New Zealand bus operator
Red Bus
|
Parent
| Ritchies Transport
|
---|
Founded
| 1991
|
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Ceased operation
| December 2020
|
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Headquarters
| Christchurch, New Zealand
|
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Locale
| New Zealand
|
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Service area
| Christchurch
|
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Service type
| Bus services
|
---|
Fleet
| 52 (December 2020)
|
---|
Annual ridership
| 3.87 million (2017/18)
|
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Fuel type
| Diesel
Electric
|
---|
Chief executive
| N/A
|
---|
Website
| www.redbus.co.nz
|
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Red Bus
was a bus operator in
Christchurch
, New Zealand. Red Bus operated
public transport bus services around Christchurch
on behalf of the
Canterbury Regional Council
, and it operated the free inner city
Shuttle
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.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
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
of the
Christchurch City Council
.
[2]
[3]
Red Bus operated the free central city bus,
The Shuttle
, on behalf of Christchurch City Council from 1998 to 2011.
[4]
In November 2016 the business of Aaron Travel was purchased.
[5]
The company lost routes in the 2019 tender for Public Transport services conducted by the
Canterbury Regional Council
(ECAN),
[6]
the agency that runs public transport in Christchurch ? reducing it to running just 20 per cent of the urban network.
[6]
In June 2019 three
Alexander Dennis Enviro200
bodied
BYD K9
electric buses were introduced.
[7]
[8]
In December 2014, a charter division commenced under the Red Travel brand.
[9]
[10]
[11]
Red Travel was closed down in May 2020 as a result of the actual and forecast reduction in demand due to Covid-19.
[
citation needed
]
On 7 May 2020, the
Christchurch City Council
held a public-excluded meeting
[12]
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.
[13]
Red Bus CEO Paul McNoe resigned as CEO of Red Bus effective immediately on 8 May 2020.
[14]
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.
[1]
Fleet
[
edit
]
As at August 2018, Red Bus operated 151 vehicles, predominantly
Designline
bodied
MANs
.
[15]
This dropped to 52 vehicles in December 2020.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Red Bus (New Zealand)
at Wikimedia Commons
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- † Elected unopposed
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- 1
appointed following death of incumbent
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