Bus usage increases 30%, but wait and travel times frustrate
Christchurch residents are more likely to take the bus now than they were a year ago, but are calling for more frequent routes and a better bus priority lane network.
This stacks up with the most recent bus usage data from Environment Canterbury, which shows a 30% increase in rides in October-December 2023, compared to the same quarter a year earlier.
Some 29% of people use public transport more than once a month – a 4% increase on the year prior, according to the Christchurch City Council’s annual transport survey.
The survey of about 4500 residents is not representative of the city (just 9.9% of respondents were aged under 35), but is a vibe check of what people’s travel habits are.
The largest cohort of respondents were over 65 (35%), and 94.8% were of European ethnicity (the 2018 census says 78% of the Christchurch population identify as such).
However, 33% of the people who did respond said they rode the bus more often than they did a year ago.
The survey found a 1% decrease in people travelling by car (though it remained by far the most common mode of transport, at 95%), but people were 5% more likely to drive a hybrid or fully electric car (21% of all drivers).
There was also a 5% increase in the number of people saying they travelled to destinations by foot more than once a month – 60% of all respondents.
For the first time, the council measured e-scooter usage, and found that 6% of people used them more than once a month. A third said they had replaced car trips with an e-scooter.
The survey findings – collected in late 2023 – were published yesterday.
A summary by council staff found that the $2 bus fare and more frequent services on some routes led to improved public transport usage.
However, residents were unsatisfied with wait and travel times during peak hours, and the lack of comprehensive bus lanes.
People aged 35 to 64 were the least likely to travel by bus, but it was popular on either side of that cohort.
The number of people travelling by bike remained the same as the 2022 survey, at 34%, but they were 30% more likely to choose their bike over other travel modes.
About 10% of car users said they drove less now than they did the year prior.
There were 11.5 million passenger trips on the public transport network in Greater Christchurch in the year to June 2023, according to Environment Canterbury figures.
Passenger numbers gradually rose after a steep drop post-2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes – from 17.21m trips in the year to June 2010, to a low of 11.22m in June 2012.
Patronage reached nearly 14m trips in the year to June 2019, but sank again due to Covid-19, this time to a new low of 8.7m in the year to June 2022. However, Environment Canterbury expects as many as 14m trips in the year to June 2025.