Bus plan part of wider review proposal
A bus service between Wakefield and Nelson, and Motueka and Nelson, may be part of a proposed review of public transport services.
Tasman District Council’s regional transport committee supported a staff proposal for three-stage review. Committee chairman Stuart Bryant said its recommendation would go to the full council this month.
The move comes after a petition calling for a trial of a bus service between Wakefield and Nelson received more than 1000 signatures. That was followed by calls for a bus service between Motueka-Mapua and Nelson at a public meeting in Mapua.
In a report for the Tasman regional transport committee, activity planning manager Dwayne Fletcher says the matter is a public transport issue for TDC, Nelson City Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency.
‘‘There is merit in considering and assessing public transport options to and within the Waimea area including services that terminate in Nelson,’’ Fletcher says. ‘‘This is because this is Tasman’s most heavily populated area and brings people to and from the largest area of employment [Richmond/Nelson].’’
Staff propose the review will include bus services between Richmond south and Richmond/ Nelson; bus services between Wakefield/Brightwater and Richmond/Nelson, and bus services between Motueka/Mapua and Richmond/Nelson.
Fletcher says staff also intend to review alternatives to bus services that may achieve similar outcomes, such as councilsupported carpooling schemes.
Brief initial discussions have been had with NZTA, Nelson City Council and an external consultant who has previous experience with the development of the NBus service. As a result, staff intend to follow a three-step process: a feasi- bility study, business case and plan amendments.
If the feasibility study shows there is merit in further investigating a bus service to one or more communities, then a business case would be required. A business case would include a benefit-cost ratio along with infor- mation used to support development of the programme such as forecast network demand, option assessment, sensitivity testing and supporting information for patronage and fare revenue projections.
Staff propose to complete the first step by mid-2017.