christchurch
We're nearly at the end of another year. It's been a quiet one for me on the blogging front for a few reasons: the nature of my work now makes it a bit trickier, my children are getting older and I tend to spend my evenings hanging out with them, and also it's just been … Continue reading 2025 Wrap-up
Tim Frank Bunching is a common issue with any public transport system that is reliant on buses, even more so if those buses travel considerable distances of the route in general traffic. So it is little wonder that many bus routes in Christchurch also have significant bunching issues, particularly the more frequent routes. Instead of … Continue reading Christchurch’s Number 1 Bus
This is a guest post by Tim Frank In June 2025 the Infrastructure Commission published a list of infrastructure projects that it had considered and endorsed as part of the Infrastructure Priorities Programme. Included in that list was the Greater Christchurch Mass Transit project. It also issued a list of 31 proposals that it had … Continue reading Public Transport Infrastructure Agency
After a period where it’s felt like not much is happening in the Christchurch transport scene, in the last few weeks there’ s been an explosion of very interesting proposals, many of which seemed to pop out of nowhere. I’m going to briefly highlight a few of them here. Trains to Te Kaha A local … Continue reading Trains, Tolls and Te Kaha
I've just penned a few random thoughts on transport from around Otautahi over the last few weeks. I jumped on a bus the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find on-board information screens showing the stops coming up. This is common in other cities and very helpful if you're new to the city, taking … Continue reading Transport Thoughts
Five weeks ago ECan starting running more buses on Route 7. There is now a bus every 10 minutes virtually all day (5:30am-6:30pm weekdays). Apparently this was the only public transport improvement outside of Auckland that our national government didn't cut funding for, so definitely something to savour. I tried it out the other day … Continue reading Route 7 Service Uplift
If you’ve ever played the NZ edition of Monopoly, you’ll be familiar with the lucrative Balclutha Train Station. Well I grew up just around the corner from the real Balclutha train station, and clearly remember my older siblings being bundled onto the Southerner for trips to Dunedin and Christchurch. However, I never got my turn, … Continue reading Return of The Southerner
I know a lot of people who get annoyed at speed humps or "raised safety platforms". They're uncomfortable to drive over, and you have to slow down to what feels like a ridulously slow speed. If you're driving a low car it's especially annoying. So why do they get put in? Contrary to how it … Continue reading Those annoying speed humps
There are a lot of good reasons why a city should make sure its streets work well for people on foot, bike and bus: making our city cleaner, greener, safer, healthier, quieter, cheaper and more pleasant to name a few. But in this post I want to talk about one other reason – capacity. I … Continue reading Still stuck on dial-up in Christchurch?
The numbers are in and 2024 was a blockbuster year for public transport in Christchurch. People caught the bus just over 15 million times, which is 15% more than in 2023 and more than any other year post-earthquake. 15 million is the type of number we used to see back in the heady days of … Continue reading 2024 Public Transport Patronage
TALKING TRANSPORT 