Whanganui cycling, walking and public transport developments unlikely to be affected by Government’s cuts
Public transport, cycling and walking initiatives in the Whanganui region will likely be unaffected by the new Government’s call to halt alternative transport projects nationwide.
Local authorities had been developing programmes using funding from the Climate Emergency Response Fund, with NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and other stakeholders to reduce vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) by light vehicles.
VKT programmes are designed to reduce reliance on cars and support people to walk, cycle and use public transport.
In a letter to local authorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said he gave notice to NZTA to end its work on these programmes and not commit any further funding to local authorities beyond existing contractual obligations.
Whanganui District Council transportation manager Damien Wood said there were no projects under way or in the planning phases which would be affected by the announcement.
“We haven’t developed any programmes directly related to reducing vehicle kilometres travelled for light vehicles using funding from the Climate Emergency Response Fund,” Wood said.
The council had not applied for any funding from the Transport Choices Initiative, a $350 million fund which falls under the same umbrella.
Earlier in the year, the Chronicle reported the number of people using Whanganui’s shared pathway network for walking and cycling had increased by 12 per cent over the 2022/23 financial year.
As the council had not applied for funding to reduce VKT, Wood said it was unlikely changes to the Response Fund would have a direct impact on the network.
“Whanganui has a fantastic network of shared pathways and we are not expecting their popularity to decrease as a result of the announcement.
“The council actively encourages the community to use our existing shared pathway network and figures show user numbers are continuing to increase.”
Horizons Regional Council transport services manager Mark Read said Brown’s decision did not affect Whanganui’s existing public transport services, including Te Ngaru The Tide bus service, or the establishment of more services in the city.
“The development of services and subsequent funding arrangements are consulted on via the development of plans such as the Long-term Plan, Regional Land Transport Plan and Regional Public Transport Plan, as well as via engagements such as the recent Regional Services Review,” Read said.
This increase meant half of the city’s bus patronage came from the service and made Te Ngaru the most-used bus service in Horizons’ fleet.
“Horizons has regularly heard Whanganui residents want improved public transport services and is actively investigating how to deliver this,” Read said.
However, the Transport Minister’s announcement does affect funding applications from the Transport Choices Initiative.
Horizons, working alongside Whanganui District Council, secured funding through the initiative to upgrade bus stops at 15 locations across the city.
Read said the funding for the shelters was secure, which he credited to the fast progress made by the project team, so would not be affected by the Government’s decision.
Work on the shelters has started, with the first two stops on Polson St and Jones St installed on December 7.
“All 15 shelters and other improvements are scheduled to be installed by the end of June 2024,” Read said.
Anthonie Tonnon, Whanganui District Council’s representative to the Horizon Regional Council Passenger Transport Committee, thought there were still a lot of opportunities for public transport in Whanganui.
“We’re lucky that our project [the 15 bus stops] had been well under way and contracted before any changes,” Tonnon said.
The funding application being relatively small had also helped Whanganui’s case, compared to larger projects which may lose out in other cities.
He saw the improvements to the bus network as a positive and bipartisan vision to continue with.
“The things that we’re doing enhance our roading network and they allow more people to get around on the roading network by using buses.
“All flavours of government that we’ve had in the last couple of decades like looking after the roading network.”
Tonnon said spending money on improving services, rather than building more infrastructure, may be better for improving the local network.
“Personally, I like starting with services and then building the infrastructure around those services,” he said.
The district council had places where infrastructure could improve but getting funding for more infrastructure instead of more frequent services was “like putting the cart before the horse”, Tonnon said.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.