ECan hope to make racks available at night soon. Photo: Supplied / Environment Canterbury
Bike racks will soon be back on Christchurch's buses - at least during the day.
The Canterbury Regional Council was banned from using bike racks, when the NZ Transport Agency issued a safety notice in October, claiming front-fitted bike racks partially obscured bus headlights.
The agency has now issued a temporary exemption to public transport authorities throughout the country, allowing racks to be used during the day.
The Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) said Greater Christchurch bus users could use the front-mounted bike racks from next Wednesday.
"We are really pleased to be able to offer bike racks to our customers during the day again and we're hopeful that it won't be too long before we can offer the service at night too," council public transport operations manager Derek Walsh said.
Night-time restrictions came into effect at varied times from month to month and could be viewed online.
Bike racks would also be available full-time on Metro's Route 8 to allow customers to access Lyttelton tunnel, where cycling was banned, and the ferry.
Testing had found some of the bus fleet needed better lighting to mitigate the restricted visibility caused by some racks, Walsh said.
"Our operators are currently installing lights on the buses that require them. You may start to see these on some of our buses.
"Once the installations are complete across our fleet - and we have all the exemptions through from NZTA - we will be able to remove the night-time restriction."
