Dear Wellington Regional Council,

The GWRC is currently consulting on its Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) in which Section 4.4 defines Rapid transit in the Wellington region. The proposed RPTP states:
"The GPS [Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) 2021-31] defines rapid transit as “A quick, frequent, reliable and high-capacity public transport service that operates on a permanent route (road or rail) that is largely separated from other traffic.” The National Policy Statement for Urban Development (NPS-UD) shares the same definition for ‘rapid transit service’, but extends it to “any existing or planned” service. “Planned” means planned in a regional transport plan such as this plan.

The NPS-UD introduces a new requirement for Wellington’s regional policy statement, and the district plans of Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt City, Porirua City and Kāpiti Coast District, to potentially enable building heights of at least 6 storeys within at least a walkable catchment of current and planned rapid transit stops. This means that rapid transit identified in this plan has a connection to the land use controls in these RMA documents.
...
The rapid transit network and services for the Wellington region comprises the Kāpiti, Hutt, Melling and Johnsonville rail corridors. The Mass Rapid Transit corridor proposed by the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) programme will also form part of this rapid transit network."
(Draft RPTP Pages 66-67)

The Johnsonville Community Association is interested in the criteria used by the GWRC to assess which Wellington public transport services are deemed to be "rapid transit" and which public transport stops are deemed to be a rapid transit stops, the assistance the GWRC received in developing these criteria and how the GWRC applied these criteria to determine which locations are rapid transit stops in the city.

1) Can the GWRC please provide the definition of "quick" it used in deciding whether a Wellington PT service meets the "rapid transit" service speed criteria outlined in the GPS?

2) Can the GWRC please provide the definition of "frequent" it used in deciding whether a Wellington PT service meets the "rapid transit" service frequency criteria outlined in the GPS?

3) Can the GWRC please provide the definition of "reliable" it used in deciding whether a Wellington PT service meets the "rapid transit" service reliability criteria outlined in the GPS?

4) Can the GWRC please provide the definition of "high-capacity" it used in deciding whether a Wellington PT service meets the "rapid transit" service capacity criteria outlined in the GPS?

5) Can the GWRC please provide the definition of "a permanent route (road or rail) that is largely separated from other traffic" it used in deciding whether a Wellington PT service meets the "rapid transit" separated from other traffic criteria outlined in the GPS ?

6) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the reports, presentations or working papers where the definitions of "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop" were analysed or discussed?

7) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the meeting or workshop agendas, presentations, minutes or meeting notes at which the definitions of "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop" were analysed or discussed?

8) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the reports, presentations or working papers where there was discussion on whether the Johnsonville Line; the Melling Line and/or any specific bus service would or would not meet the definitions of being a "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop”?

9) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the meeting or workshop agendas, presentations, minutes or meeting notes where there was discussion on whether the Johnsonville Line; the Melling Line and/or any specific bus service would or would not meet the definitions of being a "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop”?

10) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the correspondence with any central government ministry, department or agency where the definitions of "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop" were analysed or discussed?

11) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the correspondence with any other local government councils or agencies where the definitions of "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop" were analysed or discussed?

12) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the correspondence with any central government ministries, departments or agencies where there was discussion on whether the Johnsonville Line; the Melling Line and/or any specific bus service would or would not meet the definitions of being a "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop”?

13) Can the GWRC please provide copies of the correspondence with any other local government councils or agencies where there was discussion on whether the Johnsonville Line; the Melling Line and/or any specific bus service would or would not meet the Spatial Plan definitions of being a "rapid transit service" and/or "rapid transit stop”?

If the requested information is held in electronic form, it is preferred that it be provided in its complete and original electronic format. It is also preferred that any information the GWRC may believe is out of scope is NOT redacted.

Finally, the JCA requires this information to inform a submission on the RPTP and so, as public submissions are due by the 19th of March, it requests the information is provided by the 12th of March so it can be considered for our submission.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Randle