How Greater Wellington Regional Council used data transparency to build trust with operators and improve network performance.
Greater Wellington Regional Council’s (GWRC) transit network, Metlink, connects the wider Wellington region in New Zealand. Today, there are more than 38 million journeys a year on the Metlink bus, rail, and harbour ferry transport network.
Challenges
Much like the Bus Services Act changes that enable franchising in the UK, in 2013 New Zealand created the Public Transport Operating Model (now replaced with the Sustainable Public Transport Framework), which empowered authorities like GWRC to take control of designing networks and then tender for their delivery.
In 2018, GWRC implemented significant changes to the transportation network. These changes aimed to enhance network capacity and involved modifications to operators, contract structures, routes, and fare policies. However, the implementation process was difficult, and the network's performance faced heightened scrutiny.
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