Wellington public transport: $134m shortfall in funding - council

5:39 pm on 10 September 2024

A reduction in school and ferry services and further increasing of fares could be on the cards for Wellington commuters. File photo. Photo: Greater Wellington Regional Council

Wellington transport fares could go up - while bus, train and ferry services could be cut back - due to a lack of government investment, according to council claims.

Greater Wellington Regional Council estimates funding cuts in the government's National Land Transport Programme - released last week - have led to a $134 million shortfall.

The government plans to spend $33 billion on transport in the next three years.

But the Wellington council is not happy with the funding allocations in the programme. Chairperson Daran Ponter has written a letter to all local MPs and mayors in the region, claiming more than 40 of their transport infrastructure projects had seen declined funding.

Ponter said that this had happened with little to no explanation, and that their council was "surprised and disappointed" by the funding cut backs.

He said that while they were still assessing the extent of the changes, they estimated a $134 million shortfall over the next three years.

Ponter said the council could not cover any of the funding shortfall through increased rates, and would be considering cost-saving measures such as reducing school and ferry services, rationalising high cost/low patronage routes and further increasing fares.

The letter included a list of the projects he claimed were now at risk.

These included buying land for the new Melling Station site, seismic strengthening work for the Ngauranga Railway Station, business case work for new train carriages and a range of technology upgrades across the region.

He said the council had been developing its draft Wellington Regional Public Transport Plan, which would now be put on hold while it reset its priorities due to the funding problems.

The affected projects mentioned in the letter include:

Wellington City

Golden Mile: Bus shelters and real time information infrastructure along the new Golden Mile redevelopment.
Regional Busways Programme: Funding to work with WCC, PCC and HCC to develop high frequency, bus prioritisation corridors including roading and traffic signal changes.
No 2 bus route: Roading and infrastructure upgrades to the route 2 to allow higher capacity Articulated Electric Buses (particularly out of Karori which is at maximum bus capacity).
On-demand: Future rollout of regional on-demand services are now not expected to be continued. Funding for continued operations and maintenance of the Tawa app-based service under review.
Johnsonville Transport Hub: Redevelopment Feasibility, Business Casing, and Design for a new Johnsonville Transport Hub and Interchange.
Ngauranga Railway Station: Seismic Strengthening.
Council depot and charging infrastructure implementation: Required for future bus growth, fleet electrification and competitive tending of bus services.
Johnsonville stop D: To provide sufficient bus shelter capacity and parking capacity to meet current demand for additional bus services.
Wellington bus layovers: Development for a CBD bus parking spaces required for bus charging and network growth.
Lambton Quay Interchange: Intended purchase of WCC assets to enable longer term reinvestment in critical infrastructure.
Thorndon Road and City Street (Karori): Addition of new bus shelters.
Driver facilities: Six additional toilets at key layovers across the city.
Hospital Joint Transport Strategy: Funding for travel initiatives to and from Wellington Hospital.

Hutt City

Waterloo Station: Replacing the end-of-life station (including roof), development of a bus interchange, significant upgrades to station amenity and accessibility.
Woburn Station: Seismic strengthening of end-of-life station including new station upgrades and/or replacement.
Council depot and charging infrastructure implementation: Required for future bus growth, fleet electrification and competitive tending of bus services.
Regional Busways Programme: Funding to work with WCC, PCC and HCC to develop high-frequency bus prioritisation corridors, including roading and traffic signal changes.
Queensgate Interchange: Improvements for Central Hutt Interchange for customer security and experience.
Route 110: Infrastructure change and improvements to enable higher capacity Electric Double Decker buses.
Riverlink: Melling station land purchase for new station site.
Driver facilities: Six additional toilets at key layovers across the city.
Charge and Ride pilot: To allow EV vehicle drivers to charge their EV at Park and Ride facilities when they take the train.

Porirua

New bus route from between Cambourne, Plimmerton and Pukerua Bay.
Regional Busways Programme: Funding to work with WCC, PCC and HCC to develop high-frequency, bus prioritisation corridors including roading and traffic signal changes.
Porirua Subway Ramps: Seismic strengthening of subway walls.
Porirua Bus Hub: New bus interchange infrastructure and accessways.
Council depot and charging infrastructure implementation: Required for future bus growth,

fleet electrification and competitive tending of bus services.