, and where investment may be needed to align service delivery with community expectation.
We are aiming to have a net-carbon zero fleet by 2035, and service measure 33 helps track our progress. A net-carbon zero fleet refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere.
As we increase the number of electric buses in our fleet, diesel buses will be phased out and therefore, fewer carbon emissions from public transport will be released into the atmosphere.