Ongoing restrictions, an uncertain future and a lack of volunteers has meant GovBus will no longer operate.
GovBus is an electric, five-seat car manned and operated by volunteers, which runs as a shuttle service from Governors Bay to the city.
The Governors Bay Community Transport Trust was established in 2013 and started operating the service in 2014, with support from Environment Canterbury, as an alternative to regular public transport.
The service has relied on the availability of volunteer drivers and operates through a pre-booking system administered by Jeanette Stanley.
Stanley said running the service became "increasingly difficult" due to lockdowns, ongoing restrictions and trouble sourcing volunteer drivers.
"With limited volunteer drivers, we could only provide a limited service, which we felt didn’t meet the needs of our community.
"We felt we had no other option than to wind up the trust," said Stanley.
For a number of years previously, a steady flow of volunteers gave their time to driving the vehicle and the service was well supported by the community, providing those without transport access to essential services in Christchurch.
At the last trust board meeting, the trustees agreed it could no longer provide the service.
The board advised ECan and asked it to rethink alternative public transport possibilities for Governors Bay and Lyttelton Harbour Basin.
Governors Bay Community Transport Trust chairwoman Jennifer Swaffield said there were 49 submissions from the Governors Bay community to the recent number 28 bus service route review (from Lyttelton to Northwood).
"I’d like to see something a bit more creative in [ECan’s] thinking for smaller community transport," said Swaffield.
A spokesperson for ECan said there are currently no plans for alternative public transport in the Governors Bay area.
"A number of residents living in Governors Bay provided feedback in the recent community consultation for the 17 and 28 services review.
"Until the council are presented with the findings for this review, we are not able to provide the community with a future plan at this time," the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, ECan has proposed a new Metro bus route between Lyttelton (and Rapaki) and Christchurch Airport (Port to Port), with any decisions to be made public in this month.
