‘Bus Seat Bandit’ Burgles Nelson Stop

Wednesday, 16 April 2025, 9:11 pm
Article: Max Frethey - Local Democracy Reporter

Never mind breaking into the vault of the Bellagio with a crack team of 11, a “heist” of epic proportions has rocked the Brook community in Nelson.

eBus stop #4111 is otherwise unassuming, just a simple concrete pad in front of 208 Brook Street.

But that all changed several months ago when “a stalwart of civic furniture and urban design” placed two green plastic lawn chairs at the stop, said local resident Callum McMenamin.

“They just appeared someday … and then maybe a couple of weeks ago, a third chair appears. So they started accumulating.”

But last week, disaster struck when two of the three chairs were "burgled" by whom McMenamin has dubbed the Brook Street Bus Seat Bandit.

“Someone’s obviously found these chairs rather alluring and has taken them from us … depriving the local Brook community of their valuable bus stop seats. There’s only one seat there that we now have to fight over.”

He took to Facebook to alert the community of the “heist”, and though the whereabouts of the seats remains unknown, one commenter did say they spotted someone carrying them down Waimea Road, past the hospital, almost 2 kilometres away.

Being visually impaired and a digital accessibility consultant with OpenAccess, McMenamin said he relies on the eBus service and that the lack of seating was “a real accessibility problem”.

“It’s pretty horrible just standing there and having nowhere to sit, which is especially bad for people who are elderly or who have a disability … not everyone can stand for long periods of time.”

He wanted to see Nelson City Council install more seating at bus stops around the city.

“You’ll often find people just sitting on the concrete, on the ground, and things like that. In most other cities in New Zealand, a bus stop will at least have a seat available, if not a covered area.”

Alec Louverdis, the group manager infrastructure, said the council was disappointed to hear of the stolen seats.

“The chairs were generously placed there by members of the community to assist those needing to sit whilst waiting for the bus. We didn’t expect the chairs to be such a hot commodity, and we had hoped they’d remain there for everyone to use.”

When the expanded eBus service launched in August 2023, the number of bus stops across the region leapt to 227, but funding wasn’t available to ensure that each would have seating.

As such, only 30 stops have full bus shelters while about another 35 have seating without a shelter, leaving about 162 stops without seats.

It costs about $2,000 per bus stop seat, meaning it would cost $324,000 to upgrade all the remaining stops, and that price excludes contractor costs, site preparation, and ongoing maintenance.

The council has allocated $35,000 per year in its Long-Term Plan for “bus stop facilities” which, along with seating and shelters, includes wayfinding signage and eReaders.

eReaders, which provide real-time bus arrival information and are currently only located at key stops, are priced at $7,000 each but must be bought in bulk, while shelter costs can approach $14,000, also excluding contractor and preparation costs.

Patronage data and the physical condition of the bus stops are the key factors in determining which stops receive updates.

Some stops that were identified as “ideal” for upgrades but were unable to be progressed due to narrow footpaths or limited space.

“With a growing and ageing population, access to seating at bus stops is increasingly important, especially for older residents who may rely more heavily on public transport,” Louverdis said.

“While council does not currently have guaranteed funding to equip all stops with seats, this remains a long-term aspiration.”

He added that the New Zealand Transport Agency funded some shelter and eReader installations in early 2024, but the council was not expecting similar funding in the future as the agency’s focus has shifted towards driver health and safety.

“However, we remain hopeful for future further investment to help us continue enhancing our public transport infrastructure.”

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