Bus feedback to be analysed

About 5,500 responses have been received on the proposed changes to Wellington City bus services and are about to be analysed and evaluated by Greater Wellington transport planners.

The proposed changes aim to create a new bus network for Wellington City, with high frequency, 6-am – midnight services on core routes, better cross-city connections, and more services at weekends and evenings in most suburbs.

When feedback on the changes has been evaluated and analysed a report will be presented to councillors, proposing the next steps for the bus review.

Peter Glensor, Chair of Greater Wellington’s Economic Wellbeing Committee, says early indications are that there’s a mixture of positive and negative feedback. “As is the case with most consultation, you’re more likely to hear from people who aren’t happy with what’s being proposed. For example, I’m aware of people who haven’t responded because their travel would be more or less the same under the proposed changes so they didn’t feel they needed to give feedback.”

He says the large number of responses should provide staff with a clear picture of the aspects of the proposals that need further work.

“Certainly from the information sessions that were held, the emails that we received and from reports by councillors of meetings they attended, there seem to be some common issues which will need to be worked through.

“There’s been a lot of interest in proposed connections and people are very keen that shelters at connection points are adequate and connections would be coordinated well. If we do proceed with connections, we would be committed to ensuring that shelters were more than adequate in terms of size, safety and comfort and that all such shelters were in place before the changes took effect. Connections would have to be carefully planned and timed; that would be absolutely crucial.

“There’s also been a lot of interest in the proposed changes to bus services in the northern suburbs so we’ll be working through issues there as we will with issues in other areas.

Cr Glensor said during the consultation there was some misinformation circulated about the proposals for trolley buses. "Under the proposed changes, the trolley bus fleet would be fully utilised.”

Cr Glensor said all the feedback would be analysed over the next six to eight weeks. “It will take some time to evaluate the responses and develop the next steps in this process. Trying to balance the desire for an efficient, consistent and coordinated bus network with the wide range of travel needs is a big challenge.”

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