Travelling with pets

We are exploring ways to improve access, supporting more people to use public transport more often. We’ve heard that some of you would like to bring your pets on public transport, and we’re keen to support this in a way that is amenable to other customers.

Pets on public transport

In other cities in Aotearoa, and around the world, passengers are allowed to travel with pets on public transport. We want to understand how this could work in Canterbury and how people might benefit from this. Allowing passengers to travel with pets would support pet owners who don’t own a car or suitable transport for trips to the vet, or for work or leisure. We want to give more people access to the network. We are proposing a new policy that would allow passengers to bring their pets on Metro services. We want to hear your thoughts on what conditions might make this workable for you.

Support for pets on public transport

We’ve already engaged with our Accessibility and Public Transport Reference Groups, and other special interest groups. This has helped gauge the level of community support for allowing passengers to travel with their pets, and for us to understand any concerns and how we can address them. We have also gathered information from other councils in New Zealand that have successfully allowed passengers to travel with their pets on public transport. This has shaped our proposed approach for allowing passengers to travel with their pets. We are proposing some conditions that we think will make this work in a way that suits most travellers, but we want to hear what you think.

We are proposing the following policy: Passengers are permitted to travel with domestic pets on public transport with appropriate controls in place, as identified in the Metro Code of Conduct.

Proposed conditions of carriage

By law, licensed disability assistance dogs can be brought on public transport at any time, so our questions don’t relate to these animals. Any conditions for travelling with pets would prioritise the needs of passengers with a licensed disability assistance dog to maintain accessibility of the public transport network. In this instance, we’ve defined pets as “tame domestic pets that live inside your home”. We also heard that it was important that priority seating areas remain restricted for passengers with mobility aids, assistance animals and for parents with pushchairs.

How could pets on public transport work?

We think that it makes sense to start slowly, and we want to know if you support the following proposed conditions that have been successful in other cities:

• Pets in approved carriers
• Off peak travel only
• Limit one pet per adult.

We also want to understand your views on other conditions of carriage we could bring in later. Would you be comfortable with leashed and muzzled dogs on public transport?

As the rules for pets on public transport will be included in our Metro Code of Conduct, they can be reviewed and updated based on community feedback on a regular basis. Your feedback will help us take the best approach.