Key Points

• 20,100 new cars were registered in the City in the year ended August 1996. This is an increase of 60 percent in less than 2½ years.
• Residents’ use of the bus system is low. Only about 3 percent of all trips are currently made by bus.
• The bus system catered for 8.1 million passengers in the year to June 1996. Patronage has increased recently although it is unclear whether this indicates a trend towards bus usage.
• International passenger numbers at Christchurch airport increased by 9.1 percent in the year to June 1996.
• Domestic passenger numbers fell slightly as a result of the slowing domestic economy and the high level of the New Zealand dollar which has encouraged out-bound New Zealand travel.