The core focus of the study is the corridor between Wellington Railway Station and the Wellington Regional Hospital in Newtown. The study will also consider how a public transport spine will connect to the rest of the transport network.
The study is an important part of the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan, and will help Wellington identify and implement a range of multi-modal solutions to improve transport for all users. It will consider connections to the wider public transport network and support the urban intensification of this growth corridor.
An international review, including case studies of public transport systems in cities that have similar challenges and characteristics to Wellington, has been prepared as part of the spine study. A scoping report has also been produced by study consultant AECOM. Both reports are available at www.gw.govt.nz/ptspinestudy.
The international review provides valuable information about the cost, operation and design of various public transport options and will be used to evaluate options for Wellington. It includes case studies of 35 public transport systems around the world in places that share similar characteristics and challenges to Wellington. Each case study has one or more of three key characteristics: a bus based system with capacity problems, relatively constrained narrow transport routes and a suburban rail line at one end of the CBD with requires people to make additional journeys. Seeing how these challenges have been met elsewhere are valuable to the Wellington spine study.
The review identifies the key factors for a successful public transport spine as: an achievable, realistic and long-term strategy; effective inter-government cooperation and affordability. The most important design principles were that the vehicles travelling along the spine must have sufficient peak hour capacity and the system needs to be accessible to as many people as possible.
The spine study is expected to be completed early next year. Then public feedback will be sought on up to four feasible options. The Regional Transport Committee will consider the feedback and recommend a preferred option which will be fully assessed and implemented.
