Page 7 - Demo

roundup
a look at bus news around the country
WELLINGTON
SYSTEM ON THE UP
Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Daran Ponter says there have been signi cant improvements to the Wellington bus system and issues are being ironed out. A number of passengers have complained about new timetables and routes since they
were introduced in July.
e Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) says it is working on capacity issues, crowded buses at peak times, and re-jigging timetables a er feedback from users. Additional peak services have been introduced on two key routes from Karori and Lyall Bay, and more are on the way.
Some Wellington routes are being revised.
e GWRC has also reinstated a popular bus service, the route 18 between Miramar and Victoria University, returning it from its present peak-only operation to o -peak as well. e GWRC says the changes are evidence it is listening to concerns about the new bus network.
However, the GWRC says the bus network can never return to the old design, which had outlived its usefulness a er decades of operation.
“ e old design was well past its use-by date. e inner city was increasingly clogged up by bus congestion, especially along the Golden Mile, and many
of the newer, outlying suburbs were insu ciently served, or not served at all,” says GWRC chair Chris Laidlaw.
“Even though it’s still early days, the new network seems to have made a positive di erence to these issues, and has set us up well for the anticipated future growth of our city and region.”
■ See GWRC Q & A page 20.
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