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Programme history

When was Let's Get Wellington Moving created? What has been done over the years? Follow our journey from 2014 to present day.

2014

Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency signed the Ngauranga to Airport Governance Group MoU (memorandum of understanding). This legal document was the first step towards a joint initiative focused on resolving transport problems in the city.

2015

Waka Kotahi’s Basin Bridge proposal was one of the transport initiatives aiming to resolve the transport problems in the city. After it was rejected, the Ngauranga to Airport partners took a fresh, wider look at the city’s transport system and created Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

2016

We asked Wellingtonians what they love about the City and what frustrates them about getting around. We heard from over 10,000 people through phone surveys, on-street surveys, online surveys, focus groups and panels.

This helped us develop our vision, the principles to guide our work, and our programme objectives.

We also gathered data on Wellington’s transport system to help identify the challenges the city faces and opportunities to overcome these challenges to create a more vibrant, livable Wellington.

2017

Using research completed the year before, and learnings from a series of community and stakeholder workshops, we then developed four scenarios for Wellington’s transport future.

These scenarios were based on:

  1. Better public transport
  2. Improving the state highway
  3. Active transport improvements (walking and cycling)
  4. Managing travel demand

We shared these with the community and asked which scenario they preferred, and what they liked and disliked. Over 2000 people and more than 50 groups responded.

2018

We took the feedback from the scenarios and developed a Recommended Programme of Investment (RPI) to Get Wellington Moving. An RPI is document which outlines a high-level, whole-of-system approach that will enable the growth of the city and the region. The recommended programme reflects the partners’ ambitions for improving Wellington’s transport system over the next two decades and seeks to integrate urban development with transport investment.

In late 2018, we shared our vision and the RPI with the Government. This was the first step towards negotiating an indicative package (financial commitment) that all our programme partners could support.

2019

In May 2019, the Minister of Transport, supported by the Mayor of Wellington and the Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council announced the indicative package for Let's Get Wellington Moving. The indicative package includes most, but not all, of the elements in the RPI.

Following the announcement, Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and Waka Kotahi approved the next steps for the programme, including:

  • Three Year Programme of delivery, and
  • starting investigation and design of the major projects.

We also asked the public for feedback on lower speed limits in the central city and how the Golden Mile could be more people-friendly.

2020

We progressed a number of projects to improve walking, cycling, public transport and road networks in 2020:

  • The speed limit on most central city streets was changed from 50km/h to 30km/h, and
  • Scoping and investigation began on our Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Strategic Highway Improvements (SHI) projects.

We also engaged the community on options to improve the Golden Mile.

Later in the year, a Programme Health Check was completed, to give the Partnership Board and the Governance Reference Group a current state assessment of our progress. The Health Check also provided guidance on future planning and delivery.

2021

This year we:

  • published a response to the Programme Health Check (PDF | 172 KB),
  • engaged the community on improvements to Thorndon Quay and Hutt Road,
  • announced the preferred option for the Golden Mile (Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place),
  • consulted on a safe Crossing for Cobham Drive and safer speeds on State Highway 1 East of Mt Victoria,
  • engaged with the community on four options to transform Wellington with mass rapid transit, improvements at the Basin Reserve, and an extra Mt Victoria Tunnel,
  • upgraded two intersections on Whitmore Street as part of our Central City Pedestrian Improvements project.

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