FIT Wellington: Mass Rapid Transit Talking Points 2026

Meeting with Greater Wellington 10:00 am, Thursday, 16 April 2026

Well done, keep going, don’t give up — there are genuine affordable modal alternatives between the car and heavy rail — buses are essential and will always be needed but they (alone) can never fill the “missing mode” gap.

Don’t be too ambitious to start with — make the first MRT (mass rapid transit) line something that will rally the maximum possible support and minimise opposition — such as: Ferry Terminals, Rail Station, City Centre to Hospital Parkway and Newtown — keep it as a core (busy all day, every day) line 1, with lots of potential for extensions to new constituencies in future — sell it as something that will help the motorist.

Make high ridership the primary criterion of success — it has to be accessible, popular and seen as a success — forget about the economics — make it about transit-oriented development, affordability and integration with the rest of the PT system — it needs to be free if another PT ticket is purchased, services must be very frequent, fast, high quality, reliable, and scalable. Interchange needs to be seamless. It may take a change of government to implement, but make sure the project is ready to fast-track when the planets are aligned.

Resist pressure to compromise service quality (frequency, speed, ride quality, capacity, etc) to reduce build costs. Learn from similar projects overseas — for a given budget, it is better to build a shorter line to a higher standard than a longer line to a lower standard. For example, set a goal that MRT vehicles can travel at 50 kph, non-stop, between stations. If the first line is a success, you will get money to extend it.

Treasury’s 2024 revisions to discount rates for cost–benefit analysis let planners take a longer term view of infrastructure projects. The revisions lift the present value of long-term benefits, making on-street light rail (capacity 3000–9000 passengers per hour) more cost-effective than a 2-lane busway (capacity 2000–5000 passengers per hour), for the N–S corridor.

Implementation speed is a critical factor. Starting actually building something inside 3 years should be your priority. You need people with genuine / real expertise, not the usual transport consultants turning up for the fee.

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