A Lower Hutt councillor says it’s time Wainuiomata has its own bus route to Wellington City but, in the current environment, that would be “difficult to stand up” says regional council transport committee chairman Thomas Nash.
The state of regional public transport outside Wellington City was laid bare in the just released Greater Wellington Regional Council’s draft 10-year regional public transport plan.
Car dependency in Porirua was high because of poor public transport options; there needed to be a bus from Wainuiomata to Hutt Hospital; no public transport options linked Porirua and Upper Hutt; existing bus networks did not cover large employment areas in Upper Hutt like Alexander Rd and the industrial area in Wallaceville.
Apart from proposals of running a new bus corridor down harbour quays in Wellington City, redeveloping Waterloo station in Lower Hutt and charging for park-and-ride at train stations, the plan suggested “further evaluation” of a bus running between Wainuiomata and Wellington City.
