This would be amazing for anyone heading out to the bays or Wellington Airport, no intersections or lights to worry about, and it would make life so much easier for the CBD as well, not having so much through traffic in the CBD.

  • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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    7 months ago

    It’s not an option because we neglect it to the point it’s not usable for a lot of trips.

    That doesn’t mean improvements aren’t possible, and they would help free up capacity on the existing road network. Roads are such a poor investment at this point, especially ones like these

    • thevoyagekayaking@lemmy.nz
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      7 months ago

      Can I use it for when I take my kayak out there? 5.5m long boat shouldn’t take up too much space in the bus, right?

      • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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        7 months ago

        Sorry, not sure how investing in more PT options would require you to take a kayak on the bus.

        • thevoyagekayaking@lemmy.nz
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          7 months ago

          That’s not what I asked you.

          I’m pointing out why I won’t be taking the bus if I’m heading out that way.

          • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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            7 months ago

            So then don’t, I didn’t say it must replace every single trip for it to have value

            • thevoyagekayaking@lemmy.nz
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              7 months ago

              The whole point of my reply was pointing out why public transport isn’t an option for me, and why, no matter how good it gets, we will need to upgrade our road infrastructure eventually.

              Absolutely nobody has said it won’t help.

              • Dave@lemmy.nzM
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                7 months ago

                I think their point is that we don’t necessarily need to upgrade road infrastructure. The majority of the people on roads could be using public transport.

                Not the ones carrying kayaks or plumbing vans or disabled people that can’t get to a bus or train stop. But imagine how much better traffic would be for those people if all the other people were on public transport!

                • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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                  7 months ago

                  Thank you. Doesn’t even have to be the majority, there’s studies out there that suggest moving as little as 10-15% of trips out of cars can take traffic from jammed up to free flowing. Although the more the better, motorways are expensive as hell and car dependency creates all sorts of wider problems.

                • thevoyagekayaking@lemmy.nz
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                  7 months ago

                  Given what a mess Wellington traffic is, especially getting in and out of the city, I don’t think many people are driving at the moment when public transport is an option.

                  I honestly think most of the people who could use PT are already on it, at least in and out of the city.

                  • Dave@lemmy.nzM
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                    7 months ago

                    Public transport is expensive. If you are a couple working in Wellington, it’s cheaper to drive in one car and pay for parking than it is to both take the train.

                    And these days with second hand Leafs being cheap, even on your own it’s probably cheaper to drive. Public transport seems priced so that just enough people use it.

                    Auckland transport estimated about $300m extra funding a year would allow free public transport (assuming no additional services). I remember leading into the election last year there was controversy because National devided to spend 7B on roads people didn’t think were necessary.

                    We could take that money, and pay for free public transport in Auckland for 20 years, and still have 1B left over for extra pothole fixing. This is money currently allocated to roads that no one wants.

                    I don’t think we have reached the peak of public transport usage, not by a long way. Though I am admitedly only talking about one side of the story. I could write another comment about things I’ve not talked about here that mean free for all probably isn’t the right answer, but my point was just that subsidising public transport further is still a good payoff. Currently using public transport as a user is not a financial no-brainer, so many people who could use it still aren’t.

    • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nzOP
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      7 months ago

      It’s not an option because I have a van full of tools, not because of the quality of the service.

      I swear, people like you must think everyone in the country works in an office.

      Yes, we could certainly improve public transport in Wellington, but as I said, it’s simply not an option for many people.

      • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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        7 months ago

        I know this is a hard concept to grasp, but there are people out there who are not yourself who, if the option is there, will leave their cars at home meaning the roads are less congested overall.

        • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nzOP
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          7 months ago

          I never said there weren’t. What I did say, using very small words, is that no matter how good public transport is, not everyone can use it.

          It’s a tough concept to grasp, it would seem.

          • BalpeenHammer@lemmy.nz
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            7 months ago

            What kind of an idiotic argument is “not everyone will use it”. Who was claiming that every single human being in the city would be using it?

          • Xcf456@lemmy.nz
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            7 months ago

            And what I said was not everyone needs to use it to benefit from it because unlike just blowing billions on more roads, it reduces congestion overall instead of adding to it.

            Anyway on the tunnel, fantasy at best, Tory grift at worst, probably both