The Green Party’s Wellington Transport Plan

Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, August 25th, 2017 - 2 comments
Categories: climate change, cycleway, energy, public transport, sustainability, transport - Tags:

The Green Party launched their Wellington Transport Policy last night, building on previous transport and related policies, and tying PT directly to the need to act on climate change and for NZ to become a world leader in transitioning to a low carbon economy.

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Press release from greens.org.nz:

The Green Party will save families and students money, reduce pollution, and make it easier to get around Wellington.

We will fast track light rail to Newtown and the Airport, help deliver a fully electric bus fleet, and make Wellington safe for cycling.

Wellington is at a crossroads. Our population is growing, our buses are at capacity, and traffic is getting worse. Wider motorways and more flyovers will bring more traffic into the city. The Green Party has a different vision, where people have real choices about how to travel, high capacity, modern public transport allows thousands more people to access the city centre, and more space is provided for people to walk and cycle safely.

Make it affordable: the Green Card

  • free buses and trains, all the time, for everyone under the age of 19
  • free off-peak buses and trains for tertiary students and apprentices
  • free off-peak buses and trains for people living with a disability
  • continuing the SuperGold Card for people over 65.

A major part of Wellington’s morning traffic is made up of the morning school run. Getting more kids on buses and trains will help free up the roads for everyone else. Students and parents will have one less cost to worry about.

See more about free public transport in Our Transport Plan.

Make light rail happen

  • by 2025 light rail from the train station to Newtown
  • by 2027 light rail extended to Kilbirnie and the airport
  • commission a scoping study to extend light rail routes to Miramar, Island Bay, and rail into Lower Hutt.

Make buses cleaner and cycling safer

  • support councils to deliver a fully electric bus system, by 2030
  • invest $30m – $50 million to help retain and improve trolley buses and infrastructure
  • $135 million over 10 years to help councils to build safe city-wide cycling networks, including the Wellington to Hutt Valley cycleway.

Regional rail improvements

  • Commit to funding the Capital Connection commuter service to Palmerston North
  • Improve services on the Wairarapa line by providing consistent funding and double tracking the line between Trentham and Upper Hutt.

The Green Party’s Wellington transport plan can be fully funded by re-prioritising existing spending away from low-value and non-urgent transport projects.

Read the full policy or the policy summary

Read about our other transport policies:

2 comments on “The Green Party’s Wellington Transport Plan ”

  1. Philj 1

    Government spending billions on motorways will be seen as reckless waste of an opportunity to change the future direction of NZ’s transport. It was a response to the Trucking Lobby group lead by former Labour/Act member Ken Shirley. In times to come they could be great cycleways, just like the railways lol!

  2. mosa 2

    I am not a Wellingtonian but it is a no brainer this latest Green policy it just makes sense.

    I love the Green card idea and that will be an incentive to support public transport that is safe and eventually carbon neutral.

    Electric rail all the way and set up right it will make a huge difference.

    What are we waiting for !!!!!!!

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