Sustainable transport includes all forms of transport that minimise emissions of carbon dioxide and pollutants. Sustainable transport can mean public transport, car pooling, walking and cycling, as well as technologies such as biodiesel and electric and hybrid cars.

Types of sustainable transport

Walking bus

A fun way to move
Walking school buses are supervised walks along a set route with at least one adult. The “bus” stops to pick up children at selected stops and walks them to and from school. Schools or parents can set up a Walking School Bus project. The Christchurch City Council supports school communities to set up walking school buses. Walking School Bus guidelines are available from the School Coordinator. For more information, email info@ccc.govt.nz or call Customer Centre, Streets 03 941 8666.

Biking

A healthy way to move
Canterbury’s largely flat terrain and mild climate are good for cycling; whether it’s for everyday trips to work and school, or just to have fun. Cycling is cheap, creates little pollution and keeps you fit and healthy. It has also been described as ‘active transport’, a category of sustainable transport which uses human power, animal power and renewable energy.
For more information, visit the Christchurch City Council website.

Energy-efficient vehicles

Smart ways to move
Energy-efficient cars are small, very fuel-efficient and can fit into very small spaces. Car pooling is about sharing a ride with others to reduce fuel use and traffic congestion. A Community Car is a car that a community owns, maintains, and uses together, saving on ownership and maintenance costs. It offers an alternative form of transport to a privately-owned car.

Bus

Social ways to move
The word bus is a shortened version of omnibus, which means “for everyone”. Buses have the ability to move a lot of people to a lot of different places. When well used, they help reduce pollution and traffic congestion. Travelling by bus can be easy, affordable and relaxing. In Canterbury, we have a number of city bus companies including Leopard, Christchurch Bus Services, Ritchies, and Redbus. Metro is the name of the bus system in Christchurch and is managed by Environment Canterbury. The Metro brand was extended to the Timaru passenger transport network in January 2007. For more information, visit Metroinfo.

Car pooling

Car pooling is about sharing a ride with others to reduce fuel use and traffic congestion.

Community car

A community car is a car that a community owns, maintains, and uses together, saving on overall costs. It offers an alternative form of transport to a privately-owned car.

Hybrid vehicles

Hybrid vehicles usually use 2 types of power sources, such as a petrol or diesel engine coupled with an electric motor. Hybrid vehicles generally use the petrol engine at high speeds and the electric motor at low speeds and when idling. The battery which stores electricity for the electric motor is charged during periods when the car is not accelerating, i.e. when you are slowing down, braking, or traveling downhill. If required, it can be charged by the petrol or diesel engine.

Metro and biodiesel

Metro’s sustainable transport buses

Metro has four sustainable transport buses that have been running on biodiesel since 2006. They operate in conjunction with Christchurch Bus Services and Leopard Coachlines.

The buses help us to promote sustainable travel choices, the use of alternative fuel in the Metro network and provide long-term biodiesel engine performance data. It’s easy to recognise them around Christchurch - their distinctive livery is easy to spot.

Metro biodiesel update

May 2010

Leopard Coachlines won tenders for the following Metro bus routes:

• 5 Hornby/Southshore
• Selwyn Star - Lincoln/Rolleston – City/Burnham – Lincoln via Rolleston.

The buses servicing these routes will run on biodiesel. This means from 1 November 2010, Leopard Coachlines will have its entire fleet of 100 buses running on biodiesel.

More updates