Regional Council votes to get Wellington moving

Greater Wellington Regional Council yesterday endorsed a $6.5 billion Let's get Wellington Moving transport funding package designed to free up congestion in Wellington city, which was followed today by a matching endorsement from Wellington City Council.

The move follows the announcement of the package last month by Transport Minister Phil Twyford, Greater Wellington Chair Chris Laidlaw and Wellington City Mayor Justin Lester, which was hailed as breakthrough for transport in the Wellington region.

"I'm pleased to say we're on our way to building a transport system which has public transport, walking and cycling at its centre while reducing spiralling congestion for motorists,” says Cr Barbara Donaldson, Chair of Greater Wellington's Sustainable Transport Committee.

"The vital process of shifting travel habits will take years, but change starts now. We'll work closely with our local and central government partners to advance the programme's early delivery projects.

'We're already working with Wellington City Council on introducing the bus priority measures we need to underpin performance on our new bus network and improve services to customers.

'We will also strongly support other initiatives such as walking and cycling infrastructure and lower speeds in central Wellington City.'

Ms Donaldson added that the most significant gains will be made in the longer term through the introduction of mass public transit and fixing congestion issues around the Basin Reserve.

"It's fair to say that Greater Wellington is ambitious for the region and wants to progress these two keystone projects as fast as possible.

"That's why we've requested that Greater Wellington's chief executive Greg Campbell to work with the LGWM Programme Team to find ways of shortening the projects' timeframes."