A former senior Wellington transport planner has slammed the decision to drop the city’s trolley buses – and the process used to make it.
Michael Flinn, a former Wellington City Transport deputy general manager, claims the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s (GWRC) decision to scrap trolleybuses is based on ‘incorrect and insufficient information’ and that some of its proposed city bus route and service changes will be counterproductive.
Flinn’s review of the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s (GWRC) bus replacement strategy is contained in a 52-page report released on Friday.
According to him, GWRC’s decision to convert bus fleets to diesel-electric hybrid vehicles as part of a staged electric vehicle programme is likely to cause the city’s bus service millions more than need be.
His review of many of the proposed route and service changes for introduction next year resulted in him recommending significant changes as he sees them lacking awareness of practical factors that will affect patronage levels and fare revenue.
Flinn says specifically that GWRC’s decision to cease trolleybus operation in 2017 should be reversed. Trolleybus operation should, he says, be continued to provide an affordable low pollution service until acceptable battery electric buses are available – possibly around 2020.
He beleives the purchasing of new diesel-electric hybrid vehicles should be deferred and older diesel buses replaced with modern lower pollution versions.
The report challenges two of the principal reasons originally advanced by the GWRC for scrapping the trolleybus. The first is that the trolleybus has a 10-year operating contract and therefore has reached the end of its lifecycle and the second that the overhead power network needs investment of more than $50 million to continue to operate effectively.
“Trolleybuses typically have a working life of 20 years or more,” emphasises Flinn. “The use of some replacement parts in the Wellington trolleybus fleet is a justification for estimating a shorter life of around 16 years.”
Flinn points out in his review that an independent senior electrical engineer with extensive experience of direct current traction systems has identified that the power supply and overhead line systems could be upgraded and continued for the remaining life of the trolleybuses at an annual cost a little above the recent annual costs of the overhead system alone whereas the GWRC reported that $50 million would be needed to replace the whole traction power supply system as the present system could only be used for the medium term.
Flinn claims the fact that the GWRC did not follow up on an independent report to investigate whether the supply could practically be extended to match the life of the trolleybus and allow deferral of expenditure of at least $30 million on the new buses and $10 million on overhead line removal constitutes negligence.
He adds that ‘battery electric bus’ technology is still developing and that it is too early yet to invest in. “Retaining the trolleybus should be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly low pollution alternative to the diesel-electric hybrid vehicles being purchased as an interim measure.”
The report is also critical of initiatives such as the proposed early introduction of double-decker buses on some key routes.
Flinn examined many of the proposed route and service changes, several of which require passengers to change buses and wait for a connecting service, and his review makes suggestions aimed at reducing this requirement.
He says that if the route and service changes are introduced as planned, passenger approval ratings are likely to fall significantly, fare revenue may fall and costs will increase, with the result that ratepayers may have to provide more funding.
