Mid Canterbury Connector service ‘needs more time’

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

The Ashburton district's only public transport service “needs more time” to have a chance to become viable.

Safer Communities Ashburton District chairperson, current deputy mayor Liz McMillan, says the Mid Canterbury connector service isn’t worth scrapping just yet.

“I know it doesn’t look good now. Give us another year,” McMillan said.

“We are getting more and more people on it.

“It’s just that Covid, the people that would have used it are elderly people and they didn’t feel comfortable getting in a van and going somewhere.”

The connector is a volunteer-driven vehicle linking the likes of Methven and Rakaia to each other and Ashburton for a small fee, run by the Community Vehicle Trust network.

When it started it ran on certain days for certain locations but McMillan said after a review the feedback was for it to operate five days a week and to do so it sourced its own vehicle in February.

The connector is funded by Environment Canterbury and Waka Kotahi, about $10,000 annually, and is rated to every property outside the Ashburton township boundary at $1.17 per rating unit and is a total of $5000.

McMillan said it was a necessary service but had so far been affected by Covid.

“The main idea is to combat isolation so that those who can’t drive can get somewhere to visit friends or wander around the shops and see people rather than being stuck at home.

“We just need to encourage people to use it and get more people on board to make it viable.”

The service also relied on volunteer drivers and McMillan said they were always looking for more.

Most of the passengers are currently from Methven, using the service to travel into Ashburton for medical appointments or to visit the Bookbarn in Chertsey.

Councillor Leen Braam questioned if it was working or if an alternative should be looked at, and said the cost was “completely out of kilter”.

With no other public transport options available McMillan said the connector service just needed more time and now that Covid restrictions had been relaxed there would be a big push to grow patronage.

Those plans include a school holiday promotion encouraging rural-based people 14 and over to utilise the service to head into Ashburton, or between rural towns.

The Mid Canterbury Connector, is an on-demand service that people can book Monday to Friday, between 9am and 4.30pm for transport between rural locations and to and from Ashburton.

* Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air