Hubbing nightmare, round two

Commuters, be warned – your hubbing days are not yet over.

Just as Greater Wellington Regional Council tries to reduce the number of transfers required under its new bus network, it’s warning commuters that a proposed mass transit system could see the problem rear its head again.

The proposed $2.2 billion rapid transit system would run between Wellington Railway Station and Wellington Airport, connecting with feeder buses from outer suburbs and elsewhere in the city. Although the preferred technology has yet to be finalised – it could be light rail, trackless trams or a rapid bus route.

Regional councillor Daran Ponter said the system would require some commuters to transfer where they currently did not need to.

‘‘Mass rapid transit has the potential to revisit the issue of forced transfers on the Wellington commuting public by connecting local buses to a central spine and forcing many people who currently have a direct service into the city to have to transfer,’’ Ponter said in a motion that will be presented to the council’s sustainable transport committee on Wednesday.

‘‘The presumption is that all modes will require a degree of hubbing and transferring. It is likely to have greater effect on those communities near the mass rapid transit corridor [ie, in the eastern and southern suburbs].’’

That outcome was at odds with the council’s push to reduce the number of transfers required since the region’s network was revamped last year, Ponter said.

Many commuters have expressed frustration with the new set-up, with transferring now required on 7 per cent of trips, compared with 4 per cent under the old network. Those connections have often been problematic with late or crowded buses.

The mass transit system has been proposed as part of the $6.4 billion Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) programme, a joint initiative between the regional council, Wellington City Council and the New Zealand Transport

Agency to fix traffic congestion between the airport and Ngauranga Gorge.

It would run from the railway station along the waterfront quays and Taranaki St, past the Basin Reserve to Newtown, then through Kilbirnie to the airport.

Ponter has called on the council to ask the LGWM team to provide a detailed estimate of expected transfers for each of the different options alongside its business case for the mass transit system.

Meanwhile, initial findings from the council’s review into the design of the new network have reaffirmed concerns among commuters.

Chief among those are complaints from Strathmore Park and Miramar North residents about needing to catch two buses to get to Newtown or central Wellington. The council is looking at reinstalling some direct services on those routes.

Feedback from an online survey for the eastern suburbs and the rest of the city will be finalised on September 22, with recommendations on improvements to be released in December.

‘‘Mass rapid transit has the potential to revisit the issue of forced transfers.’’ Daran Ponter

Greater Wellington Regional Council