Thread: There's lots of good policy in National’s transport plan for Wellington, but there's also a lot of re-hashing old rejected ideas from Let’s Get Wellington Moving, most of which are good politics but too expensive and not that effective.

Pushing rapid transit between Wellington’s CBD and airport in the form of rapid buses or trackless trams is crucial for the city, but likely more than a decade away under LGWM - this would presumably see this brought forward.

Undergrounding SH1 through Te Aro and a second Terrace Tunnel would be wildly expensive, but probably effective in the short term, much like Waterview in Auckland - though the congestion effects are short-lived, because it will just bring more cars into the CBD.

Grade separation at the Basin Reserve is a good start (though digging up the whole damn reserve would be better, fight me). And the second Mt Vic tunnel is definitely needed at some point, but better PT from the eastern suburbs would remove some of the need for it.

Some of National’s criticisms of LGWM, like the lack of accountability and uncertainty of funding, are definitely fair, as is the fact that the Hutt was basically shafted even though it’s the root of most of Wellington’s congestion problems

$300 million for rail was shoved right at the end of the announcement, but would have more impact on congestion than anything else on the list - the more people on trains, the less people in cars.