2000: Clark Government seeks to improve funding for public transport

The 1999 General Election saw Labour win sufficient seats to form a coalition government with the Alliance Party, supported by the Green Party for confidence and supply.  The first Transport Minister under the Clark Government was Mark Gosche.  This article from the NZ Herald on 25 March 2000 reports on reforms he was proposing to change the mix of funding from Transfund New Zealand between roads and public transport. Key points from the article are:

• Officials asked to review funding rules, this included lifting limits that had been placed on capital and operational spending for passenger transport, and reviewing cost/benefit criteria (the cap was removed).
• The Northern Busway was expected to obtain funding following changes (not mentioned was a key issue as to what elements of the project were funded by Transfund vs. the three local government agencies relevant to the project).  (The Northern Busway was funded over the coming year.)
• Negotiations between ARC and Tranz Rail (then privately owned for access to the track in Auckland for expansion of passenger rail services.  (ultimately this would result in the Clark Government buying the Auckland rail network from Tranz Rail for $81m, which was later superseded by nationalisation of the entire rail business).

The outcome of this work was ultimately the Land Transport Management Act, which enabled funding for public transport to be significantly expanded, but also the subsequent merging of Transfund with the Land Transport Safety Authority, and ultimately Transit New Zealand into the NZ Transport Agency.  

Karori bus lane and Karori Tunnel centenary and possible duplication

Wellington's suburb of Karori has two routes out towards the city, one via Kelburn and down Aro Valley, and another through the Karori Tunnel opened in 1900. The population of Karori at the time was 1,100, today it is around 17,000 people.  A tram line was extended through the tunnel in 1907, but replaced with trolley buses in 1954. There have been various proposals to build a second Karori Tunnel to the south or north of the current tunnel, removing the Glenmore Street hairpin curve, or to connect to Aro Street, but none proceeded far.

The first article is from 1996 when the idea of a bus lane approaching the Karori Tunnel was first floated, and in 1997 Wellington City Council formally proposes the Chaytor Street bus lane approaching from the west.  The feasibility study indicated congestion added 20 minutes to the bus trip from Karori Park to Karori Tunnel in the AM peak.  The cost of the project was estimated at $450,000 with a BCR of 22:1.  The lane proposed was along parts of Karori Road (those sections would not proceed).  The lane was subsequently built, but is now proposed to be removed to make way for an uphill cycling lane.

The last article commemorates the centenary of the Karori Tunnel. Notably it indicates that a second Karori Tunnel is "scheduled" to be built within the next decade (i.e. by 2010) to run parallel to the existing tunnel, and could probably be funded by tolls. It was then estimated to cost $30-40m.  It was noted it was a major bottleneck but traffic lights would not be installed (traffic lights have subsequently been installed to manage bus traffic through the narrow tunnel).

In 2023 there is no second Karori Tunnel being pursued by Wellington City Council.