Rapid Light Rail for Wellington - An Economic Option

Classy Rapid Light Rail appeals to people more than bus and rail transport. This is a continual finding from market research undertaken overseas. So much so, that people are usually prepared to pay double the fare for the same trip. That’s because just like cars, the image, status, and higher quality of modern trams gives them the ‘feel-good’ factor, and feeling good about ourselves is a fundamental desire that should be key in planning our future transport.

The city side of the boulevard along the waterfront quays from the station to the Embassy is the ideal corridor to introduce RLR into New Zealand and can be easily extended to the Stadium and CentrePort. A junction onto the main line will enable the existing rail depot facilities to be used. The dilapidated eastern side of the railway station would be revitalised with a new platform & veranda.

We can have a rapid, high capacity service taking 7 minutes from the Embassy to the station at twice the speed of buses. There is only one corner where Wakefield St meets Cambridge & Kent Terraces, and only three stations; at Clarries for Lambton Quay (a 200m walk)and Queens Wharf; the back of Civic Square for Willis & Cuba Streets (both 200m); and behind Reading Cinemas for Te Papa (200m )and Courtenay Place, (a 100m walk). The stations will provide easy and quick walks to all Golden Mile destinations. Moreover as the main arterial public transport, it will enable some diesel buses to be withdrawn from Lambton Quay enhancing the pedestrian experience of our nation’s premier retail and business street.

Three-quarters of our region’s population lives north of the railway station and around 11 million trips per year are made by rail to and from the station. Most of these are to places of work or study within a walking distance of the station. The RLR would not seek to attract these ‘healthy walking’ trips but aim to attract the rail users who transfer to buses, or the car users who currently don’t use public transport because of the ‘steel to rubber wheels transfer penalty’.

The airport at the southern end provides a strategic ultimate destination for the service. The airport is not a major trip generator, but it provides an anchor destination conveying an exotic association for locals and a highly marketable image for visitors. As a strategic transport link it will help garner national funding support. Airport patronage is forecast to double from 5 to 10 million trips in 2030. The high quality Airport Flyer bus service is highly rated, unsubsidised and clear evidence that people will pay for higher quality. RLR would build on this demand by providing an even higher quality service and a service less subject to unreliable traffic conditions.

Our initial costs based on official UK Department of Transport figures place the infrastructure cost at $93 million for the three kilometre first stage from the Stadium to the Embassy. Two pairs of RLR vehicles could provide a 10 minute shuttle with the vehicles leased rather than purchased out-right. Our project would be designed to achieve an economic benefit-cost ratio of 1.3 which should justify most of the capital costs to be funded by central government.

Daryl Cockburn (Architect & Planner) & Dr Neil Douglas (Economist) September 1st 2013

ENDS

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