Lets Get Wellly Moving Tender says Light Rail will make our traffic worse with no service improvement

Stephen from Hataitai

I have attached a copy of the Lets Get Welly Moving Tender released on 13 November.

In brief, this document states:
- WCC has chosen light rail along the water front.
- The result of MRT competing for road space will be to push traffic to less suitable routes such as around the bays.
- It only aims to be better than driving a car (not better than our current bus service)
- The tender says nothing about the impact of blockages resulting from vehicle crashes or building incidents such as the Kilbirnie Crescent Dairy fire
- There is nothing the safety risk to pedestrians and cyclists along the route


Here are page references and excerpts for the above statements:

MRT competing for road space:
a. “traffic diversion is expected to less suitable routes such as around the bays or through Newtown. This issue is expected to become more critical as other modes compete for road space on these routes (i.e. mass transit through Newtown)” (pg 145)
b. The consultant “needs to understand the impacts of displaced traffic from the MRT route, and work with the City Streets team to understand mitigation options that could be considered” and “needs to assess the impact on the wider network of traffic displaced from the MRT route, and work closely with the Analytics Unit and the City Streets team to understand what options could be considered to help manage and mitigate the impacts of displaced traffic” (pg 104)

“Beyond the CBD/central city, engineering solutions are likely to be more expensive and potentially lower patronage potential (due to more dispersed development patterns south and east of Newtown) could be challenging.” (pg 96)

Page 96 states that MRT in Wellington should have the following characteristic:
“fast and reliable and a genuinely attractive alternative to the car . It should explicitly have said:
a. fast and reliable and a genuinely attractive alternative to the current bus network; or
b. “doesn’t impact on the current bus system/timetables encouraging people to use cars”.
This is important because MRT should result in a better service for passengers than the current bus service for people travelling on the MRT route and should not impact other bus users e.g. if the bus service is reduced.
It is a major concern that the list of factors that need to be taken into consideration for the business case (pg 102) omits to explicitly include
a. A safety assessment for impact on pedestrians and cyclists along the route. There is a significant risk of deaths and injuries as evidenced with overseas LRT given the proposed route passes through the National War Memorial Park and Newtown shops.
b. The impact of blockages resulting from vehicle crashes or building incidents such as the Kilbirnie Crescent Dairy fire

It appears someone in the WCC has signed Wellington up to LRT and a route via the waterfront. See excerpts below (pg 94) .
a. "WCC proposes to adopt the baseline route and Light Rail Transit (LRT) as the recommended route and mode as the basis of engagement given the conclusions of the PBC"
b. The LGWM MRT project does not have a preferred position on the modal technology to be used, aside from being a street-running mass transit mode (e.g. LRT, trackless tram or bus-based systems).

MRT_SH IBC RFT FINAL.pdf Download View