The Transport, Urban Development and Air Quality Committee (TUDAQ) of Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) has supported a notice of motion to include a policy on ‘Pets on buses’ in its draft Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP). The RPTP is a legislative document that sets out our objectives and policies for delivering public transport in Canterbury.

Staff will develop community and stakeholder engagement to inform an updated ‘Pets on buses’ policy, which will be added to the draft RPTP (2024-2034).

The draft RPTP will be revised by staff in the coming months with input from reference groups and key stakeholders. This will be shared with the community for their feedback in the second half of next year.

Councillor Joe Davies brought the motion to the Committee at its meeting earlier. "This is an exciting step forward for our four-legged friends," he said.

"I think it’s really important that we look at allowing pets, and specifically dogs, on our buses. This is something the community should have the right to have a say on," he added.

Currently, only service or disability assist dogs (or those in training to be), are allowed on buses in Canterbury.

"We know that there is some demand in the community to allow dogs on buses, however we need to first gauge how the wider community feels about this before making any changes, which we will do next year to inform the draft Regional Public Transport Plan and any subsequent decisions," Councillor Davies said.

Consulting with groups and stakeholders

We will also consult with our bus operators and drivers, and consider passenger comfort, safety and any potential capacity issues.

"We know that there are several regions across the country that have changed their rules to allow pets on buses, including Auckland. We plan to leverage from these regions’ experiences to inform our policy development and community engagement process," Councillor Davies added.

In his presentation to the committee, Councillor Davies talked about some details that needed to be considered as part of the proposed policy.

"I think animal sizes and numbers, cages, muzzles and microchips are all things that need to be thoroughly considered when looking at this.

"I’m looking forward to hearing what the public has to say," Councillor Davies concluded.

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