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FIT Wellington calls on Wellington City Council to establish a 6-month trial of the proposed transport changes on the Golden Mile starting as soon as practicable.
There has been a move by some Wellington City and Regional Council councillors to terminate support for LGWM. There has also been long standing public concern at the inordinate delays. And a number of businesses have voiced opposition to the proposal to remove private motor vehicles from the GM.
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The main objective of the GM proposal was to improve the speed and reliability of the bus service, but the public consultation also revealed an interest in increased pedestrianisation. Businesses have been concerned that removal of parking etc would kill business along the GM, and thereby reduce the vibrancy of the city centre.
LGWM has indicated that the evidence supports the opposite, that closing the GM to private motorised traffic would actually improve retail spending. While people clearly want a better bus service, maintaining or improving the vibrancy of the area is obviously also of critical interest. How to obtain convincing evidence?
There have been letters to The Post newspaper suggesting a trial. We think this is a great idea. We suggest a 6-month trial, involving street closures as per option 2 in the SSBC, as that maximises bus performance improvement and involves less change from the present than option 3 (the preferred option). Bus stops would be moved as recommended by Metlink, but the electronic boards could be left where they are during the trial. Beyond the cost of some road paint, installation of a few signs and the necessary public communications, costs would be minimal.
We realise that a trial is a bit more complicated than the above indicates, because there is a myriad of issues such as traffic resolutions, access for delivery vehicles and mobility parking etc that still need to be resolved. But for a trial it is less important to get the details right, in fact the trial itself will reveal in many instances how the various problems could be resolved. Design of the final plan and consultation thereon can continue during the trial.
The trial would resolve the basic questions by revealing whether business would be adversely impacted or not, and whether the bus service would enjoy a significant improvement. If the outcome of these measurements is positive, then the benefits would be visible as opposed to only theoretical. LGWM and WCC could then proceed to full implementation with more confidence, and with less opposition.
And LGWM would be seen to be actually doing something on the ground.