New Zealand’s first fully electric bus network launched in Palmerston North

Trying out a new bus shelter in Pacific Drive are (from left) city councillor Brent Barrett, regional councillors Sam Ferguson and Rachel Keedwell and MP Teanau Tuiono. Photo /Judith Lacy

Horizons Regional Council (HRC) chairwoman Rachel Keedwell’s excitement was palpable as she launched Palmerston North’s new bus network on Monday.

It is New Zealand’s first fully electric bus network and will help HRC hit its carbon targets for the city and region, Keedwell said.

The launch of the network and new bus shelters was held at a shelter on Pacific Drive in Summerhill, with guests bussed there from The Square.

Regional councillor and Rangitāne kaumātua Wiremu Te Awe Awe blessed the shelter with water and the sign of the cross.

Keedwell said the change was about more than replacing diesel buses with electric ones.

“It’s an entirely new network. It is a step change for Palmerston North, and it’s really exciting to see what’s going to happen in Palmy in terms of how people choose to move around the city.”

Next to speak as the cicadas made more noise than the passing buses, Horizons Passenger Transport Committee chairman Sam Ferguson said the new network meant people could participate in society.

“The more people that can get around our city easily and quickly, the better. It’s better for people, better for the planet.”

Ferguson was hopeful there would be patronage growth month on month.

“Visitors to modern cities right throughout the world expect a well-functioning public transport system, and that is what they are going to have when they come to Palmerston North.”

Tranzit managing director Paul Snelgrove said not only is Palmerston North the first New Zealand city to have a fully electric bus network, but it is the first or one of the first in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Masterton-based family company decided in 2015 the future of the world relied on energy sources other than fossil fuels. Its first electric bus went on the road in 2017.

The conflict in the Middle East meant the roll-on, roll-off ferries the buses drive on to were not available to ship the buses from China, so they were strapped to the top of containers and brought to Wellington.

The buses have a range of more than 300km, so they can do a full day in service without needing to charge. Tranzit’s Palmerston North depot can charge 20 e-buses at once.

Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere at the launch of the city's new bus network and shelters on Monday. Photo / Judith Lacy

Palmerston North City Council Sustainability Committee chairman Brent Barrett acknowledged the changed routes had been unsettling for some passengers, but said the “vastly improved new service is going to make going by bus a competitive option for the current users and new riders alike”.

He encouraged everyone to try the fast, frequent and direct service, which operates for longer. With unlimited city-wide travel capped at $16 a week, the bus service is “an incredibly practical response” to cost of living pressures.

Barrett said the city council sees the new shelters as the best supporting act for the Oscars, while the main act is the new buses.

New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi’s Transport Choices programme paid for the new bus shelters.

The shelters will be installed gradually over the coming months. They feature designs inspired by two mapmakers of Manawatū, Haunui-a-Nanaia and John Tiffin Stewart.

Rangitāne was invited to co-design the new shelters with Beca.

The cultural expression on the shelter panels is primarily inspired by a significant journey of Haunui-a-Nanaia. As he travelled down the West Coast of the North Island, he named every river he crossed. In doing so, he created the first map, which has been shared orally for 30 generations.

Stewart is credited with designing the street layout of Palmerston North.

Travel on buses around Palmerston North and to Ashhurst is free in March.

Judith Lacy has been the editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001 and this is her second role editing a community paper.