Broader public transport horizons for Horizons?

The Horizons region of Manawatū and Whanganui is looking at better regional public transport. What are some of the big opportunities?

Horizons Regional Public Transport Review

Horizons Regional Council, covering a large chunk of the lower central North Island including Te Papaioea/ Palmerston North and Whanganui, is asking for public input on a regional bus services review, closing on 11 September 2023.

In scope for the review are:

• Current regional bus services

• New regional bus services

• New inter-regional bus services

• Connections to rail services at Palmerston North, Masterton and Waikanae

Scope for Horizons regional bus service review. Source: Horizons Facebook page

Not in scope for the review:

• Urban bus services in Palmerston North and Whanganui

• Services from Palmerston North to Ashhurst and Feilding

• Rail services (but does include bus connections to rail services)

Current state of regional buses in Horizons region

Current regional bus services in the Horizons region are not exactly great. Worst of a bad bunch are the monthly services between Taihape and Whanganui and Taihape and Palmerston North respectively. This is one bus that you really wouldn’t want to miss. Only Greater Wellington’s route 300 bus which runs one return trip from Titahi Bay to Whenua Tapu on the last Sunday of the month can match that level of service.

Nothing quite says unbeatable like a bus that only runs once a month. Image source: Horizons website

While a monthly service is a negative outlier, other services are still not particularly good. Whanganui, Marton and Levin each get a single weekday return trip focused on conventional work start and finish times. Other services only run a couple of times a week, such as the Levin to Waikanae service.

Current Horizons regional bus services, some of which only run once a month. Image source: Horizons website

The regionalisation of public transport as part of the 1989 local government reforms, combined with the privatisation of the Railways Road services national bus network and the conversion of long-distance passenger rail into niche tourist offering for the extra-wealthy, means that public transport to rural and regional Aotearoa is a veritable dog’s breakfast of generally very limited to non-existent services. Some regions do take intra-regional public transport seriously with Waikato easily being the best of the lot. Some do minimal access of last resort services such as Northland and Bay of Plenty and some regions, such as Southland and West Coast, do absolutely nothing. Horizons currently fits in the “minimal access of last resort” category.

Inter-regional public transport services are in an even more parlous situation as I outlined in this post, noting that recent legislative changes have made this situation significantly better, as covered in this post.

So it’s commendable that Horizons is prepared to take a hard look at both intra-regional and inter-regional bus services.

This follows on from the success of Te Ngaru/ The Tide in Whanganui, championed by Anthonie Tonnon, which has increased public transport patronage in that city by 80%. In addition, the Palmerston North urban network gets a huge boost from February 2024 with an all-electric bus fleet. Weekly bus trips will nearly triple from 508 to 1,466.

New Palmerston North bus network services. Source: Horizons website

This shows a clear appetite for doing much better in the Horizons region which is helpful given that regional bus services are starting from such a low base.

The contrast is particularly obvious crossing the Horizons boundary with the Wellington region. The comparisons are as follows:

Horizons: Levin to Ōtaki - 1 weekday return train, 2 return buses per week
Wellington: Ōtaki to Waikanae - 18 weekday and 10 weekend return bus trips

Horizons: Palmerston North to Masterton - 0 buses
Wellington: Masterton to Featherston - 5 weekday and 2 weekend return trains. 10 weekday and 4 weekend return buses.

I covered potential improvements to the interim Capital Connection service, particularly weekday interpeak, weekend and public holiday services in this post. But it’s going to be 5-6 years before the long-term rolling stock is going to be in service according to a Greater Wellington & Horizons webinar on Thursday 31 August 2023. BTW, this webinar is useful if you’re interested in the Lower North Island hybrid trains.

Suggested public transport improvements

Five to six year is a long time to wait for the hybrid train fleet and their attendant significant rail service improvements for the Manawatū and Wairarapa lines. What follows is my shopping list of seven regional public transport improvements for the Horizons region that can be implemented or at least advanced more quickly. This is a combination of rail and bus improvements. While rail improvements are out of scope for this review, I think that it’s important to see buses and trains as part of an integrated multi-modal network. Some measures are short-term improvements but all of them set the stage for a much stronger bus and rail network in the Horizons region.

1. Maximise the use of the existing interim Capital Connection fleet to run a return interpeak Palmerston North to Wellington train as well as running weekend and public holiday trains. If this isn’t possible in the short-term, then buses could do this as a stepping stone and precursor to future improved rail services.

2. Feeder bus services to and from the Capital Connection in Palmerston North. This could include urban network connections to Palmerston North City Centre and Massey University as well as regional connections to Feilding and beyond.

3. Regular all-day, every day bus service between Levin and Waikanae Station, connecting to Metlink train services to Wellington.

Fun fact: Metlink Kāpiti Line all-stops urban trains from Waikanae to Wellington have a higher average speed (56 km/h including station stops) than Te Huia limited stops regional trains from Hamilton to Auckland (52 km/h including station stops)

4. At least a daily return bus service between Palmerston North and Masterton connecting to Metlink train services to Wellington at Masterton Station.

5. Additional stops for the Northern Explorer train in Feilding, Marton and Taihape. This would be an enabling step in preparation for the North Island Regional Passenger Rail Connector service between Palmerston North and Hamilton.

6. Proceed to a detailed business case for the North Island Regional Passenger Rail Connector service between Palmerston North and Hamilton, taking advantage of the funding available for inter-regional public transport in the Draft Government Policy Statement for Land Transport.

7. A generally much better regional bus network linking all parts of the region, including inter-regional connections to Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and the Waikato.

Anthonie Tonnon has been advocating for a connected regional bus network, and he and Caffeinated Maps' Sam van der Weerden have shared a draft network map they have been working on to explore how this might work alongside existing and planned services across regional borders. See below:

Draft Horizons regional public transport network map by Sam van der Weerden and Anthonie Tonnon

Have your say!

Horizons is currently seeking feedback on their Connecting the Dots: Regional Services Review 2023 which closes on 11 September 2023. This is a chance to have your say about opportunities for the whole Horizons region to be better connected both internally as well as to its neighbouring regions. Horizons has shown through initiatives in Whanganui and Palmerston North; their strong support for the Capital Connection train and the longer-term hybrid rolling stock; and by asking open questions about regional connectivity that they are open to doing much better. Let’s help Horizons do just that by jumping online here!