Ritchies Transport has been awarded a six-year contract by Environment Canterbury to continue to provide the highly successful on-demand services for the public of Timaru.
The MyWay by Metro is to become a permanent service, from early 2026, after a trial which was first started in June 2020.
Environment Canterbury chair, Craig Pauling, says the Council’s proud to make MyWay part of the continuous public transport programme in Timaru.
Delivering the best possible service
“We have appointed incumbent trial operator Ritchies until 2032, after a successful tender to provide public transport services in Timaru. Councils are required to periodically test the market for public transport services, to ensure they deliver the best possible service at the best value for ratepayers.”
As well as MyWay becoming permanent, Ritchies will be providing a zero-emission fleet for the new contract.
“The MyWay fleet will be zero-emissions, excluding when spare vehicles are required, with improved emissions vehicles that will be used for the school and Temuka routes. All of the vehicles being used by the operator will also be equipped with copper-free brake pads,” Chair Pauling said.
Community support key to success
Ritchies CEO Michele Kernahan said decision that MyWay is here to stay is fantastic news. “It reflects the passion and efforts of our Timaru team and Ritchies commitment to our national zero emissions journey,” she said.
“The innovative thinking behind MyWay and the community and our local team’s willingness to embrace change has played a huge part in the programme’s success. MyWay is a great example of putting the customer first, of adapting a traditional model to the consumer’s needs, and we’re proud to have been chosen to continue this MyWay journey,” she added.
Years of effort by Environment Canterbury and Ritchies has gone into this achievement.
- A trial which began with our on-demand partner Via in 2020 with just 150 participants was quickly expanded to provide essential travel during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
- The next year MyWay carried between 500 and 600 weekly passengers, demonstrating its success.
- By the 2023-2024 financial year the service achieved a record-breaking 267,000 trips.
On-demand services enable people to get to where they needed easily.
Find out why Ritchies is the leading on-demand operator in New Zealand.
Learn more about MyWay by Metro .
Interested in working as a driver for our MyWay team? Check out the opportunities on our careers homepage.
