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A mass public transport system is due to be constructed between Wellington Railway Station and the airport as part of the $6.4 billion Let s Get Wellington Moving programme.
The decision not to extend a new Wellington Airport bus service to Lower Hutt has been described by proponents as “a slap in the face” to ratepayers. Wellington has been without a direct bus route to the airport since the Airport Flyer service stopped operating in November. It had been running, through Wellington city and onto Lower Hutt, for 20 years but was axed by the Airport and NZ Bus after it was found to be too costly.
KEVIN STENT/Stuff
Tramways Union secretary Kevin O’Sullivan expected a new offer to be put on the table on Tuesday. The meetings were arranged and facilitated by the Greater Wellington Regional Council and are being run by mediator Hayden Wilson, the chair of law firm Dentons Kensington Swan, and independent employment lawyer Maria Austen. “I’m just happy both parties are still in mediation. We’ve got them in a room, and they re still talking. Compared to where they were, with strike action and a lockout, it’s a very positive sign,” regional council chair Daran Ponter said. Once a formal offer is made by NZ Bus, drivers will vote on whether to accept the deal at a stop-work meeting, likely scheduled for next week.
Metlink said it had not been given a firm timeline for the roll-out of the new card, but was working on the assumption it would be launched towards the end of 2022. Since its launch in 2008, Snapper cards have been used for the overwhelming majority of bus trips in the capital.
Ross Giblin/Stuff
The first Snapper cards will be accepted on Metlink trains in October 2021. A survey in 2020 found 83 per cent of all public transport trips in the region used Snapper, with just 5 per cent paying cash. The remainder were mostly free fares for SuperGold card holders and children under five.
Sixty-seven complete buses were coming for NZ Bus. A further 31 – which were just bus chassis – were coming for Tranzurban. Bus companies were wholly responsible for the decision to use CRRC, Blakeley said, and he first heard about CRRC’s alleged forced labour links through media reports. Blakeley has sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the regional council had launched an investigation that would involve getting legal advice. “We acknowledge that ethical procurement is emerging as an important issue, particularly with respect to significant international procurement. The integrity of the supply chain is paramount,” he said.
Anna Fifield05:00, May 01 2021
Kevin Stent/Stuff
Signs for cancelled buses during the recent bus drivers’ strike.
If you thought Wellington s transport woes couldn t get any worse, our reporting this week might have caused you to think again. Over the past few months, we ve reported on the delays and cost blow-outs on the Transmission Gully project, the shocking lack of progress on Let s Get Wellington Moving and the latest instalment in our bustrastrophe, with unions and an Australian private equity fund-owned company referred to mediation. Then this week, one of our parliamentary reporters, Thomas Coughlan, reported that more than a billion dollars of transport investment in the Wellington region – including funding for the Ōtaki expressway and Melling interchange – were hanging in the balance because the Government cannot commit to delivering all the transport projects in its flagship infrastructure programme.