B5 Boom time for public transport
Critics of public transport are not telling the whole story, argues Paul Swain.
IFWE were producing an end of year report card on public transport in the Wellington region, our funders should be happy. Real progress has been made, some tough challenges have been met and more and more trips are being made on our trains and buses.
This is a completely different story to Wellington City councillor Nicola Young’s recent opinion piece. ( HOP off the dud Auckland wagon, December 19)
During the last financial year public transport patronage across the region has risen, not declined as asserted by Young. This growth in public transport usage enabled us to hold off any fare increases this year, which was well publicised at the time.
Rail patronage has leapt by 8 per cent from July to October this year, compared to the same period last year. This is the result of investment in trains and infrastructure from both central and regional government and it caps off years of steady growth since 2011 when the first of the new Matangi trains started running. We are currently on track for the highest annual rail passenger numbers ever. It’s hard to know why Young would claim that there has been ‘‘no increase in patronage’’ when the figures are all on public record.
As a regular train user, I can personally attest to the huge improvements in both reliability and service over the last few years.
This was also the first full year that Real Time Information has been available for all Metlink services in Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kapiti. The Real Time Information (RTI) display screens, which are only part of the whole system, are an important addition to a more user friendly, convenient, public transport network.
Like many systems around the world, RTI has had its teething problems, but we are gradually ironing out the creases.
No-one would want to go back to relying solely on paper timetables. For Young to label RTI as ‘‘wretchedly inaccurate’’, when they are linked to the bus and train GPS systems, is wretchedly inaccurate.
Around the middle of this year, after a lengthy consultation process, the council decided that Wellington’s trolley buses would be replaced by hybrids as a transition to a fully batteryelectric fleet when that technology has matured. If we’d kept the trolley buses ratepayers would be facing a $50 million-plus bill for upgrading the trolley bus power supply network, which dates back to the trams, and ratepayers would be spending millions of dollars annually to maintain the overhead wires. Our view was that the ratepayer shouldn’t be burdened with these costs. This point was conveniently overlooked in Young’s comments about the bus fleet options.
Replacing the trolleys also enables us to introduce a new, vastly improved bus network for Wellington City with routes that aren’t dictated by the overhead wire system. This means, for example, we can have high frequency bus routes running across the city from Johnsonville to Island Bay and from Karori to Seatoun. Fewer routes will start or end in the CBD meaning less bus congestion and faster journey times. Another improvement that will enable faster journeys will be a new fares and ticketing system where passengers will be able to use one electronic payment method for all travel on buses, trains and the harbour ferry. Contrary to the statement from Young, no decision has been made on who should provide the system. We are still in the investigation phase of the project.
Once the business case has been approved, the new electronic system will be put out for tender in late 2015, so we can be sure that ratepayers and taxpayers will get value for money.
I am certain that many providers of these types of systems, both here and overseas, will put in a bid. The preferred provider of Wellington’s ticketing system is due to be selected in early 2016.
All this information is publicly available.
Finally, it would be great if it were true that fuel and wage costs
If we’d kept the trolley buses ratepayers would be facing a $50 millionplus bill for upgrading the trolley bus power supply network, which dates back to the trams.
are absorbed by the public transport operator, as asserted by Young. Sadly, it’s not. Taxpayers and ratepayers help subsidise the cost of public transport, including fuel and wages. This type of public transport subsidy is pretty standard around the world given the costs of operating trains, buses and harbour ferries.
The next couple of years are going to be very big for public transport in the region. Along with working on a new fares and ticketing system, a new bus network and new fleet options we’ll be bringing in an extra 35 new Matangi trains, giving the Wellington region a train fleet that will be as modern and reliable as anywhere in the world. Bring it on, I say.