Four Cities & a Region: Integrated Transport, Land Use Planning as a Sustainable Transport Solution for the Wellington Region

<p dir="ltr">Greater Wellington Regional Council is responsible for the Regional Land Transport Strategy(RLTS) for the Wellington region, comprising of four cities, numerous towns and governed by eight disparate territorial authorities. The strong central core of Wellington City and the geographically enforced ‘Y’ formation of the transport corridor have traditionally dominated the region’s urban development. To date, transport and land use planning in the region have been undertaken independently, when research demonstrates that a combination of land use,transport, financial and regulatory planning mechanisms are required to establish a successful sustainable transport solution. This research examines six different policy intervention scenarios, and identifies the optimal transport - land use intervention (for growth projections to 2026) as the densification of development around key public transport nodes. This policy intervention meets the RLTS vision of providing a balanced and sustainable transport system through the increased adoption of active modes across all trip types of short duration, an increase in public transport use for longer distance trips and an overall decrease in daily trips by car.</p>