Bus review gives power to suburbs and communities

Greater Wellington Regional Council shared the first details of the second stage of its bus network review today with public consultation forming the bulk of the work.

Councillor Barbara Donaldson, Chair of Greater Wellington's Sustainable Transport Committee described the process as a genuine commitment to Wellington's communities.

"We are focused on providing people with the opportunity to engage in a meaningful way and designing a consultation process that gives the community a range of options to work through and prioritise," adds Councillor Donaldson.

In its February meeting, Greater Wellington's Sustainable Transport Committee resolved to prioritise the eastern suburbs in the review, before moving on to the southern, western and northern suburbs of Wellington.

"It's important for us to hear from the actual communities we serve, understand their needs, what's working for them and what isn't so we can develop improvements unique to each of our suburbs as well as the whole of the network," says Councillor Donaldson.

Feedback received by Greater Wellington through its contact centre, social media channels, and community and council forums this past year will also help inform the review.

As part of the review the council will also set up a Councillor-led reference group and project team to review and report against the current state of the network, including: timetables; contractual arrangements with operators; industrial relations; bus fleets; depots; bus stop infrastructure; fare policies and supporting technology such as ticketing and real time information.