That is the view of Selwyn’s Environment Canterbury councillors.
The Selwyn District Council is planning to spend $75,000 to contribute to an ECan business case, part of which will look at how the district council could fund its own bus routes.
Said ECan councillor Ian MacKenzie: “If the Selwyn District Council wants to do that, there would be no subsidies from central government in which case the full cost would lie with ratepayers.”
“We are looking at an uplift in the Halswell/Queenspark bus, and we’re looking at $5m-7million to put the extra buses and services in place.
“I’m more than happy as a constituent of Selwyn for the Selwyn District Council to look at the options and see what they can do, but we are absolutely constrained with Government funding.
“I suspect they would create a problem for themselves.”
Mayor Sam Broughton said the district council has to look at other options if ECan are not going fund the transport services people want.
“The Selwyn community has been very clear in their feedback that they want to see more public transport services in the district than Environment Canterbury can currently fund through its Metro bus service,” Broughton said.
“It would be extremely disappointing and short-sighted for Selwyn to continue to be over-looked and under-served with public transport that our community expects and needs.
“Alternatives to the status quo are required, otherwise more cars will be on our roads. Better public transport is better for our health, better for our environment and mean less maintenance costs.”
Broughton said once the business case is completed, the district council will evaluate if it can fund these services in the future, starting with localised trials.
Currently, ECan operates six bus routes that travel into Selwyn. It was unable to say how much each route cost.
ECan was planning to increase the frequency of the Rolleston and Lincoln to city buses next year, but did not receive the required co-funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency.
ECan is also nearing the completion of a feasibility study for a Darfield to Rolleston bus, but no funding has been allocated for any trials.
Earlier this year ECan cut the Southbridge to Lincoln bus due to low patronage making it unsustainable to run.''
Ticket prices may rise as shortfalls bite
Environment Canterbury is currently assessing its options to make up funding shortfalls in its transport budget with the Government reducing funding for public transport.
ECan councillor Ian MacKenzie told Selwyn Times increasing the fares is one option being considered.
“It is likely the fares will go up to have a higher degree of fare recovery, and then we’ll work out how that affects patronage,” Mackenzie said.
He said no decisions had been made on where the increased fares would apply.
Since 2022, ECan has had a $2 flat-rate fare for its buses, regardless of the distance being travelled.
The fare is just $1 for tertiary students, under-25s, and total mobility and community service cardholders.
ECan public transport operations manager Derek Walsh said the flat rate fare will until June 30 2025, but confirmed it was under review.
He said consultation on any changes would happen in the first part of next year.
