Public transport across the country is an essential service that many people rely on. Environment Canterbury, alongside our partners Go Bus, Red Bus, Ritchies and Black Cat, is working hard to keep a safe service running, whilst also looking after drivers and passengers.

Environment Canterbury senior manager public transport Stewart Gibbon said that measures being taken nationwide to slow the spread of COVID-19 mean that there will be some disruption to Metro bus services over the coming days, including less buses running from Monday 23 March, due to fewer drivers being available.

“Our drivers are critical to the successful delivery of public transport. Some of our drivers are now unable to work because of risk factors associated with their age or a health condition. This means that some services will not be able to run,” said Gibbon.

“We are asking people to please be patient and bear with us while we work through the implications of this. We’ll continue to provide regular updates as this situation evolves.

“We have introduced additional measures on buses to protect drivers and passengers, including closing off the front row of seats on all buses in order to maintain space between drivers and passengers for prolonged periods, and requesting people use the rear door to disembark.”

Physical distancing is critical to slowing the spread – it’s about keeping a safe distance from others.

"We understand that practising physical distancing will be difficult on some of our peak services, particularly if there are less buses running. We are asking that passengers practice good hygiene such as sneezing or coughing into their elbows. If you are unwell, stay home," said Gibbon.

“Thank you to everyone for your patience in working with us during this time.”

Key points:

• Services will be less frequent, and may be busy at peak times.
• If you have an alternative travel option available, please consider that for the week ahead. This will help ensure that people who rely on public transport can travel safely and practice physical distancing wherever possible.
• Some trips will not run - if you need to be somewhere at a set time, consider an alternative travel mode.
• The seats nearest our drivers will be unavailable.
• Practice physical distancing - try to stay at least one metre away from others if you can.
• We are expecting our Metroinfo contact centre will be busy, we appreciate your patience with our team at this time.

More information:

• Follow metroinfo.co.nz for the latest updates on Greater Christchurch public transport.
• See covid19.govt.nz for the latest advice and information from Government.

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