Evaluation of transport options between Christchurch and outlying centres

Abstract

The halcyon days of the development of the human race due to the increased availability of transport options are threatened by the negative impacts of the principle tools of transport, the private motor car.

The negative impacts are apparent in resource use during construction and use, the temporal inequalities between the supply and demand of roads and the impact of the outputs once again both during use and disposal. Whilst the public may be aware of these impacts, their own actions are seen to contribute insignificantly to the result so demand for motor car access continues to increase.

At a local level, it is often congestion that has the most impact on motorists and therefore decision makers. Congestion is a relative term, what is free flowing traffic in cities like, Bangkok is considered unacceptable in other cities and towns. The one constant is that congestion increases as more cars are used and is only temporarily relieved when new roads are provided. Christchurch's situation is compared with other world cities and is found to be very car friendly especially in terms of the number of car parks per 1,000 central business district jobs.

The Canterbury Regional Land Transport Strategy identifies seven targets for the 2002-2007 period for the region and a further five targets that relate particularly to Christchurch.

One of the methods identified for achieving the targets is a change in the mode of travel used when travelers move from Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Rolleston to Christchurch. Details are provided on the populations and work places of the residents of these towns. A survey that gathered details of the barriers to the use of public transport from a few respondents showed that frequency of service, the speed of the service and cost are the main concerns. Finally, the system developed by Bachels (1999) is used to appraise the various options available to the regional council to achieve the identified targets. It is concluded that buses are most effective at reducing car use, transport options will have little influence on transport safety and air quality reductions are mostly due to other activities so should not be a major factor in transport decisions.