Latest news with #DaranPonter
Scoop
6 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Next Steps Towards More And Quicker Bus Trips
Greater Wellington Regional Council/ Metlink/ Wellington City Council – Joint news release: Plans for a long-awaited second Wellington city centre bus route running along the waterfront quays are beginning to take shape, and the Capital's two councils will decide in August whether to progress them. Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Daran Ponter says the second bus priority route is the only way to grow Wellington's bus network. 'This is not a nice-to-have, it's a must. Without critical improvements to the Golden Mile and an established Harbour Quays spine, the logjam of buses through the city will make it impossible to deliver the bus capacity Wellington needs,' says Cr Ponter. 'It's time for faster, more frequent buses and less reinventing of plans and investigations that lead to the same conclusions. People in Wellington don't want more failed transport plans, they want better bus services.' Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau says the proposed creation of a new waterfront bus route will anticipate the increasing demands on the city's roading infrastructure. 'This new bus route will offer a high-capacity, reliable, and environmentally friendly transport alternative. 'If the Council gives its green light in August, we will be engaging with Wellingtonians about the new route and their insights will be invaluable,' adds Mayor Whanau. Ahead of meetings in August, elected members from the Regional Council and City Council are being updated this week on the proposed Harbour Quays corridor, including stop locations and the services likely to use the route initially. Both councils have provided for funding of the route in their long-term plans. They will consider the business case for the project in August and, if agreed, consultation with businesses and the community on the proposed street changes required to put improved bus stops and shelters in place will follow. It's hoped the route can be operational from December 2026. It will: provide quicker journey times for bus passengers travelling along the Golden Mile and the waterfront quays provide all-day, 7-day a week access to waterfront attractions take pressure off the Golden Mile route where buses already have to queue to stop, and footpaths at bus stops can be very congested at times. Council officers speaking at today's briefing said work to assess corridor options had shown the best and only really viable route was via Whitmore Street, Customhouse Quay, Jervois Quay, Cable Street and Wakefield Street, connecting into the city-end of Kent and Cambridge terraces. It is proposed 12 stops, some of which are existing, will be put in place or improved along the route – six on each side. All will either have bus shelters or cover from building canopies. Peak-hour bus lanes on some sections are also being recommended. The stops will serve destinations including Te Papa and Tākina, Queens Wharf and Te Ngākau Civic Square. If approved, the waterfront route would be used at first by existing express services, including the Airport Express, an all-day harbourside service, and by peak-hour services that currently end at Brandon Street, which would instead be extended to Kent Terrace. Initially, it is proposed the route would carry about a quarter of peak-time bus users, about 30 buses an hour. From about 2034 and beyond, as the population and public transport use grows, it is planned the number of services using the waterfront route would increase to carry about 60 buses per hour, and about 60 percent of bus passengers.
RNZ News
04-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
New fare-capping scheme proposed for Wellington
Daran Ponter, Andrew Little and Tom James announce their public transport plan in Island Bay. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman A new fare-capping system could encourage an extra 300,000 trips on Wellington's public transport system each year, says mayoral candidate Andrew Little. Under the proposed new scheme, bus and train users would pay for up to eight trips a week - and any additional trips would be free. The plan was announced this morning - outside a rain-soaked Island Bay bus stop - as a joint policy alongside regional council candidates Daran Ponter and Tom James. Little said the move would help lower the cost of living, reduce congestion and encourage public transport use. "If you're a regular bus user - four days a week you take your bus to work - the fifth day you take the bus you'll get that for free. "Any travel you do in the weekend - you might go and see a Phoenix game, you might go and see [the] Hurricanes playing - you'll get that for free as well," Little said. Little said he was a regular bus user, but had passed up his usual express service into Wellington City in order to make the announcement. Ponter said the cap on bus and train fares was expected to cost up to $4.5 million each year - which the regional council would try to find "internally". "We can afford that if we juggle other things that we do. "Bus use in the Wellington region has grown by 110 percent since Covid, but we're still keen to maximise use on public transport. This proposal will really benefit those people who regularly use public transport by incentivising them further," Ponter said. The candidates said they were unified in their commitment to continue the implementation of a safe cycle network alongside expanding public transport use in the city. "You only have to look down Adelaide Road to see cycle lanes and bus lanes working superbly," Ponter said. He said the regional council was poised to add additional buses to cope with the estimated 300,000 extra trips the plan could bring. "We have an order of articulated buses for the number two route - precisely to deal with these types of circumstances - a route that is growing significantly and will come under additional use as the consequence of a policy like this," Ponter said. Labour regional council candidate Tom James said - if elected - the candidates would also be looking at other policies to help the reduce the cost of public transport further. "Auckland Transport works with businesses to subsidise their employees use. We'll be looking at teaming up with the private sector to reduce bus fares even more and also looking at places like New South Wales where they have brought in an all day off peak [fare] on their Friday. "We'll be considering further proposals like that to further encourage people to take the bus and train," James said. Daran Ponter, Andrew Little and Tom James in Island Bay this morning Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman Island Bay locals greeted the proposal with cautious enthusiasm this morning. Regular public transport user David Barnes said the system would "make a big difference" across his weekly costs. "I think it's a great idea. It would bring Wellington into common practise with Auckland and other overseas cities and it's a direct incentive to use public transport. "It would save a lot of people money and probably not cost that much more because all those services are already running. I can't see any downsides," Barnes said. Veterinary regulator Kelly Etuata said she was in full support of the initiative and was encouraged that Little was "listening to the community". "With people that are normally catching the bus everyday to get to work - with the cost of everything these days - it probably does help a little bit," Etuata said. Island Bay resident Paul Brownie said something needed to be done to rein in the price of Wellington's bus services. "It really needs to be done in Wellington. The bus fares are ridiculous. The per section fares just don't make any sense anymore. "I was just over in Brisbane and they have a cap of 50 cents per journey. So we were basically travelling around Brisbane all day for a dollar a day. "You can't even get from one bus-stop to the next in Wellington for a dollar. The pricing scheme here is just way out of touch," Brownie said. Brownie said he was optimistic that the public transport system could cope with any added demand. "The service certainly has improved in the last six to 12 months to what it was a couple of years ago where - particularly on this run - you were getting two or three buses in a row cancelled. Last thing people want to be doing is standing at bus-stops for half an hour waiting to get home," Brownie said. He said the proposal would put a "definite plus" in the candidates' column when weighing up his votes for council. "As long as, if what they're proposing, actually happens. If they're going to put it as an election campaign then they have to stump up and actually do it. "Our roads around Wellington are not getting any wider and easier to drive around so if we can take a bit more traffic off the roads then it's got to be a good thing," Brownie said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
03-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Andrew Little And Regional Council Candidates To Deliver Cheaper Public Transport
Cap on bus and train fares to lower household costs and increase uptake Commitment to advocate for change in Government policy to make public transport more affordable Wellington Mayoral candidate Andrew Little and Labour's Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) candidates Daran Ponter and Tom James have today released a joint policy to reduce the cost of public transport. Under the weekly fare cap, public transport users will pay for a maximum of eight trips per week, with any additional trips free. This means if someone commutes to work four days over the course of a week, the fifth day and any weekend trips will be free. Andrew Little said: 'For many Wellingtonians, transport is a significant cost. A weekly cap on bus and train fares will help to lower the cost of living, reduce congestion and increase public transport usage and reliability. 'This is a commonsense, affordable policy where if someone takes eight trips in a week, the rest are free. This fare cap will make a small but material difference to people's back pockets, with a regular commuter from Strathmore into the city saving over $400 a year. 'Central government also has a significant role to play in making public transport affordable and reliable. If elected, I will work alongside the regional council to advocate for the government to ease up on its requirement for increased private charges on public transport.' Daran Ponter said: 'As Chair of GWRC, I have worked hard to continue to grow ridership to reduce congestion and lower our city's emissions. This policy will mean an additional 300,000 trips on our buses and trains, helping to unlock our city. 'I have a proven track record of working with central government and my fellow councillors to deliver more buses to more places and securing funding for better rail services. I look forward to working with Andrew as Mayor to deliver this cost of living relief in the next term of local government.' First-time GWRC candidate Tom James said: 'I'm standing for regional council because I want to get more people on buses and trains, lower costs for families, and reduce emissions. A fare cap does all three and is affordable for ratepayers.' The policy also includes a commitment to investigate other measures to improve affordability. These include encouraging workplace subsidies for staff to travel by public transport, modelled on Auckland Transport's successful Fareshare scheme, as well as looking into targeted off-peak fares (for example on Mondays or Fridays) as has been done in Sydney to encourage travel at times when public transport is underutilised.
Scoop
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Councils Plead For Bipartisan Resource Management Act Reform
Article – RNZ Regional councils want greater certainty and bipartisanship on regulations, as they gear up for an expected spate of rule changes. , Journalist Regional councils want greater certainty and bipartisanship on regulations, as they gear up for an expected spate of rule changes when legislation replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA) next year. The government has announced sweeping changes to the rules governing councils' oversight of everything – from housing, to mining, to agriculture – under the RMA, and these have been released for public feedback. Speaking on behalf of Te Uru Kahika – Regional and Unitary Councils of Aotearoa, Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter said when policy resets every three years, regulators scramble to deliver the new government's national direction. 'As regional councils we have effectively seen these national instruments landing on our lap as regularly as every three years. The music just has to stop. 'We need certainty, we need to be able to have the chance as regulators to actually bed in policies and rules and provide a greater certainty to people who want to do things – who want to build, who want to farm, who want to mine – because the bigger block on those things at the moment, at national and regional levels, is that we continue to change the rules.' Ponter said bipartisanship on regulations was needed to provide certainty. 'I don't want to be in the position in three or six years' time that all the rules are going to change again, because the pendulum has swung the other way.' Ponter said in recent years there had been 'more radical swings' in policy under successive governments. 'At the moment, the meat in the sandwich of all this, is the regional councils, who get accused of not doing this, or being woke, of being overly sympathetic to the environment… when all we are doing is following the national guidance that is put in front of us.' The government has released three discussion documents covering 12 national policy statements and and national environmental standards, with the aim of having 16 new or updated ones by the end of 2025, ahead of legislation replacing the RMA next year. The consultation covers three main topics: infrastructure and development, the primary sector and freshwater. It is open from 29 May to 27 July. Doug Leeder, chair of Bay of Plenty Regional Council, has governed through the implementation of four National Policy Statements for Freshwater Management. He said implementing national direction was a major undertaking that involved work with communities, industry and mana whenua. 'Councils contend with the challenge also faced by iwi and hapū, industry, and communities that the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management has changed every three years since it has been introduced. 'When policy resets every three years, it imposes significant costs on councils and communities, creates uncertainty for farmers and businesses, and makes it harder to achieve the long-term outcomes we all want. 'We need to work towards something more enduring.' Could bipartisanship on regulations work? 'That's the challenge for the minister but also for the leaders of those opposition parties, as well,' Ponter said. 'Everybody is going to have to find a degree of compromise if something like that is going to work.' But he said regional councils had worked constructively with successive governments and they were ready to do so again.
Scoop
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Councils Plead For Bipartisan Resource Management Act Reform
Regional councils want greater certainty and bipartisanship on regulations, as they gear up for an expected spate of rule changes when legislation replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA) next year. The government has announced sweeping changes to the rules governing councils' oversight of everything - from housing, to mining, to agriculture - under the RMA, and these have been released for public feedback. Speaking on behalf of Te Uru Kahika - Regional and Unitary Councils of Aotearoa, Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter said when policy resets every three years, regulators scramble to deliver the new government's national direction. "As regional councils we have effectively seen these national instruments landing on our lap as regularly as every three years. The music just has to stop. "We need certainty, we need to be able to have the chance as regulators to actually bed in policies and rules and provide a greater certainty to people who want to do things - who want to build, who want to farm, who want to mine - because the bigger block on those things at the moment, at national and regional levels, is that we continue to change the rules." Ponter said bipartisanship on regulations was needed to provide certainty. "I don't want to be in the position in three or six years' time that all the rules are going to change again, because the pendulum has swung the other way." Ponter said in recent years there had been "more radical swings" in policy under successive governments. "At the moment, the meat in the sandwich of all this, is the regional councils, who get accused of not doing this, or being woke, of being overly sympathetic to the environment... when all we are doing is following the national guidance that is put in front of us." The government has released three discussion documents covering 12 national policy statements and and national environmental standards, with the aim of having 16 new or updated ones by the end of 2025, ahead of legislation replacing the RMA next year. The consultation covers three main topics: infrastructure and development, the primary sector and freshwater. It is open from 29 May to 27 July. Doug Leeder, chair of Bay of Plenty Regional Council, has governed through the implementation of four National Policy Statements for Freshwater Management. He said implementing national direction was a major undertaking that involved work with communities, industry and mana whenua. "Councils contend with the challenge also faced by iwi and hapū, industry, and communities that the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management has changed every three years since it has been introduced. "When policy resets every three years, it imposes significant costs on councils and communities, creates uncertainty for farmers and businesses, and makes it harder to achieve the long-term outcomes we all want. "We need to work towards something more enduring." Could bipartisanship on regulations work? "That's the challenge for the minister but also for the leaders of those opposition parties, as well," Ponter said. "Everybody is going to have to find a degree of compromise if something like that is going to work." But he said regional councils had worked constructively with successive governments and they were ready to do so again.
