National restriction on use of bike racks on buses from Friday 8 November 2024
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 2024, 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).
Bikes on buses update - 15 January 2025
A national working group, including representatives from Environment Canterbury, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and the Bus and Coach Association, have been undertaking testing of bikes racks to understand the issues and develop solutions.
This testing has found that in almost all cases loaded bike racks do obscure bus headlights to some extent. The impact is due to several variables including the configuration, layout and vertical positioning of headlights, the different dimensions and characteristics of different bike racks and differences in how racks have been mounted to the buses.
Most work to date has focused on the dual bike rack model which is the most used rack on public transport buses in New Zealand. We are now close to agreeing on a range of solutions for buses fitted with this rack and a pathway to seeking exemptions from the vehicle lighting rule for these buses.
Triple racks are also used on public transport buses. These typically have a greater impact on headlight performance than the dual racks and we are still investigating how this can be effectively mitigated.
Once solutions are identified for all buses and racks, it will take a significant amount of time to procure the necessary equipment, modify racks, transition fleets, and seek the necessary exemptions to enable the full use of racks again.
To date, the working group hasn’t come across any instance where the headlights are obstructed to the extent that the bus isn’t clearly visible to other road users. We believe that while the racks may be non-compliant with the vehicle lighting rule, this does not present a safety issue during the daytime. As a result, we have approached NZTA seeking a temporary exemption to re-enable daytime use of the racks while work continues to develop and deploy solutions to allow full use. NZTA is considering our proposal.
Lyttelton customers
We are 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 are required to load and unload their bikes onto the vehicle themselves – it’s important customers are satisfied their bike is secure in the rack.
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 apply.
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 came into effect in Canterbury from 8.45pm on Friday, 8 November 2024 and applies 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.