A Christchurch city councillor is calling for bus lanes on Main North Road to be removed, saying they are no longer needed since the opening of the Christchurch Northern Corridor motorway.

And he’s got photo evidence which shows buses aren’t using them during bus lane times.

Harewood Ward Councillor Aaron Keown will put forward a notice of motion at Wednesday’s Christchurch City Council meeting seeking the removal of the bus lanes.

Environment Canterbury runs the bus network, while bus infrastructure is managed by Christchurch City Council.

Keown told chrislynchmedia.com he was approached by several residents living along Main North Road who questioned why the bus lanes remain in place.

“They find them really annoying, because you can’t park outside their house between 7am and 9am or between 3pm and 5pm and it’s unnecessary,” Keown said.

He said he had visited the area himself and agreed with residents’ concerns.

“The council unnecessarily gives out parking fines or tows people parked along there, and even the buses themselves don’t use the lanes, they just drive in the other two lanes they have.”

Keown said the opening of the motorway had significantly reduced northbound traffic on Main North Road, removing the congestion that originally justified the bus lanes.

“Some of the buses that go north to Kaiapoi and Rangiora go along the motorway, and then some of the other buses travel up Main North Road, but when they’re on Main North Road, there’s two northbound lanes, two southbound lanes, which are no longer congested because the motorway is now open.”

He also said councils risk losing public confidence if transport changes are not reviewed when circumstances change. “The public cannot have trust in the council putting in bus lanes in various areas if they’re not going to remove them when they’re no longer necessary.”

Keown acknowledged some councillors may oppose removing the lanes because of plans to improve public transport across Greater Christchurch, but said bus lanes should only be installed where there is a clear need.

“I’m not a big supporter of bus lanes, anyway. It makes no sense to have two lanes of traffic in a particular direction and only 3 percent of the population in one lane and everyone else in the others.”

He also questioned whether the money spent on buses had actually lifted public transport use.

“We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars on bus infrastructure since the earthquakes, and our bus patronage is still lower than pre quake. It doesn’t seem to matter how much you want to spend on bus infrastructure. It doesn’t really encourage any more people to use the bus.”

Keown said a defeat for his proposal would raise wider questions about the council’s willingness to review transport decisions.

“If the notice of motion fails, then the public can no longer have trust in the council to make reasonable decisions around road usage and public transport, because this is not needed.”