Palmerston North buses go 100% electric, in first for NZ

Palmerston North's streets have become busier - but quieter.

From Monday, the city's bus fleet is 100 percent electric - a first in New Zealand - as more than 40 new buses enter service as part of a huge investment in public transport.

Services in the city are more than doubling.

City bus driver Charles Te Peeti said the new buses were smoother and came without the smell of diesel wafting through from the "ratty engines".

"They're nicely set up, with the air conditioning on board these new buses - comfortable for everybody," Te Peeti said.

"They're pretty quiet. You can hear everyone talking and if everyone's talking it means everyone's having a good ride."

Routes in the city were changing from loops through the suburbs to direct, point-to-point services.

There were a few first-day hiccups, but plenty of regional council and Tranzit bus staff on hand around city stops to help people, such as Maureen McArdle, get used to new routes.

However, she said the change was not all positive.

"It's cut down two areas where I can go shopping, so I have to come into town for my grocery shopping, which is more than I had to do in the past," she said.

"I used to go to the cathedral on Broadway, but it doesn't go down there any more. That's where I go to church, so that's a nuisance. I have to get a taxi."

Ari Lewis-Clarke, who was on his way to Massey University, said the new stops were "kind of confusing".

"I missed my bus, twice. That kind of sucked."

"It is closer for me to catch now. It's just taking a bit of figuring out," Reita Barrow said.

"It seems really good. I'm hoping it will be successful for them."

McArdle, and other commuters RNZ spoke to, were pleased to see the introduction of electric buses - and their lower emissions.

The new bus network will cost about $11 million a year to operate, up from $4.5m- $5m.

Services now run later in the evenings and go every 15 minutes during peak times.

There are 610 services each weekday, up from 324. At weekends there are 428 a day, up from 107 on Saturdays and 77 on Sundays.

Horizons Regional Council transport manager Mark Read said he would love to see passenger numbers top one million a year, up from 610,000 in the year to June 2023, and 455,000 since July.

The next six to 12 months were about bedding in the new network.

"It's a massive change for Palmerston North and transport in Palmerston North - I'd say probably the biggest change that the city has seen in anything transport-wise in a decade or more," he said.

"Any city now should be able to provide options for people to be able to move around their city in a way that suits them."

Regional council chairwoman Rachel Keedwell had no doubt more people would hop aboard.

"It's an amazing milestone and it's a step change for Palmerston North. It's 100 percent electric and it's a brand-new network.

"It's fast. It's frequent. It's direct and it means people will be able to get around the city in a way they just haven't been able to up until now."

There were concerns that the new routes meant people used to catching a bus near their property would now have to walk several hundred metres to a stop - not easy for those with mobility problems.

Keedwell acknowledged the change was tough for some, and said officials had added a new trial route in response to concerns.

She had no doubt the new system was worth it.

"It was only a minor increase in costs to be a fully electric fleet. I think it was going to be 80 percent electric, so we decided it was worth it.

"The long-term benefits of it were worth the extra investment."

Horizons transport committee chairperson Sam Ferguson said the regional council was trialling more frequent services in Whanganui too - about every 20 minutes - and passenger numbers there had increased strongly.

"That's coming from a level of service where people were sometimes getting buses only every two hours. We really stepped it up."

Palmerston North city councillor Brent Barrett said there was a sizeable population who might not drive around the city.

"In Palmerston North there's 7500 adults that have no driver's licence. It means this bus service is absolutely essential."

Bus operator Tranzit had employed and trained about 50 extra drivers on top of its existing 30.

Project manager James Howard said it had overcome shipping hold-ups to get the 42 new buses - Palmerston North previously had one electric bus operating - to New Zealand on time.

"All the buses were finished in late October and early November, however, what happened was due to the conflict in the Middle East a lot of ships were delayed coming into China and therefore there's a ripple effect to getting the busses through into New Zealand.

"Two arrived before Christmas and the rest arrived in early January."

That was enough time to get the drivers trained on their new routes.

Howard said it took between one and three hours to charge each bus. They were fully charged overnight and would get through a day's service.

Bus travel is free in Palmerston North for the rest of March.