The Christchurch City Council has voted to extend a bus trial on Cranford Street, despite staff holding back key data on patronage numbers to councillors.

The trial went for three months and was supposed to finish in May. Transport staff lauded the trial saying the service provided “60 seconds of time-saving” for bus users.

But at Tuesday’s council meeting, they couldn’t produce patronage data, despite admitting it was supplied to them every month from Environment Canterbury.

The staff said the information was available but they wanted to extend the trial to see if passenger numbers increased.  

 Councillor Yani Johanson asked staff if they had any sense on what patronage had been like – they said “no.”

Clearly frustrated, Johanson said “the trial finished in May, and we can’t get data on something as simple as a bus going down a street. I find that hard to understand. It’s a glaring gap in terms of what we need to know.”

 Deputy Mayor Andrew Turner pressed staff on why the key data was missing.

 “Given that information exists, what is the reason that it couldn’t be incorporated into this report?”

 “I’m not sure,” Council project manager Georgina Sandilands said.

Council Transport Planning and Delivery Manager Lynette Ellis interjected –  “the point of a bus lane is about improving the reliability of a bus.

A brand new bus service has low patronage, it’s sort of pointless information.”

 “The time saving is the most important information,” Sandilands said.

 Councillor Aaron Keown said, “how can we have a report on a bus trial, when there’s no one using the bus, and we don’t have any data.”

He conducted his own survey during peak hour morning traffic on Monday and counted four buses with just eight passengers on one ride.

Councillor Mike Davidson said “to have that data now would be counterproductive to what we’re trying to achieve which is to give people good modal choice.”

 Councillor Sara Templeton accused some councillors of “always finding an excuse to vote against any climate action because they are Ideologically wedded to cars and unable to look beyond their steering wheels.”

 She said it was important international evidence-based research was made available to councillors.

Johanson said he was happy to read all the international research in the world “but if we can’t even know how many people are riding a bus down a bus lane that we’ve put in, then I don’t’ think that research is going to make any difference to our understanding about the level of our investment.”

 Councillor Sam MacDonald said if “a three-month trial wasn’t long enough, why did council approve the trial in the beginning?”

Councillors Phill Mauger, Sam MacDonald, James Gough, Aaron Keown, Catherine Chu, voted against the extension of the trial.