Article: Wellington's trolley buses to go

[ozbob]

The Dominion Post --> Wellington's trolley buses to go

Wellington's trolley buses to go
MICHAEL FORBES

Greater Wellington Regional Council formally adopted its regional public transport plan today, which included a move to discontinue its trolley bus contracts from 2017.

The council also adopted its 2014/15 annual plan and an average rates increase of 5.7 per cent - an average residential increase of $21 per annum.

In 2017, the 60 trolley buses that have carried Wellingtonians around the city for the past 90 years will be replaced with hybrid diesel-electric buses.The capital's other 218 diesel buses will suffer the same fate but will be progressively phased out as they reach their end of their useful lives between 2017 and 2032.

The scrapping of trolley buses was arguably the most controversial aspect of the plan, which will act as a blueprint for developing all public transport services across the region for the next decade.

It was met with stern opposition from some regional councillors right up until the very end.

This morning, councillor Sue Kedgley proposed a motion to force a trial of hybrid buses within the next 12 months so councillors could have confidence they would work in Wellington.

"Hybrids are still an experimental technology and there are huge question-marks around them,'' she said.

"It would be grossly irresponsible if this council was to buy a fleet of hybrids before trialing them to see if they work on our steep hills.

No other councillor supported Kedgley's proposal.

Councillor Paul Swain said there were enough hybrid buses operating in hilly cities around the world for the council to feel confident the technology was up to scratch.

The real issue with the trolley buses was their ageing power supply infrastructure, which would need a $52 million face-lift in order to ensure a reliable service, he said.

"I don't think the ratepayers of the Wellington region should bear the cost of upgrading what is effectively 10 percent of the bus fleet."

Council chairwoman Fran Wilde said phasing out diesel buses was expected to see emissions in Wellington city drop by nearly 40 per cent come 2017 and reduce a further 50 per cent by 2023.

Getting people out of their cars and on to public transport would reduce emissions even further, but the public would not jump on buses unless they were frequent and reliable, she said.

"The problem with the trolleys is that they're neither of those things.''

The draft regional public transport plan attracted over 600 submissions. The council also sought feedback via a survey of 580 people.

The average rates increase varies across the Wellington region from a low of about $5 in Masterton to a high of about $33 in Lower Hutt.

Swain acknowledged the increase had been pulled back from 6.1 per cent to 5.7 per cent, but said that was still quite high in percentage terms.

"In the end, the rates we set need to be funded and paid for by people on fixed incomes."

Wilde disagreed, saying an average increase of $21 across the region was a pretty good result.

The regional council's previous rates increases had been quite modest, which made this one look larger by comparison, she said.

THE REGIONAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT PLAN

BUS SERVICES

    Wellington's 218 diesel buses and 60 trolley buses will be replaced by hybrid diesel-electric buses from 2017.
    The hybrids will, in turn, be replaced by fully electric buses once the technology is proven.
    A bus rapid transit network will be established in Wellington over the next eight years. It will see higher-capacity articulated or double-decker buses running along a north-south route linking Johnsonville to Island Bay (via the CBD and Newtown) and an east-west route linking Karori to Seatoun (via the CBD, Kilbirnie and Miramar).
    A new simplified network of bus routes will be introduced (34 routes proposed verses 43 now), which will see less service duplication and fewer buses running on the Golden Mile.
    The most important routes will see buses running every 15 minutes, seven days a week.
    More frequent off-peak services will be introduced in 15 suburbs.
    New weekend services will be introduced in 10 suburbs.
    Victoria University's Kelburn campus will be serviced by frequent direct connections from hubs at Wellington Railway Station, the Karori tunnel and Courtenay Place.

RAIL SERVICES

    Another 35 two-car Matangi trains will be introduced into the network.
    The frequency of trains will increase between Wellington and Porirua, and between Waterloo and Johnsonville, resulting in shorter wait times.
    There will be faster express trains from stations on the outer parts of the network, originating from Waikanae, Upper Hutt and Masterton.
    The rail line from Trentham to Upper Hutt will be double-tracked.
    New turnback facilities will be installed at Porirua and Plimmerton.
    Signals and tracks will be upgraded through the Tawa Basin.
    Upper Hutt Station will be upgraded, as will the park-and-ride facilities on the Kapiti and Hutt Valley lines.

FARES

    One smartcard for all public transport will be introduced. Only one fare will be paid for an entire journey, regardless of whether you change between bus, train or ferry.
    The number of fare products and discounts available will be simplified from the current 250.
    Fares will be rationalised with free travel for children under 5 years, a 50 per cent discount for passengers aged 5 to 18, and a discount for off-peak travel.
    Fare caps will be introduced to replace existing daily and monthly passes. A fare cap means you will stop paying once you reach a certain level of travel, which may be a dollar amount or a number of trips.
    A weekend family pass will be introduced for up to four children travelling with a fare-paying adult.
    SuperGold cardholders will retain their current entitlements

- The Dominion Post

[#Metro]

WHY?!?!

[colinw]

Life expired overhead wiring and fairly specialised (i.e. bespoke and expensive to replace) vehicles.  So who cares if they are replaced with something different?

As long as buses run the routes and frequently enough, the choice of technology is irrelevant.  Whether it runs off wires and makes sparky noises is something for the foamers to care about and nobody else.

[Simon Lovell]

Life expired overhead wiring and fairly specialised (i.e. bespoke and expensive to replace) vehicles.  So who cares if they are replaced with something different?

As long as buses run the routes and frequently enough, the choice of technology is irrelevant.  Whether it runs off wires and makes sparky noises is something for the foamers to care about and nobody else.

I care.  Wellington is very hilly.  Trying to run a motor bus up those hills will not have the same acceleration as a trolley, no matter how you cut it.

Although I understand the points you make.  Shouldn't they at least run the nearly new vehicles they have to their end of life?  Or is the wiring more expensive than the vehicles?

[SurfRail]

Hybrids could offer the same or similar performance from take-offs using the electric motors.

Maybe by that time full electric buses will be more feasible.

[ozbob]

Hybrids could offer the same or similar performance from take-offs using the electric motors.

Maybe by that time full electric buses will be more feasible.

My hybrid car has a relatively small engine (1.3L)  when you accelerate hard the electric motors go to full power, like a V8 ...  I would expect similar response for a hybrid bus.  It would have very good takeoff power as well as hill climbing ability.

[Simon Lovell]

Hybrids could offer the same or similar performance from take-offs using the electric motors.

Maybe by that time full electric buses will be more feasible.

And perhaps there will be such a bus on the market which can be used in NZ by 2017.  Perhaps not.

Just read their comments on fares.  That makes Sydney the only place in Oceania without a commitment to/reality of integrated fares.

[SurfRail]

For the fixed infrastructure cost you really don't seem to get as much more capacity or performance.

[pandmaster]

Great news about fares. I was there in January and it was very odd not being able to use Snapper on trains. It was very quaint buying the ticket stubs off the conductor though: it reminded my mum of going to school. 

I am a fan of the electric buses. The diesel buses made a horrible racket going past (though I assume the new buses will be quieter, especially when not using the diesel engine). Electrics were not even noticeable. Wellington station is quite far north in the CBD, so perhaps the wires requiring replacing is a good opportunity to build light rail underneath new wires to connect the rest of the CBD with the railway station (which is quite well patronised). The council has been looking at light rail to the airport for a while now, though I do not think they have been too serious about it, which would fit in nicely.

I will be sad to see the trolleybuses go, they are (according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Wellington) "the only trolleybuses operating commercially in Oceania". If they are not going to build light rail though, it makes sense to get rid of them. Hopefully they leave all the attachments to the wiring in place to facilitate a future light rail system, but that is unlikely.