Rapid bus system would be faster than light rail or trackless trams in Wellington - report
Sunday, 28 July 2019
Wellingtonians could travel to the airport quicker with a rapid bus network instead of a proposed $2.2 billion mass transit system, a consultant's report says.
A mass transit system between the city's railway station and airport - either trackless trams or light rail - has been proposed as part of a $6.4b revamp of Wellington's transport network.
The preferred route would run along the waterfront quays and Taranaki St, past the Basin Reserve to Newtown, and via a tunnel through Mt Albert to Kilbirnie.
But a report compiled by transport consultants Ian Wallis Associates, commissioned as part of research for the multibillion-dollar transport plan, states a rapid bus system through the central city would be quicker than the tunnel option.
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The high-capacity system would include services between Johnsonville and Island Bay via Newtown on one line, and between Newlands and the airport on another.
The airport route would run along the Golden Mile (Lambton Quay, Willis St, Manners St, and Courtenay Place), Kent/Cambridge Terrace, and Hataitai - via the existing bus tunnel or a second Mt Victoria tunnel.
According to the report, Let's Get Wellington Moving - rapid transit network options, completed last year, that option would shave more than nine minutes off the trip between the railway station and airport, compared with forecast travel times on the existing bus network in 2036.
On the other hand, a light rail system via the waterfront quays, Taranaki St, and a Mt Albert tunnel would cut the railway station-airport journey by just over eight minutes, the report said.
The 10.5-kilometre light rail route, which would be similar to a trackless tram route, was forecast to cost $621 million to build, plus operating costs over 50 years. The rapid bus route, which would cover 22km, was forecast to cost $484m.
Public transport advocate Tony Randle, who was part of Greater Wellington Regional Council's 2014 Wellington Bus Review Reference Group, said the rapid bus service could even be up to five minutes shorter if the Miramar stop was cut out.
Miramar residents could instead use a separate bus service between their suburb and the airport.
'On the face of it, Let's Get Wellington Moving's own mass transit report says the proposed route is slower, perhaps a lot slower, to the airport than a direct, high-quality bus service.
'Why are we spending hundreds of millions more on a light rail line?'
Light rail was generally thought to have a higher capacity than a rapid bus system, but it was often difficult to fill that capacity because it covered a smaller area, Randle said.
Let's Get Wellington Moving programme director Andrew Body said the report was just one of many factors considered when deciding on a preferred mass transit route.
The railway station-airport section was a small part of the Wellington City network, with fewer than 10 per cent of morning trips to or through the CBD starting at the airport, Body said.
'The final mass transit route will depend on a number of variables, such as the mode of mass transit selected, and how best to integrate mass transit with other programme elements.'