Waimakariri Bus Service Review - Updated Proposals

We had proposed to change the Blue Line route back to travel via Lineside Road in Rangiora and Smith Street in Kaiapoi, in order to reconnect Kaiapoi’s town centre with Rangiora. There was strong support from the community for this change during the initial consultation, so we aren’t proposing anything different this time around.

The Blue Line would continue to operate at its current frequency. Later this year, we will be consulting with you on new commuter bus services that will use the Northern Arterial Motorway. If new commuter services are introduced, there are likely to be some changes to the Blue Line peak frequency, reflecting that many passengers may move across to these new services.

Operating hours

• 5.45am-11.00pm weekdays
• 6.30am-12.30am Saturdays
• 7.45am-10.30pm Sundays

We are now proposing the 95 operates all day to provide access to the city for residents in Pegasus, Woodend, Kaiapoi and Silverstream.

On school days, one trip in the morning and afternoon would be diverted to Kaiapoi High School so that students could get to and from the high school.

These changes to the 95 would provide residents in Pegasus, Woodend, Kaiapoi and Silverstream all day direct access to the city, without having to transfer to the Blue Line in Kaiapoi as previously proposed.

Operating hours

• 6.00am-8.00pm weekdays
• 7.00am-8.30pm Saturdays
• 8.00am-7.30pm Sundays

Sovereign Palms

The first consultation included proposed routes travelling through Sovereign Palms using Lees Road, Bayliss Drive and Sovereign Boulevard.

We heard a variety of views from Sovereign Palms residents about this:

• There were 182 submissions from Sovereign Palms area.

• 45% of these came from residents living on the streets (Lees Road, Bayliss Drive, and Sovereign Boulevard) that buses would travel along.

• The vast majority of these residents opposed the changes stating concerns about the number of vehicles along the road each day, width of proposed streets used and speed of vehicles.

• However, of the 55% of respondents from other streets with Sovereign Palms, a majority either supported the changes in full, or supported them with comments or suggestions.

• There were a number of comments received about the distance and access to the current bus stops on Williams Street, and the safety of these stops, particularly for children and the elderly.

With all feedback in mind, we have updated the proposal so that the 95 travelling through north Kaiapoi would be less frequent, but it would travel into Christchurch city, providing access to more destinations without the need to transfer buses.

We would like to hear from Sovereign Palms residents about whether they would be happy for a bus to travel through the area at a lower frequency than originally proposed, after considering the increased number of destinations this service would travel to, and the concerns some residents have raised about the current bus stops on Williams Street.

Waikuku

The original proposal was that the 95 no longer travelled to Waikuku due to low usage of the service. During the first consultation, we received feedback from residents that they wished to retain some level of service.

Unfortunately, with the other changes that are proposed in this second consultation, we do not have enough budget to do this. Bus usage from Waikuku has been low for a long period of time, and with a limited budget we need to prioritise services in the places they maximise benefit to the wider community.

Pegasus

To be able to afford these service changes, we would need to reduce the length of the proposed route for the 95 in Pegasus.

Instead of travelling along Lakeside Drive and Tiritiri Moana Drive, both services would travel via a short loop along Solander Road, Infinity Drive, and Pegasus Main Street. The terminus would be at the existing bus stop on Pegasus Main Street.

We heard from residents of Pegasus, Woodend and north Kaiapoi that they would prefer having all day access to the city via the direct 95 service, rather than the two new Link services that were proposed. We also heard from Pegasus residents that they would value a connection to Rangiora.

We are now proposing one Link service – the Rangiora-Pegasus Link.

Operating hours

• 7.30am-6.30pm weekdays
• 8.30am-6.30pm Saturdays
• 9.30am-6.30pm Sundays

Pegasus

To be able to afford these service changes, the bus route for the Link in Pegasus would be shorter than that of the current 95 service.

Instead of travelling along Lakeside Drive and Tiritiri Moana Drive, both services would travel via a short loop along Solander Road, Infinity Drive, and Pegasus Main Street. The terminus would be at the existing bus stop on Pegasus Main Street.

In the first consultation, we asked if you thought we should make the existing express trips on the Blue Line and the 95 stop at all stops, or at a limited selection of stops, as the current arrangement hasn’t provided any significant time saving benefits. The responses to this question were evenly split as to which would be better.

Later this year, we will be consulting with Waimakariri residents on the types of commuter services that could use the Northern Arterial Motorway when it opens in 2020, and how such services would be funded. As part of that, we will consider how the existing express trips work and if changes are needed.

With a fair bit of activity coming up in the public transport space for Waimakariri, the image below provides a general timeline of when you can expect to be hearing from us, and when you are likely to see some changes taking place.