FIT Wellington: Three Minute Summary

FIT/Generation Zero Presentation to GW RLTC meeting on item 7 on the agenda (BRT business plan): 10am Tuesday, 8 September 2015 at GW

FIT/Generation Zero Presentation to GW Sustainable Transport Committee meeting on part 3 of item 4 on the agenda (General Managers’ Report, Regional Transport Planning, BRT business case update): 9:30am Wednesday, 9 September 2015 at GW

• I represent FIT Wellington—Fair, Intelligent, Transport. Why ‘Fair’? Because we believe the spine study unfairly side-lined light rail with inflated costs. Why ‘Intelligent’? Because bulldozing a route through Mt Victoria and the unpopulated town belt is not intelligent: it will not fulfil the excellent aims of the spine study, “to produce a high quality, modern public transport system for the Greater Wellington region.”
• We comprise engineers, scientists, policy analysts and climate & health professionals, with community walking & cycling advocates.
• We present alongside Generation Zero: their generation will inherit plans made now.
• Jenny Chetwynd post-flyover says, “So it’s about going back to the community & taking a fresh approach.” Here we are, and here’s a fresh approach.
• John Milford of the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce says, “We need to get together to sort it out.” We’re ready when you are.
• Our solution for the Basin Reserve is simple. Our route will bypass and help decongest it.
• Our research shows that BRT as presently configured for Wellington does not qualify as such according to internationally-agreed BRT criteria—neither will it be rapid nor provide the capacity required.
• Here are route options which are credible, affordable and consistent with LRT best-practice world-wide. You have copies. I won’t go into detail: we did that in a very productive meeting with Greg Campbell and Wayne Hastie on Monday, 7 September 2015. The map should be viewed with the explanatory text and costings sent to Greg: we ask that he send it to all members of your committee.¹

• The route options are not the only possible: they are there for discussion.
• We prefer a route along the whole of Lambton Quay if technically possible.

• We agree that the currently-planned GW incremental bus improvements should go ahead as an interim measure…
• But we believe climate change and the shift away from fossil fuels require a paradigm shift.
• We need high capacity, all-electric public transport. It should be urgently planned for now.
• If we start today, Wellington could have a world-class light rail tram service between the Railway Station and the Airport, via the Hospital, by 2030: this for an estimated cost as low as $450 million.
• We are happy to enter discussions with all decision-makers and welcome questions now.

¹ See A New Public Transport Approach (↑)

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