National restriction on use of bike racks on buses from Friday 8 November
A complete restriction of the use of front-mounted bike racks on all public transport buses throughout Canterbury is being implemented from 8.45pm on Friday, 8 November, until further notice.
The restriction has been issued by bus operators across New Zealand following a safety notice from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). Find out more about their decision on our news story.
This affects our Metro buses as our services are delivered by operators contracted by Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury). This decision follows the initial night-time restriction which was put in place last week.
Our team is working with NZTA and operators to determine the best way to undertake assessments of bike racks.
Unfortunately, the timeframe for setting the criteria and testing is unknown at present.
We thank our customers for their continued understanding as we navigate this additional restriction. Our staff and drivers will be doing their best to let affected customers know.
Customers can check this webpage for updates, as well as our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram).
Lyttelton customers
Starting tomorrow, Saturday 9 November, we’ll be running a small passenger vehicle with a rear bike rack through the Lyttelton tunnel. This service is an immediate action to support people who usually rely on the bus to travel through the tunnel and then bike through the city. The vehicle will travel between our Fisherman’s Wharf and Gondola car park stops. Customers will be required to load and unload their bikes onto the vehicle themselves.
The timetable will differ slightly from our usual Route 8 (Port-to-Port) schedule to ensure safe pick-up and drop-off, it is also subject to change as we monitor demand, you can view it here:
Timetable for Lyttelton tunnel bike rack vehicle
This is a temporary solution that we hope will help to mitigate the impact on tunnel users while discussions around the national bike rack restriction continue.
Standard Metro fares will apply, but please note that due to the urgency of launching this service, we will not be set up to accept Metrocard payment initially. If you pay by Metrocard over the coming couple of weeks please also bring cash, and we will charge you the equivalent Metrocard adult or child fare if we are unable to accept electronic payment.
We’re very sorry for the impact that the sudden changes will have on many of our passengers. We understand that this is a major disruption and please know we are doing everything we can to find a solution that works for everyone. This conversation is happening nationally, and we’ll keep advocating for Canterbury.
While we’ve got you here, we want to reiterate a couple of key things about the restriction:
- It comes into effect in Canterbury from 8.45pm tonight (8 November) and will apply for 24 hours every day of the week. It replaces our earlier night-time restriction.
- Our operators must comply with the law. Following a notice from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, operators believe that loaded bikes racks do not comply therefore this is an operator-led restriction which has been put in place nationwide.