Regional Bus Corridors - Harbour Quays
Description
As part of the Long-Term Plan both Greater Wellington (GWRC) and Wellington City Council (WCC) has confirmed a programme of work to deliver vital bus priority across the region.
Greater Wellington and Wellington City Council are working together to improve bus access to and through central Wellington. This includes the design and implementation of a possible second city centre bus corridor along Harbour Quays, including Whitmore Street, Customhouse Quay, Jervois Quay, Wakefield and Cable Streets.
Even with the planned improvements along the Golden Mile (Courtenay Place/Manners Street/Willis Street and Lambton Quay), we are approaching the maximum capacity for bus operations, leading to increasing bus congestion and delays. A second bus corridor along Harbour Quays would provide additional capacity to support increased bus use and expected city growth and make it easier to get across the city to key regional destinations like the hospital and airport.
Geographic scope of the project
Background and Proposed Design
More people than ever before are using Wellington buses, which is a great thing for the city and the environment.
However, the number of buses on the Golden Mile (Courtenay Place/Manners Street/Willis Street and Lambton Quay) is contributing to slower trips through the central city. Growing passenger numbers means more services are needed.
To minimise delays and congestion the ideal capacity for the Golden Mile would be limited to 80 buses per hour. Having a second bus corridor along the waterfront means we can double the capacity of buses and operate reliable and efficient services through the central city. This will provide the capacity we need for growing public transport use.
Without a second corridor, journeys along the Golden Mile will take longer and be less reliable and affect the quality of the central city area for people and businesses.
To address this, Greater Wellington and Wellington City Council are working together to plan a new corridor in the vicinity of the waterfront quays.
The aim is to improve our public transport services to be better, faster, more efficient and more attractive so we can move more people with fewer vehicles. We want Wellington to be an even better place to live, spend time and move around.
The new corridor will:
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supplement the Golden Mile.
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ease bottlenecks and capacity constraints on the existing corridor as more people use public transport.
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get people to city events, waterfront businesses, hospitality venues and visitor attractions.
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provide faster trips for people travelling across town to regional destinations like the airport and hospital.
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ease footpath congestion around Golden Mile bus stops, making it easier for pedestrians to shop and move about between the Golden Mile and the waterfront.
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improve journey times and allow for more frequent services and better public transport connections.
It will also provide essential detour options that can be used when needed. These will also come into play as work gets under way to upgrade and revitalise parts of the Golden Mile, including Courtenay Place.
Planning
The current proposed concept is for express type services from the Railway Station and Bowen Street to travel and stop along Whitmore Street, Customhouse Quay, Jervois Quay, Cable Street and Wakefield Street – connecting near Courtenay Place on Kent and Cambridge Terraces. The stops are planned to be sheltered and align closely with bus stops on the near-by Golden Mile, attractions along the waterfront including the Tākina convention and exhibition centre and Te Papa.
Next steps
We expect to have detailed draft plans to share later this year (2025) after both councils have considered the Harbour Quays business case.
Bus Priority Action Plan:
Previous releases/correspondence on Harbour Quays:
Read Greater Wellington’s public transport submission on Wellington City Council’s Long-Term Plan: