Debate over light rail versus trackless trams heats up as Wellington transport announcement looms
Monday, 13 May 2019
The debate between light rail supporters and trackless tram backers looks set to heat up as an announcement on Wellington's transport future nears.
Sources say an announcement on the multi-billion-dollar Let's Get Wellington Moving project, which aims to solve traffic congestion problems between Wellington Airport and the Ngauranga Gorge, will be made this week.
But while a preferred route for a mass public transport system will likely be part of the proposal, no decision has been made on the technology which will be adopted.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester has previously said light rail would be 'front and centre' of the plan, but it was revealed a month ago trackless trams were also in the mix.
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The long-awaited announcement is set to happen just two weeks after Marie Verschuer, a social planner and transport adviser with a focus on trackless trams, met with the Let's Get Wellington Moving team.
Programme director Barry Mein downplayed the meeting, saying the team had taken the opportunity to talk with Verschuer while she was in New Zealand for the T-Tech Future Transport Conference on May 6 and 7.
'What we've done over the course of Let's Get Wellington Moving is we've had the occasional morning tea, getting people in to talk about issues pertinent, or indirectly related, to the stuff we're doing.
'Because she was in town, one of the people on our team thought it would be useful to get her to come along and give us a bit of an update on the state of play on trackless trams technology and where it's at.'
Perth-based Verschuer, who has given advice on emergent public transport technologies around the world and is currently helping with trackless tram trials in Perth, said Wellington would be ideally suited to the technology.
'If somebody was to give me all the money in the world to put in a light rail system, I would choose this system over light rail.
'Transport is moving so quickly. Do you really want to lock yourself into last century technology when you don't need to?'
The vehicle being tested in Perth is the same as the one being used in parts of China. It has a range of 70 kilometres from a a full charge, and 25km from a 10-minute charge.
At 2.65 metres, it was the same width as light rail, and typically carried about 300 passengers, she said.
Following painted lines on the road using a smart guiding system, it also costs about a tenth as much as light rail, at between $6 million and $21m per kilometre compared with about $85m a kilometre.
But lobby group Fair and Intelligent Transport Wellington (Fit Wellington) said while light rail was more expensive, its track infrastructure would not need maintenance for at least 25 years.
'Trackless trams on Wellington's low-quality roads would deliver a low-quality ride, while requiring regular road repairs,' the group argued.
Although trams could deviate from the track to avoid obstacles like accidents, there were hardly ever obstacles on light rail tracks, so that problem would never occur, it said.
'When the trackless tram leaves its dedicated lane and mixes with other traffic, the service becomes less reliable.'
On-street trams could carry about 5000 passengers an hour, about half as much as on-street light rail. Projected public transport growth meant the trams would be full by 2030, and would need to be upgraded, the group said.