Case Study: Christchurch City Council - From Crisis to Catalyst

30.4.25

Laura Cheftel

In the wake of the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, CCC didn’t just rebuild their transport system – they reimagined it. What followed was one of the most ambitious and successful public sector fleet transitions in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Fleets are changing. Cities are changing. And the way we think about mobility – who owns it, how we use it, and what it costs – is being rewritten in real time.

But real transformation is hard. It means confronting legacy systems, entrenched behaviours, and budgets that don’t stretch. It requires bravery, leadership and a willingness to be first.

That’s what makes Christchurch City Council’s story so important.

In the wake of the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, CCC didn’t just rebuild their transport system – they reimagined it. What followed was one of the most ambitious and successful public sector fleet transitions in Aotearoa New Zealand. Not a pilot. Not a pledge. But a full-scale reinvention that delivered a 100% electric shared fleet, cut emissions by hundreds of tonnes, reduced costs and reshaped how staff move around their city.

This case study doesn’t just showcase what achieved with Christchurch City Council. It’s a roadmap for any organisation asking itself a big question in 2025:

What’s stopping us from doing the same?

A city reimagines itself: Christchurch's moment of change

In the wake of devastating natural disaster 15 years ago, Christchurch faced an extraordinary challenge – and an opportunity. The earthquakes shook the very foundations of the city, claiming lives, destroying infrastructure and displacing thousands. But amid the rubble emerged a quiet resolve: to rebuild not just what was lost, but to build something better.

For many in Christchurch, the recovery wasn’t simply about restoring roads and buildings. It became a turning point to rethink the systems that shaped daily life – transport, energy, community spaces and the way people worked. The city’s regeneration strategy, informed by the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, deliberately invited innovation. It was a city looking for ideas that could shape a cleaner, more resilient and future-focused identity.

Within this broader movement, Christchurch City Council found itself asking a critical question: What kind of organisation – and city – do we want to be now?

Transport was a clear area for change. The Council’s fleet, like many public sector fleets, had grown organically over time: a patchwork of petrol and diesel vehicles, underutilised assets, high emissions and unclear accountability around costs. The system wasn’t working – but rebuilding presented a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

“The old system wasn’t just inefficient – it no longer made sense in the city we were becoming.”

The earthquakes had fractured more than infrastructure; they had loosened entrenched ways of thinking. With so much having already changed, the Council realised they had the social licence to go further – to reinvent how their people moved, to set an example in sustainability and to use public assets in smarter, more transparent ways.

This was not just about emissions,or even cost. It was about rebuilding with purpose.

That’s when they began to look for a partner bold enough to match their ambition.

From vision to action: building a smarter fleet

In 2017, Christchurch City Council appointed Zilch – then a new player in the electric car share space – to deliver a first-of-its-kind project: an all-electric shared fleet, designed from the ground up to meet the needs of Council employees and, eventually, the wider city.

Zilch (formerly Yoogo Share) was uniquely placed to take on the challenge. With roots in traditional fleet and a bold new vision for Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Zilch brought together practical fleet expertise with a willingness to disrupt old paradigms.

CCC’s brief was ambitious. They wanted:

A zero-tailpipe emission fleet – not a token EV trial, but a full transformation.
Line-of-sight on costs and utilisation – a transparent, accountable system.
A mobility platform that could one day serve not just staff, but the city itself.
A solution within existing budget constraints – no new funding, just better use of what already existed.
And perhaps most critically, a change management process that could bring thousands of employees along for the ride.

Zilch's proposition was simple but powerful: share more, own less, and use data to right-size the fleet. Zilch’s proprietary car sharing technology made it possible to deliver on all fronts. By consolidating vehicle access into a managed pool, available to any authorised staff member through a central booking system, Zilch unlocked significant efficiency gains.

Where traditional fleets were overbuilt “just in case,” the Zilch system enabled real-time access “just in time.”

By optimising vehicle utilisation with its proprietary sharing technology, we were able to reduce the physical number of cars required to fulfil Christchurch City Council’s usage requirements and, by doing so, deliver an electrified solution within existing budget.

Real outcomes, real impact

25% fleet reduction: By eliminating underutilised vehicles, the Council required fewer cars overall to meet the same travel demand.
32% cost reduction: The new model was more cost-effective, despite the higher purchase price of EVs.
700 employees onboarded and trained.
Nearly 500 tonnes of CO2e saved: A meaningful dent in the city’s emissions, from just one organisation’s shift in mobility.
1,000+ trips per month: Demonstrating strong uptake and embedded use across the organisation.
100% electric fleet: All vehicles in the new shared fleet were EVs – no compromises.

And just as importantly, staff embraced the transition. Despite the size and complexity of the Council as an organisation, with over 4000 employees, the shift to shared EVs was met not with resistance, but enthusiasm.

“The shared electric fleet that Zilch has provided for the City Council, a number of other businesses, and the public here in Christchurch has been brilliant.”

– Vicky Buck, Chair, Innovation & Sustainability Committee, CCC

Zilch’s solution didn’t just deliver a new fleet. It enabled Christchurch City Council to model what the future of municipal mobility could look like: smarter, cleaner and more equitable.

Eight years on, post-pandemic, in what feels like a different world altogether in many ways – what lessons still hold from this transformation, and what can organisations – public and private alike – learn from this?

Lessons in leadership and system change

Christchurch City Council’s fleet transformation was not just a technical or operational change; it was a cultural one. It challenged legacy thinking, embraced experimentation and delivered meaningful outcomes through genuine partnership.

For other organisations considering a similar leap, the lessons are clear:

‍

1. Bravery matters more than perfection

CCC didn’t wait until they had everything figured out. They were clear on the outcomes they wanted – emissions reduction, transparency, smarter spending – and found a partner willing to help them co-design the path. That willingness to go first, to work through the unknowns, was pivotal. They had to be brave enough to try something that hadn’t been done before.

2. Moments of disruption are openings for change

The earthquakes were a tragic, city-wide disruption – but they also created a unique moment of openness. The old systems had already been broken. In that context, people were more willing to rethink how things worked, and to let go of “the way we’ve always done it.” Organisations don’t need a disaster to change, but recognising when your moment has arrived – whether due to budget pressure, climate commitments, loss of carpark space or shifting user expectations – can be just as powerful.

3. Social licence can be earned– and used wisely

CCC had the backing of the public to pursue sustainable, future-focused solutions. But they didn’t squander that goodwill on token gestures. Instead, they delivered a deeply embedded change with tangible outcomes. These weren’t projections; they were real-world results, and they proved to the public that bold change can pay off.

4. Systems change demands systemic thinking

This wasn’t just a vehicle swap. CCC’s transformation touched procurement, HR, parking, access systems, change management, data reporting and more. Zilch’s platform enabled the change, butit was the Council’s commitment to thinking beyond silos that made it stick.

5. The right partner makes itpossible

Zilch brought together real-world fleet management experience with powerful sharing technology and a genuine understanding of public sector needs. Their ability to listen, adapt, and operationalise change was as important as the technology itself. They made it possible for the Council to achieve what had previously seemed out of reach – all within existing budgets.

6. This is replicable – if we’re willing to shift the model

Christchurch is not unique in its challenges: ageing fleets, emissions targets, constrained budgets and rising expectations for transparency and impact. What they did is not only replicable. It’s necessary.

‍

Overall, organisations across Aotearoa and beyond can learn from CCC’s approach, and from Zilch’s model:

Share more, own less
Use data to right-size
Embed sustainability into core operations
And think of fleet not just as vehicles – but as a platform for wider organisational change.

Leading the way, together

What Christchurch City Council achieved wasn’t just a fleet upgrade; it was a reimagining of how public assets serve public good. It took courage, collaboration and a willingness to challenge entrenched norms. It required not just new technology, but a new mindset – one that sees transport not as an isolated cost centre, but as a strategic lever for change.

The results are measurable, meaningful and replicable. But they didn’t happen by accident. They happened because CCC chose to lead, and because Zilch offered a platform and apartnership capable of supporting that ambition.

As cities, councils, and companies grapple with decarbonisation, cost pressures and accountability to their communities, Christchurch’s story offers a hopeful and practical roadmap. It shows what’s possible when leadership/bravery, timing and the right tools align.