Mayor Lianne Dalziel has launched a savage attack on the way the city buses are run, saying the system is "broken" and the city council must take control.

Christchurch's public transport system should not be fixed by Environment Canterbury (ECan), Dalziel said.

The regional authority, which has responsibility for planning and funding the city's public transport, should not be putting up bus fares by 10 per cent to combat falling passenger numbers, as it had proposed, she said.

"For those who say putting up the bus fares is a way to resolve the problem of decreased patronage, I would suggest that it's probably the reverse that would be true, you reduce the bus fares but you make the buses reliable and way more efficient than getting in a car."

READ MORE:

* Christchurch bus fares could rise due to falling patronage

* Changed approach to public transport in Christchurch backed

* Canterbury bus patronage drops 4.5 per cent despite new routes, bus interchange

* Bus lounge deadline missed, again

* Council 'totally incompetent'

* Transport model is 'flawed'

* Council under fire for not backing bus plans

Dalziel's public condemnation of ECan came as city councillors approved a joint committee to oversee the running of the region's public transport.

The new committee was only the first step in the council taking over public transport, the mayor said. "I want our city to be leading the way and not following in hot pursuit."

Currently, the city council has responsibility for providing infrastructure including bus stops, bus priority schemes and passenger waiting lounges.

The new committee, being formed together with Selwyn and Waimakariri district councils, would only have the capacity to make recommendations to ECan on public transport.​

ECan commissioner Rex Williams said there was no doubt that having a joint committee responsible for Greater Christchurch's public transport would improve the governance and delivery of bus and ferry services.

"As services and facilities improve under this new arrangement, more people will be encouraged to catch the bus," Williams said.

﻿ECan chairwoman Dame Margaret Bazley welcomed the city council's vote in favour of being part of the joint committee.

"We note the questions the council has raised today will be discussed at the committee level and not in the media."

Dalziel, who would sit on the committee, said she would continue to lobby central Government to give the council responsibility over the city's public transport.

"I want Christchurch City Council to lead the development of a public transport system that enables cyclists to use the buses as well as enables people to get around the city smoothly and enables people have the freedom to move in a less congested environment."

Dalziel said she had made it "crystal clear" to ECan that the city council was in the best position to lead Christchurch's public transport.

Deputy Mayor Vicki Buck said the joint transport committee was a "make do solution" because the Government would not put transport where it belonged – with the city council.

In the year to date, passenger numbers fell 3.5 per cent, on the back of a 4.5 per cent decrease during the second half of 2015. Patronage remained well below pre-earthquake levels, and ECan was on track to fail its target of 20 million bus trips in 2020.

A review by Wellington consultant Peter Winder last year found public transport services and infrastructure in the greater Christchurch area were "sub-optimal" because the four councils involved – and in particular ECan and the city council – were not achieving the level of integration that was necessary.

The review found while there was a high level of agreement, in principle, on the public transport strategy, underneath there was tension and disagreement on the speed, relative priority and detail of its implementation.

The review concluded the councils needed to move towards more integrated decision-making if they wanted to improve the governance and delivery of public transport.

*Comments have now closed on this story*