Stuff Digital Edition

Squeakiest wheels aren’t the ones to get our city moving

Kerry Prendergast

When I was mayor of Wellington from 2001-2010 our transport planning for 2040, and beyond, was based on the pressure points in the current system. Transmission Gully, then still in our future, is finally about to open. Wellington City will experience greater peak loads.

But for the last decade nothing has happened. Proposals to solve the Basin Reserve and Mt Victoria tunnel problems were rejected. Green initiatives have held sway around the council table, and cars and trucks have been seen as a problem, not a solution, to moving around the city.

It is my contention that a mix of transport modes must be considered together: not cycles and public transport first, cars/trucks last. With the best will in the world, you will not get everyone out of their cars.

Cars are an incredibly efficient and fast form of transport to move between two points that are not easily accessed by public transport. And we must not just consider commuters, but parents getting their children to school, afterschool sports, older people accessing doctors.

More and more of our purchases are delivered to our house by courier vans. Large loads travel at all times of the day and night, and this will never change. From ships, ferries, rail, all freight reaches its destination by truck or van.

We were once known for our efficient bus service. Currently, bus services are often cancelled as well as being generally infrequent, except at peak times. We don’t need bigger and double-decker buses. We need more buses going more frequently. If Wellington is ever to move people out of their cars on to buses the service needs to be reliable.

The three rail spines into the city bring a huge number of workers, the lifeblood of our CBD, into Wellington efficiently and effectively every day. But the ticketing system is archaic and very easy to cheat, and there has been no link between the buses’ and trains’ ticketing.

Walking is an excellent form of transport, and Wellington’s walkers are well served. The city has good footpaths, and many excellent walks and paths.

Cycling is having a resurgence, particularly with the advent of electric bikes and scooters. The city needs to improve the facilities for cycling, but with Wellington’s narrow, congested streets, this has all been at the expense of cars.

Riding will never appeal to 80+ per cent of the population. Most of us, particularly the increasing percentage of older people, will never adopt the practice, or ride to work.

Having read through the publicly available information on the Let’s Get Wellington Moving website, a few comments:

■ The information given on the website and booklet does not even show a breakdown of transport modes. Critical information, such as how traffic intersects at the Basin Reserve, is difficult to find, and what is available is highly sanitised. It took three attempts and two weeks to get any response. The concept of a new tunnel taking all public transport and cars to the far end of Wellington Road is excellent. Great, let’s get it built.

■ Light rail has a benefit-cost ratio significantly less than 1. Steel wheels on steel rails is 1800s technology. The proposal is driven by a small group of rail enthusiasts with nostalgic boyhood memories of trains. The pipes under the rail beds cost a fortune to reinforce or move; rails take up dedicated space for infrequent trains; stations need to be quite far apart, making for long walks; stations cannot be moved as society dictates development or changes its travel patterns.

■ Buses, particularly electric/ battery buses as they become viable, make sense. More frequent, normal-sized buses in dedicated bus lanes will do the job far better, cheaper, more flexibly than rails. And should ‘‘free’’ travel on public transport be considered? That would certainly be a huge incentive for commuters to stop driving.

■ In the LGWM information there is no mention of disruptive transport methods. By 2040 – by which time the tunnel is likely to be in place – small electric autonomous vehicles will be on the road in large numbers. Any longterm planning must include this future.

■ Is this LGWM document just another leading to further indecision? Will heavy lobbying from the cycle and light rail lobbyists drown out the voices of ordinary residents? Will those ‘‘ordinary residents’’ be so underwhelmed by the notice taken of them in the plethora of past consultations that they just turn against the wall and go back to sleep?

Wellington City Council could try for a balanced approach, or it could listen to the loudest voices. We must all wait to see. How long, I wonder?

Opinion

en-nz

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-27T08:00:00.0000000Z

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