The Bus and Coach Association welcomes the direction of the new draft Christchurch Transport Plan. The new Plan is claimed to include a further push to make public and active transport more attractive, and consider policies such as congestion charging.

“New Zealand’s urban environments have been sacrificed at the altar of the private vehicle” says Senior Policy Adviser, Max Dickens. “Our towns are dominated by multi-lane roads and wasteful on-street parking. Roads are for moving, not parking private property. Cities are for people, not cars.”

“We’re throwing our weight behind any moves that Christchurch Council considers that will make getting around by public transport easier, safer and more efficient” he went on. “Look at any main thoroughfare with on-street parking. That’s an entire lane that could moving thousands of people by bus entirely blocked so that 2 or 3 people can park a few metres closer to their destination” he went on.

“As Christchurch grows, it needs to use its roads as efficiently as possible. A private car lane will only move around 600-1600 people per hour – a dedicated bus lane will move 4000-8000[1]” says Mr Dickens. “We hope that the Council stick to their guns, and keep pushing to improve Christchurch. Hopefully other councils will follow suit too.”

[1] https://nacto.org/publication/transit-street-design-guide/introduction/why/designing-move-people/

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