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The National–ACT–NZ First coalition’s decision to withdraw central government funding from LGWM raises the question of where to from here. The problems LGWM was set up to solve have not gone away; if anything, they have got worse. FIT Wellington has identified several key issues facing the city and regional councils. The need for change is greater than ever.
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The Golden Mile project would have improved bus reliability, reduced bus travel times, and enriched the pedestrian environment through the city centre. Bus services are only as good as the roads they run on. The project recognised WCC’s duty as road controlling authority to provide GWRC as public transport provider with a road network that supports and enables good public transport.
If funding constraints limit the 2 councils’ ability to deliver the Golden Mile project in full, a scaled-back project, based on Option 2 in the Single Stage Business Case, may be feasible. This would deliver the public transport benefits in full, while leaving open the option to invest in further improvements for pedestrians at a future date.
A scope initially limited to public transport improvements may more easily secure Waka Kotahi (NZTA) funding.
Population growth projections for the city to Island Bay corridor, and opportunities to develop medium density housing along a rapid transit route, make investment in better public transport essential and urgent. The projected cost of a LRT line presents a high barrier to overcome. But the alternative the current government favours, BRT on a 2-lane busway, will not deliver the capacity needed to meet projected future demand.
As long as light rail projects in New Zealand are projected to cost up to 5 times as much per kilometre as comparable projects in Europe and North America, they are going to be hard to justify to a parsimonious central government. FIT has been unable to find out why light rail projects cost so much more in New Zealand than elsewhere. Perhaps this is a question for the Infrastructure Minister.
Maybe MRT in Wellington needs a radical re-think. The aerial cable car company Doppelmayr released a report in November 2023 that identifies the Island Bay corridor as a high-value candidate for an above-street cable car. According to Doppelmayr, this option could deliver the same capacity as an on-street light rail line, faster, cheaper and with less disruption.
LGWM identified travel demand management as an issue requiring further investigation in future. Given the funding challenges facing Wellington’s transport projects, the future is here and it’s time to consider time-of-use congestion charges. FIT envisages a cordon around the city centre, with a charge applied for crossing the cordon during peak times.
Commuters from the Kāpiti Coast and Hutt Valley already have a choice of excellent public transport options, in the form of the train services. FIT can see no good reasons for not introducing congestion charges for cars entering and leaving the city from the north. Those wishing to avoid the charge can choose the train. Further charges can then be introduced as projects to improve public transport choices come to fruition.
Wellington may wish to support Auckland in that city’s discussions with the Minister of Transport on the enabling legislation and congestion charging systems. FIT supports action sooner rather than later.
Te Waihanga (New Zealand Infrastructure Commission) has identified 5 ways we can lift our game when it comes to delivering infrastructure:
Ensure government acts as a sophisticated client of infrastructure. This means taking the time to understand what we are building before we set out to build it, establishing good processes and principles for making decisions about project scope and design, and investing in the right capability to plan, procure, and manage infrastructure.
Strengthen independent advice for infrastructure prioritisation and establish a pipeline of future investment to ensure more certainty in proposed projects.
Be open to new technologies and methods. New Zealand’s success in delivering wind farms at a similar cost to other high-income countries and ability to rapidly benefit from global improvements to wind turbine design highlights the value of adopting new technology.
Ensure efficient planning and consenting systems are in place that can make it easier to develop cost-effective infrastructure solutions and avoid costs arising from delays or scope uncertainty. Resource Management reform is an opportunity to reduce the delays in project planning and achieve good environmental and infrastructure outcomes in a more predictable way.
Conduct ongoing infrastructure delivery cost benchmarking to have a better understanding of what projects should cost.
To what extent do WCC and GWRC follow these practices? Lack of bipartisan support for major infrastructure projects has created a boom–bust cycle. This needs to change.