Greater Wellington calls for community views on an efficient, accessible and low carbon public transport network

Public consultation on the draft Regional Public Transport Plan 2021 (RPTP) is open and Greater Wellington wants the community's views on improving our region's public transport network to help drive decarbonisation of vehicles, improve safety and customer experience, and increase public transport usage across the region.

The proposed RPTP outlines Greater Wellington's ambitions to reduce public transport emissions by more than 60% by 2030, drive a 40% increase in 'mode shift' to public transport by 2030, while maintaining a customer satisfaction target of 92% or higher.

Greater Wellington Transport Committee Chair Roger Blakeley says, "Our first point of call is to actively reduce public transport emissions by accelerating the decarbonisation of our region's bus fleet and pursuing additional electrification opportunities across both rail and ferry.

"This will include aiming to have over 100 electric buses by 2023, with a clear target to have all core bus services electric by 2030."

The RPTP guides the design and delivery of public transport services, information and infrastructure across the Wellington region and is developed in collaboration with our community.

It's about creating a framework that prioritises customer satisfaction, accessibility, and health and safety, says Cr Blakeley, so we can see more people shifting from private vehicles to public transport as well as connecting to public transport through more active modes of travel.

"To support our communities to make sustainable and active choices, we're advocating for a high quality, high capacity and high frequency core network. This will leverage the full benefits of various regional programmes such as Let's Get Wellington Moving, the Wellington Regional Growth Framework and the Regional Rail Strategic Direction," says Cr Blakeley.

"There are also some considerable customer experience improvements in the pipeline including improved real time information and simpler, integrated fares across rail, bus and ferry that will be delivered by the National Ticketing programme.

"We also want to prioritise safety, so the RPTP sets out continuous improvements to both infrastructure and operations to align with the regional transport targets of reducing serious injuries by 40% by 2030.

"Continuing to improve customer experience across all aspects of the network is also important and we're committing to maintaining a customer satisfaction rating greater than 92%.

"We really encourage the community to jump online and have their say, your views are really important to shaping the future of public transport in our region," adds Cr Blakeley.

To learn more about what is in the plan and share your thoughts on transport in the region visit Have Your Say or call us on 0800 496 734. Public consultation is open until 19 March 2021.