Still time to give feedback on blueprint for Wellington's public transport

People still have a week to give feedback on the Regional Council's ambitious plan to significantly improve public transport in the Wellington region.

Paul Swain, the Regional Council's Public Transport Portfolio Leader, says the blueprint aims to make public transport more reliable, convenient and better value for money. "The more people who choose to take the bus, train and harbour ferry instead of the car, the better it is for traffic flows on busy roads and highways, our environment and our region's economy. 

"Wellington has a pretty good public transport network now - we have the highest patronage for our population size in New Zealand and the fourth highest of all Australasian cities.  But we can do better. We're aiming for a 15 - 20% increase in patronage over the next few years and this plan shows what we're going to do to achieve that.

"A key element of the plan is a new Wellington City bus network that will provide more frequent  bus services, quicker travelling times and more evening and weekend services for smaller and outer suburbs. The new network will support the Bus Rapid Transit spine that's planned for central Wellington in the next eight years.

"We're keen to hear what people think of the new routes and also to give us feedback on what's most important when it comes to renewing the bus fleet.

"We plan to build on the major improvements we've made to train services over the last few years, with more frequent services from the inner hubs like Waterloo and Porirua and faster and more reliable services on longer distance lines such as Upper Hutt and Kāpiti.

"The glue that binds the whole plan together is a new fares and ticketing system that will allow people to use one card for all public transport services throughout the region. The new system, which will begin rolling out from 2017, will make using public transport easier and more convenient.

"While public transport isn't for everyone, our aim is to make trains, buses and harbour ferries more reliable and convenient so that public transport becomes a viable option for more and more people, particularly at peak time."

Submissions on the draft Regional Public Transport Plan close on Friday 9 May.

More details and online submission form.

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