Rates hike needed for new express bus

A direct bus from North Canterbury to central Christchurch has support from Waimakariri residents, but half don’t want the rates rise to pay for it.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) carried out consultation late last year to determine whether commuters would use a direct bus service, using the new carpool lanes being built at the Tram Rd on-ramp and on the Christchurch Northern Corridor. The carpool lanes will allow direct buses to skip congestion, especially across the Waimakariri Bridge.

The proposed service linking Waimakariri to the city could be ready for when the new motorway opens in mid-2020.

More than 400 submissions were received, and while the majority were in favour of the service, they were concerned about the money coming from a rates hike.

One commonly suggested alternative was for the express services to be funded entirely through fares, making it a userpays system.

Chelsea McNally, from Kaiapoi, said rates in the Waimakariri were already ‘‘stupidly high’’.

‘‘We don’t use half the services they cover but to then go and add more to them and hike them up again for a bus system is just wrong,’’ she said.

‘‘It should be user pays.’’ Rangiora resident Morgan Bell said the service should be trialled before being permanently rolled out to see how many people were going to use it on a regular basis.

However ECan’s manager of public transport strategy, planning and marketing Edward Wright said all public transport services provided by ECan were funded through a combination of rates, NZTA grant and fares.

The rates increase would equate to $30 for urban properties and $10 for rural properties.