Environment Canterbury is reminding people that while Canterbury is at Alert Level 2, capacity will be very constrained on the urban public transport network, and at times there will not be enough space for everyone.

“Where people have a choice, we ask that you please avoid travelling at our peak times of 7am-9am and 2.30pm-5.30pm, weekdays,” said Environment Canterbury senior manager public transport Stewart Gibbon.

“The physical distancing restrictions in place to keep everyone safe on buses create real challenges in providing the level of service needed for everyone that uses public transport.

“We are asking people to consider alternative ways to get around or to consider if they can travel at a different time. Could you bike or carpool, or start work earlier or later to avoid the peak? Ultimately, only travel on the bus network if you really need to, especially during peak times.”

School services

The Metro school bus network will continue to operate at full capacity throughout Alert Level 2, due to schools’ ability to contact trace.

“However, as a lot of school children also use the urban buses, it’s important that they, and their parents, are aware of the capacity constraints we face under Alert Level 2,” said Gibbon.

Timaru – MyWay by Metro

Although physical distancing restrictions do not apply to MyWay vehicles due to the additional measures in place to support journey tracking, so the vehicles are operating at full capacity. However, the physical distancing restrictions in place on the Timaru Link are likely to increase demand on MyWay, so we are asking people to please avoid travelling at peak times if possible.

Read the full update

More information

Metro’s website metroinfo.co.nz will be kept updated with the latest information, including any service cancellations if necessary.

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