What to expect with our public transport this cruise ship season
Environment Canterbury media release: 7th October 2024
We encourage the local community and regular Route 8 Port-to-Port users to prepare for possible travel disruptions on cruise ship days.
The first cruise ship is expected to dock in Lyttelton on Monday 14 October, officially kicking off the summer season of cruise ship visitors.
Following the 2024-34 Long-Term Plan deliberations and adoption earlier this year, there is no available funding this season for the support measures that were in place last summer, which included extra support staff at key locations and additional buses and drivers available for extra services.
“From the work we did last year, the industry is aware of the importance of appropriate pricing of shuttle services to ensure demand impacts on public transport services are minimised. We are expecting the industry to take this into account this season,” Public transport operations manager Derek Walsh said.
“We ask that our customers plan and allow more time for their journeys or adjust their travel times for those busier cruise days if they wish,” he added.
Use the Metro Journey Planner to plan your bus travel.
View the cruise ship schedule for this summer - select ‘Lyttelton’ for the Port on the left side of the schedule to see which cruise ships are arriving.
“Behind the scenes, we will be closely analysing how those busier cruise days go and continuing to work with our partner organisations,” Derek said.
“We want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we accommodate our extra guests to the city over the summer months.
A special thanks also goes to our drivers, and Bus Interchange staff, who do an incredible job managing these busy seasons,” Derek added.
The last cruise ship of the season is expected to dock in Lyttelton in April 2025.