Red Bus was a bus operator in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand. Red Bus operated public transport bus services around Christchurch on behalf of the

Canterbury Regional Council Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's str ...

, and it operated the free inner city

Shuttle The original meaning of the word shuttle is the device used in weaving to carry the weft. By reference to the continual to-and-fro motion associated with that, the term was then applied in transportation and then in other spheres. Thus the word ma ...

on behalf of the city council until the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. On 4 November 2020 it was announced Ritchies Transport Holdings Limited had purchased the assets of Red Bus, with 63 job losses. The sale was completed on 7 December 2020.

History

Red Bus evolved from the Christchurch Transport Board which for several decades had run all urban bus services with its distinctive red buses. It was then owned by Christchurch City Holdings, a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

of the

Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, wh ...

. Red Bus operated the free central city bus, The Shuttle, on behalf of Christchurch City Council from 1998 to 2011. In November 2016 the business of Aaron Travel was purchased. The company lost routes in the 2019 tender for Public Transport services conducted by the

(ECAN), the agency that runs public transport in Christchurch – reducing it to running just 20 per cent of the urban network. In June 2019 three Alexander Dennis Enviro200 bodied

BYD K9 The BYD K-series bus (sometimes just referred to as the BYD ebus or BYD electric bus) are a line of battery electric buses manufactured by the China, Chinese automaker BYD Auto, BYD, powered with its self-developed lithium iron phosphate battery, ...

electric buses were introduced. In December 2014, a charter division commenced under the Red Travel brand. Red Travel was closed down in May 2020 as a result of the actual and forecast reduction in demand due to Covid-19. On 7 May 2020, the

held a public-excluded meeting to discuss the future of the company. On 8 May 2020, former City Councillor Deon Swiggs revealed that the Council gave approval for Christchurch City Holdings to explore selling the Red Bus business. Red Bus CEO Paul McNoe resigned as CEO of Red Bus effective immediately on 8 May 2020. The company lost routes in the 2019 tender for public transport services conducted by the Canterbury Regional Council, the agency that runs public transport in Christchurch. On 4 November 2020 it was announced Ritchies Transport Holdings Limited had purchased the assets of Red Bus.

Fleet

As at August 2018, Red Bus operated 151 vehicles, predominantly Designline bodied MANs.Red Bus
Australian Bus Fleet Lists This dropped to 52 vehicles in December 2020.

References

External links

Official websiteMetroInfo
{{Authority control Bus transport in New Zealand Public transport in Christchurch