A new, high-frequency bus route headlines a tranche of upcoming improvements to Metlink Wellington city bus services from 28 January 2024:

New bus route 4 between Strathmore Park and Wilton/Mairangi Road.

Route 20 extended to Wellington Railway Station,

Karori bus services boosted with additional morning peak trips on routes 33, 34 and 2,

Route 35 morning peak trips added for Hataitai and Mt Victoria passengers,

Route 26 peak frequency increased to every 30 minutes,

Route 18 off-peak frequency increased to every 30 minutes, with additional services scheduled for Wellington High School bell times.

Greater Wellington transport chair Thomas Nash says says the improvements show that the network has now moved beyond restoring reliability to focus on building service frequency, capacity and reach.

“With the driver workforce rebuilt, we’re now able to meet demand and make the changes our community has been calling for,” Cr Nash says. “With patronage back to pre-covid levels we can see that our efforts to rebuild trust with passengers is working.

“Public transport is a win-win for climate and convenience. Reliable public transport services make the most efficient use of our roads, freeing up space for people who need to use cars and reducing emissions by cutting down the number of car journeys people need to make.

“We are also reducing the use of paper, with our website now making it easy for passengers to print select schedules at home, limiting the number of paper timetable brochures we need to print.”

The network improvements, outlined in Metlink’s Bus Network Review, were slated for 2019 before Covid-19 and the resulting national driver shortage postponed their introduction.

Replacing route 12, route 4 will run every 15 minutes on weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends between Strathmore Park and Wilton/Mairangi Road via Newtown, Wellington Regional Hospital, the central city and Victoria University’s Kelburn campus.

Route 4 will also take over part of route 22, which will instead travel between Wellington Station and Victoria University as a weekday shuttle service, with an hourly service to Johnsonville.

Additional peak and off-peak services have also been added to routes 12e, 236 and 230.

Metlink group manager Samantha Gain says community input into the review ensures the improvements are popular.

“Insights shared by regular public transport users were integral for shaping the improvements and designing the new route,” Ms Gain says.

“Their feedback also helped us align timetables with bell times at St Mary’s College, Wellington Girls’ College and Queen Margaret College.”

For more information on the changes visit www.metlink.org.nz/plan-ahead

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