Excerpts from Agendas and Meeting Minutes.
Alliance board agenda 26 September 2017
Item 4: Mass transit report
WSP was commissioned to undertake a review of the mass transit corridors. A preliminary
draft report was received in late August, and officers provided comments and requested some
additional detail to be provided.
A revised draft report is due to be received from WSP on 22 September. We intend to
circulate that report, together with a summary, ahead of the 26 September Board meeting.
We have invited 9(2)(a)
from WSP to attend the Board meeting and
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provide a brief presentation on the work, with a focus on the following issues:
• What is the best MRT route and why?
• Is this route the same for LRT and BRT?
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• How difficult is it to transition from BRT to LRT?
• What are the demand/capacity triggers that would require a move to MRT, and how do
these relate to the Wellington situation?
• Development pathways for bus and LRT-based MRT (s we discussed in our last
meeting).
At the 19 September Governance Group meeting, it was agreed that the scenario descriptions
should make specific reference to future mass transit (which could include light rail) and refer
to demand and capacity triggers, and show how mass transit would interact with other
interventions.
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We expect that the WSP work (and the issues outlined above) will help us to prepare this
material.
Alliance Board Meeting minutes, 26 September 2017
Mass Transit Report
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9(2)(a)
from WSP made a brief presentation on the conclusions of
their report “Wellington Mass Transit Independent Review”, which had been previously
circulated.
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The following points were raised in discussion:
• In general, there is a need to draw sharper conclusions which draw out the information
in the body of the report, especially in relation to demand, mass transit development
pathways, and what are able to do in the short term ahead of the first trigger point.
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Governance Group Agenda, 17 October 2017
Item 3: Mass transit report
WSP was commissioned in late June to undertake an independent review of mass transit
corridors in Wellington. A preliminary draft report was received from WSP in late August, and
staff met with WSP to review the draft and identify areas where further detail is required.
A revised draft was presented to the Alliance Board on 25 September, and a further draft
incorporating response to comments and questions raised at that meeting has now been
received. We have requested some further corrections to that draft and a final report is
expected to be available within the next week.
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The executive summary and conclusions from the most recent draft are attached (Attachment
A). We do not expect these to materially change as a result of the final amendments that have
been requested. A copy of the full report will be made available to the Governance group once
the final version is received.
The key conclusions from the report are:
• The public transport spine route recommended in the previous PT Spine Study (from
the railway station to Newtown and Kilbirnie/Airport) is the best performing route for
mass transit (either LRT or BRT)
• The pathway for implementation of mass transit is currently aligned towards a BRT
end state. The forecast patronage and associated transport benefits do not, of
themselves, indicate that a case could be made for investment in LRT, but land
development and property benefits could be significant
• There is a significant imbalance between forecast patronage on the Golden Mile n
dares to the south of the Basin Reserve. This may require a staged approach to
investment.
• Transitioning from BRT to LRT on the same alignment is difficult due to cost and
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service disruption. However, the future mass transit development pathway should
remain flexible to take advantage of future technology changes and new innovations.
• The short to medium term future should be a continual upgrading of the existing Act
corridor to optimise service patterns and provide more segregated running for buses.
Monitoring of passenger growth and land use development will identify the triggers for
transition to mass transit (likely to be in the next 10-15 years based on forecast growth
in demand).
This work suggests that the Let’s Get Wellington Moving implementation plan should include a
development pathway for mass transit which identifies the key investment trigger points,
including a decision on mass transit mode. Note that a decision on mode does not need to be
made immediately: the WSP report indicates that the demand projections suggest that the
need for a full mass transit investment is still some time off. The development pathway should
therefore enable progress to be made on establishing a segregated bus corridor, with a
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decision point on a full mass transit investment dependent on patronage growth and capacity.
For the upcoming engagement phase, it is proposed that we summarise these conclusions,
and note that the possible future mass transit development pathways differ between scenarios
as follows: LGWM Governance Group Agenda – 17 October 2017 Page 6 of 10
• Under Scenario A, any future investment in mass transit would be constrained by the
lack of any additional capacity for mass transit vehicles through Mt Victoria, and the
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need for mass transit vehicles to mix with general traffic at the Basin Reserve.
• Scenarios B, C and D each provide additional capacity through Mt Victoria and along
Ruahine Street which could be dedicated to mass transit; and separation of public
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transport from general traffic at the Basin Reserve. A mass transit development
pathway (either LRT or BRT) is therefore possible under each of these scenarios.
Governance Group Minutes, 17 October 2017
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Mass transit report
The Executive Summary and Conclusions of the consultants draft report were discussed. The
Alliance Director noted that the final report was subject to some further edits and is expected
to be finalised later in the week. It will be circulated to members once available.
There was discussion on whether the Executive Summary was sufficiently clear on the steps
that need to be taken. While the key conclusions are included in the report, the key
recommendations and pathway forward could be expressed more sharply in the Summary.
There was agreement that the engagement material should highlight the key conclusions from
the report in relation to the need to identify a pathway to mass transit, which includes the
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triggers for future investments (related to demand and urban development).
AGREED:
a) That the Alliance Director liaise with WSP to finalise the report and that it be
circulated to the Governance Group once available
b) That the engagement material refer to the key conclusions in the report and the
need to establish identify a pathway to mass transit within the scenarios
c) That WSP be invited to present the report as part of the engagement process
WAKA KOTAHI NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY
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Alliance Board Agenda, 26 October 2017
Mass Transit report
Following discussion of the draft WSP report at the Governance Group on 17 October, we
have asked WSP to make some final amendments to the report to ensure that the summary
and conclusions are clear. The final report is expected this week.
We have also discussed the possibility of WSP being available during the public engagement
phase to present their findings to the stakeholder groups who were involved in the early
stages of the work, and other interested groups. Subject to Board approval, we will make
arrangements for this in late November.
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Alliance Board Meeting Minutes, 26 October 2017
Alliance Director’s Update
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• The Alliance Director spoke to his report and noted the receipt of the final WSP report, and
that arrangements were being made to have WSP present to meet with stakeholders during
the engagement phase.
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WAKA KOTAHI NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY
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