Are bendy buses the answer to Wellington's transport woes?

Monday, 4 October 2021

Transport Minister Michael Wood speaks at the release of the Ministry of Transport’s green paper (first published May 14, 2021).

OPINION: Scenario 1: It’s a beautiful sunny morning in 2026. A long queue of commuters waits at a suburban bus stop. A clean, green, hydrogen-powered “bendy bus” that can carry up to 150 passengers drives along its dedicated bus lane. It’s an impressive 18 metres long – the equivalent of 10 regional councillors laid out end to end. The well-paid driver, of which Wellington has an unlimited supply, cheerfully greets the passengers. As cyclists happily pedal by in their spacious dedicated bike lane, everyone piles on, chatting with amazement at how quickly the new bendy bus network was constructed and what an amazing success LGWM (Let’s Get Wellington Moving) has been.

Scenario 2: It’s an equally beautiful sunny morning in 2031. At a tram stop near the inner city a similarly long line of commuters waits. At the appointed second, a sparkling new tram that’s travelled from the airport comes into view. Business people in corporate wear who’ve been on the redeye flight from Auckland sit next to Wellington commuters on the popular service. The tram passes close to cyclists, but they are in protected lanes so no problem. Young workers stream out of their affordable apartments to the trams – testament to the way the city has successfully intensified. Although there are many cars on the road, clogging up the two Mount Victoria tunnels, these commuters don’t need to worry as they can whiz into town in their fast efficient tram, while reflecting on what a massive success LGWM has been.

Okay, I failed to keep a straight face writing the above scenarios, so you can be forgiven for saying “yeah right”. But its these types of possibilities for Wellington’s mass transit network that you will be invited to engage with from early November.

* Councillors to decide Let's Get Wellington Moving's priorities, two years after programme was launched

“The light rail supporters have been vociferous and consistent that theirs would be the best option.”

* Mayor Justin Lester favours trackless trams over light rail for Let's Get Wellington Moving

* Dave Armstrong: When will councillors answer questions on Wellington's bustastrophe?

Dave Armstrong: “Can you really imagine bendy buses easily turning the corner from, say, Constable Street into Riddiford Street.”

* Dave Armstrong: Pushing for a cycle-friendly capital

Dave Armstrong: “I’m not convinced our topography is going to be a perfect fit for a transport system that works in a relatively flat French town with less than 70,000 people.”

I know that LGWM have been careful to not specify the form of mass transport in their plans, but had you heard of the bendy bus option before? The light rail supporters have been vociferous and consistent that theirs would be the best option. Yet our previous mayor and others talked up “trackless trams” and pointed to a city in China, not unlike ours, where they were a massive success. But now trackless trams seem to be off the agenda.

Light rail supporters can point to French city Montpellier, the German city of Freiburg, and Australia’s Newcastle as successful light rail cities that we could emulate. I lived in Freiburg for about six months back in the 1980s and can attest to the quality and efficiency of its strassenbahn.

The bendy buses also have their advocates and the ones in Pau, a city in southwestern France, are part of the world’s first hydrogen-powered bus rapid transit system. The main advantage of bendy buses is that the system will apparently only take five years to establish (yeah, right) and can be used on other routes. Okay, but remember the “miraculous’ Wrightspeed hybrid buses? And can you really imagine bendy buses easily turning the corner from, say, Constable Street into Riddiford Street or gliding through the Berhampore shops as Let’s Get Wellington Bending would have us believe?

I’m not convinced our topography is going to be a perfect fit for a transport system that works in a relatively flat French town with less than 70,000 people.

Is the bendy bus option a well-considered concept or the next transport fad after trackless trams? While your voice may be listened to, there will be no direct vote on the issue. I guess it’s the intangibility of decision-making and the lack of a timeline that makes the changing options given to us so frustrating. We may even end up with a light-rail/bendy bus combination.

Although there is solid support for light rail, where should it go? The airport was seen as the obvious destination, but resilience issues may mean the desired population growth in the eastern suburbs may not occur. That has seen a line to highly populated Island Bay being talked up.

According to regional council chair Daran Ponter, both lines could be part of a network. That makes sense if the city is going to build its mass transit capacity. One advantage of the recent bike network was that Wellingtonians could see the plan for the whole city rather than just separate “cycle lanes to nowhere” such as Island Bay cycleway is at present.

Let’s also remember that a majority of commuters into our city come from north of the railway station. Once upon a time, Wellington’s trains went south of the station along the waterfront. Surely the most important part of a mass transport system is to get commuters from the railway station to where they need to work and back?

Even though I am sceptical of bendy buses, I still think LGWM should be working on bus priority – something local body politicians promised us years ago. It would be an easy win and stop Wellingtonians cracking a wry smile every time the latest LGWM engagement plans and artist’s impressions are produced.