Leashed, muzzled dogs on eBuses to be trialled
‘‘I just think, oh my word, I will be able to consider getting a dog again. That’s very exciting.’’
Gail Mitchell
When a three-month trial to allow muzzled dogs on leads on the region’s new eBuses begins, Jo Parkinson and her dog Ernie plan to be first in line.
Parkinson moved to Motueka in August 2023, and thought that when the new eBus launched the same month, it would be a godsend to get to Ernie’s dog therapy jobs at mental health and addictions service Te Whare Ma in Nelson.
Ernie also puts in a regular appearance at Giving Aroha’s community dinners in Anzac Park every Sunday.
But it was not to be: the official policy for animals was that to travel on the eBus service, dogs had to be caged, and that cage had to be carried.
Because Parkinson has a physical disability, she isn’t able to carry Ernie.
That meant the pair had to travel by car, costing around $ 35 for a round trip covering over 100km, for a journey that would have cost $ 6 on a bus.
Parkinson gave up the visits to Te Whare Ma as a result.
With the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee agreeing on Tuesday to a 12- week trial of permitting dogs to travel on buses uncaged, Parkinson said she’d be first in line on April 1 to take the bus.
“I think it will give us a lot more freedom,” she said.
In 2023, Gail Mitchell, who is partially sighted, gave away her beloved dog Poppy because of the current policy. Mitchell was unable to lift Poppy when caged.
Life without her dog had been lonely, she said. While she patted everyone else’s dogs when out on walks, that wasn’t the same as coming home and having a dog with her.
Like Parkinson, she was similarly “really thrilled” with a change in terms and conditions.
“I’m overwhelmed,” she said. “I just think, ‘ oh my word, I will be able to consider getting a dog again’. That’s very exciting.”
Tasman deputy mayor and committee chairperson Stuart Bryant said he had reservations about dogs on buses where they might be displacing people wanting to use a seat.
Transport and solid wastes manager Marg Parfitt said the trial would be following the same rules as had been adopted in Auckland, in which dogs were to travel between 9am and 3pm, and not during peak times.
Tasman councillor Celia Butler said the Golden Bay Community Board consulted and had hearings on allowing dogs on Tākaka’s Main St, and found that some people “really don’t want to be near dogs, and they don’t want their children near dogs”.
Parfitt said they would be taking their cue from Auckland Transport, which gathered feedback from passengers, operators, bus drivers, and special service dog groups such as Blind Low Vision.
Officers could also use Shape Tasman or Shape Nelson, and would bring a report back to the committee to summarise and make the decision whether to continue the trial, she said.
Under the terms and conditions, dogs will be permitted while wearing a cagetype muzzle and lead, or while in a carrier. Dogs won’t be permitted on seats, and dogs that might cause a safety risk or nuisance can be refused entry or asked to leave.