FIT Wellington is a group of Wellington professionals who support a change in transport priorities so the private motor vehicle no longer dominates our cities. Our vision is modern, vibrant, amenity-rich cities designed around the needs of people, not cars. FIT members have transport engineering, urban design, and climate and health expertise.

FIT welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on proposed changes to Harbour Quays [1]. We note the proposed changes will:

• improve reliability and increase capacity through the city centre
• help relieve congestion on the Golden Mile, which is already operating at high bus volumes during peak times
• support faster journeys to key destinations such as Queens Wharf, Te Papa, and Wellington Hospital
• include peak-hour bus lanes, upgraded stops, safety improvements, and some changes to parking and loading

FIT strongly supports these changes, while offering the following observations on how you could make the project even better.

1.  Emphasise productivity benefits.

More frequent, more reliable, faster bus services will make the bus network more useful to more people for more journeys, which will in turn lift ridership. As and when the project is fully implemented, buses will therefore be more productive. That is, the number of passenger trips per bus per year will increase. This will increase the asset utilization rate [2] of the most valuable asset — the bus fleet. Improved bus productivity (AUR) ought to be a project KPI.

2.  Consider all-day bus lanes.

The project proposes Part-time bus lanes operating Monday to Friday, 6:30–9:30AM and 3:30–6:30PM, giving buses priority during peak times only. FIT suggests it would be better for all road users to operate the bus lanes from 6:30AM to 6:30PM, Monday to Friday. During the inter-peak period, the Harbour Quays are less busy, and bus lanes would not delay general traffic. On the other hand, when a bus is at a bus stop, cars in the bus lane will prevent a following bus from reaching the stop or may seek to change lanes, potentially in an unsafe manner. There also needs to be clear signage on side roads, instructing left-turning cars to turn into the traffic lane, not the bus lane.

3.  Enhance pedestrian amenity.

New and upgraded bus stops near key destinations are necessary but not sufficient. The Harbour Quays are a traffic sewer. The project needs to incorporate pedestrian improvements that make it easier to cross a 6-lane traffic artery. Improvements could include wider footpaths at bus stops and eliminating the beg buttons at intersections. People on foot would automatically receive a walk light when the traffic light is red. This is standard practice overseas. As the California Bicycle Coalition notes [3]:

Beg buttons help car drivers by inconveniencing and slowing down walkers. Every time a city installs new beg buttons, that is a physical representation of prioritization of cars and disregard for pedestrians.

[…]

When cities turn beg buttons off, the light cycles from red to green and back again. Everyone gets a turn without hassle: bike riders, walkers, and car drivers.

4.  Enable transfers at Courtenay Place.

Consider modifying the plan to make it easier for people to transfer between local (Golden Mile) and express (Harbour Quays) services at the Embassy Theatre end of Courtenay Place. Reframe the discussion from emotional — people don’t like transfers and want a one-seat journey — to practical — people must be able to rely on transfers and increased service frequency and reliability reduce the time it takes to transfer between services. A second spine, in conjunction with bus reliability improvements on the Golden Mile, will ensure people can be confident of making connections between services.

5.  Continue a programme of bus stop balancing.

FIT supports bus stop balancing [4] — thoughtfully removing or relocating bus stops along major PT corridors to achieve more consistent spacing, maintain convenient access, and provide faster, more reliable service, with improved overall travel times. Fewer bus stops along a route delivers safer and smoother rides (less stopping, starting, and lane changing); and benefits other road users (more kerb space, more footpath space, and better traffic flow). The benefit of removing a poorly located stop, to the many already on the bus, outweighs the cost to the few, who are mildly inconvenienced by having to walk further.

✒

Michael Barnett
Convenor, FIT Wellington

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Glossary

AUR

Asset Utilization Rate

beg button

A call button used to request a walk signal at a pedestrian crossing (derogatory)

FIT

Fair Intelligent Transport

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

PT

Public Transport

traffic sewer

An arterial roadway with limited access on and off, conveying high volumes of vehicles, quickly over a sizeable distance, with little interaction between the roadway and surrounding land uses