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FIT Wellington: Public Transport Spine Study

The PTSS (Public Transport Spine Study) considered the option of light rail for Wellington and found it was high cost ($938m), low benefit (less than half that of the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) proposal). To understand this conclusion, we can assess the proposed light rail route against the requirements in the Art of Light Rail Insertion. PTSS assessed against requirements compares how well the PTSS light rail proposal meets these requirements.

Requirement	PTSS	Comment on PTSS
Tie the city together	✗ ✗	Chosen route divided and incoherent with minimal interchanges Slow trips because most routes are shared with buses
Require high-performance vehicles	✓ ✓	Modern modular-construction light rail vehicles with high passenger-carrying capacity
Have widely spaced stops	✗ ✗	Impractical on a route shared with buses
Reach major destinations	✗	Missed destinations include the Airport, education and recreation centres and higher-density residential and mixed-use areas (Newtown, Mt Cook and Te Aro)
Form the core of an integrated network	✗	Little attempt to increase system-wide trip speeds or integrate with rail or bus services

PTSS assessed against requirements shows we should not be surprised the Spine Study [1] found the light rail proposal was low benefit.

The route selection is poor, involving a Y shape with one leg going to Hataitai/Kilbirnie and one leg going to Newtown. The consequence is to impose an unnecessary $200M cost on light rail for a second Mt Victoria tunnel along a route that doesn’t align well with high growth areas such as Te Aro, Newtown and Kilbirnie. As a consequence the modelling does not pick up higher patronage benefits from growth areas. The frequency of service south of the split is halved on each leg, making it less attractive than an unsplit route.

Also, questionable assumptions in the modelling seriously understate the benefits of light rail. It assumes few people shift out of their cars on to light rail and it ignores international experience that introducing light rail can achieve an immediate growth in public transport patronage of up to 25% due to increased service standards, which result in reduced congestion for all road users with significant time saving benefit. The PTSS ignores land use benefits and value uplift from intensification around light rail transit nodes and corridors as experienced overseas. It ignores the greater capacity of light rail.

The operating costs for light rail in the study were also inflated. They included maintenance of rail tracks which may be less than road maintenance costs created by the proposed double-decker buses now planned. These large heavy vehicles were not predicted in the study. Staffing costs were also cited to be more expensive for light rail where, in fact, costs will be lower: a single driver can operate a multi-segment light rail vehicle carrying high passenger loads which would otherwise require multiple buses, each with its driver. The proposed route was also intrinsically and unnecessarily high cost. All these factors combine to make the Spine Study’s costs for light rail unnecessarily expensive.

Given the light rail route chosen, the Spine Study’s cost–benefit analysis correctly found that the proposal did not stack up economically.

However, the route options proposed in A New Public Transport Approach fully meet the requirements—delivering significantly higher benefits at lower cost. See FIT assessed against requirements.

Requirement	FIT	Comment on FIT
Tie the city together	✓ ✓	Chosen route link interchanges at the Railway Station, Manners St, Wellington Hospital and Kilbirnie Fast trips because high-capacity vehicles allow a high priority without delaying other traffic Existing golden mile route retained for congestion-free local buses
Require high-performance vehicles	✓ ✓	Modern modular-construction light rail vehicles with high passenger-carrying capacity
Have widely spaced stops	✓ ✓	Average stop spacing about 700 metres for fast running, on a dedicated right-of-way for most of the route
Reach major destinations	✓ ✓	Airport, Rita Angus home, Kilbirnie and Newtown shops, Mt Cook/Massey Campus, plus four interchanges
Form the core of an integrated network	✓ ✓	All bus routes running to or south of the Railway Station connect with light rail at one or more interchanges, with timetables aligned to minimise transfer times

The proposed route would operate on a dedicated right-of-way for most of the line, which may make driverless operation practical by the time light rail comes to fruition in Wellington, thereby significantly reducing the operating cost.

This analysis shows light rail needs another look, based on a route that reflects current best practice.

FIT Wellington: Public Transport Spine Study

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