Pets on buses is up for public discussion down south, so would the same go up here in the north?

Last week the Transport, Urban Development and Air Quality Committee of Environment Canterbury – the regional council in the garden city – supported a notice of motion to include a policy on ‘Pets on buses’ in their draft Regional Public Transport Plan.

Canterbury Regional councillor Joe Davies said at the meeting: “This is an exciting step forward for our four-legged friends”.

He also added: “I think it’s really important that we look at allowing pets, and specifically dogs, on our buses.

"This is something the community should have the right to have a say on”.

Dog lovers 

And so The Weekend Sun asked Bay of Plenty Regional Council – which operates our public transport system – whether it thinks allowing pets on buses would be a good idea locally.

“Conceptually, I think it’s a great idea because I’m a dog lover," says BOPRC’s public transport committee chairman Andrew Von Dadelszen.

Andrew, who has always been a dog and a cat owner, says he is “receptive” of a motion of allowing pets on buses in the Bay of Plenty.

However, he notes: “It needs a bit of thought to make sure that everybody's safe and the passengers aren’t interrupted”.

“It’s not straightforward because you need to know what size is the dog? Do they need muzzles?”

Currently, BOPRC only allows registered disability assistance dogs on BOP buses.

BOPRC’s transport operations manager Stuart Nightingale says this policy is designed to ensure the safety and comfort of all passengers, including those with specific health concerns.

“Our strategy involves ongoing optimisation of our services, embracing technology, and moving towards more sustainable practices.”

Transport priorities 

Andrew says getting our pets on buses “wouldn’t be my highest priority right now”.

“My priority is actually to find ways to get people to improve our services, to give our customers a good customer experience to get more people on the buses.”

However, The Sun asked Andrew if he thinks allowing pets on buses would be an encouragement for people to use public transport?

“It would,” says Andrew.

“If we can find a way in favour of small dogs, especially, being allowed on buses it’s something that I’d be very interested in to see how others get on with [in regards to] what requirements there are so that all our passengers feel safe.

"Because you can’t do something that satisfies one person, but gives fear to others – so it’s not straightforward.”