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August 02, 2012
MEDIA STATEMENT
Free buses to the rugby prove popular with fans
Organisers are delighted at the number of fans who took advantage of the free bus service to the Crusaders Super-15 and
All Black games this season.
More than 30,000 passenger trips were recorded over the nine games of the season.
The initial park and ride trial where free buses were provided from the suburbs before and after rugby games proved so
successful that the service was continued across the season, including the All Blacks taking on Ireland.
Environment Canterbury Passenger Transport Manager David Stenhouse says the service was very popular with patrons keen
to get to the game without having to find a park near the stadium.
“Families especially have appreciated the service and it was great to see so many using the buses to get to the games.
Around 1000 of the passenger trips were for children.
We’ve had some really good feedback from passengers and we’d like to acknowledge the efforts of Go Bus, Red Bus and
Leopard Coachlines staff who provided a high quality and efficient service.”
Belinda Barrett-Walker was one of the many people who took advantage of the free service to the games. She and her
family were impressed with how easy it made getting to and from the game.
‘We live rurally so it takes quite a lot of time to drive in the city, find a park then walk to the stadium,’’ she says.
“Then I went to the Metro website and found we could just drive to The Palms, jump on a bus and get straight to the
game. It certainly added to the experience as it was great not to have to drive around looking for a park. And it was
free!’’
Ms Barrett-Walker says she was also impressed at the efficiency of the service after the game. “We headed straight to
the bus which was full in minutes and off we went. There certainly was no waiting around which was much appreciated on a
cold evening.’’
Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council and the Stadium Trust funded the free buses which were available to
passengers who presented their ticket to the game.
ends