Double decker buses coming to the Hutt Valley
Double decker buses will be rolling out in Eastbourne, Petone and the Lower Hutt city centre to help meet current and future customer demand.
Over the next 20 years there’s going to be 20 per cent to 30 percent more passengers travelling by bus so we’ve got to find a way to carry more people without clogging up the roads with even more vehicles.
Double deckers provide 91 seats compared to large single deckers which only have seating for 43 passengers.
With buses departing as often as every 5 minutes from the Eastbourne terminus, introducing double deckers means we can prepare for current and future demand without running more buses.
The extra capacity on Double deckers helps minimise bus bunching, reduce blocked driveways, and reduce the number of buses pulling into stops and holding up traffic.
Introducing double deckers requires some changes: redefining and shifting of the carriageway, relocation and redesign of a few bus stops; and tree trimming. These changes will also help improve the customer experience for single deckers too - helping all buses get nearer to the footpath making it easier for people to get on and off the bus.
A survey of the trees along the bus corridor has been undertaken by Hutt City and Greater Wellington’s infrastructure teams and we’ll be undertaking some tree trimming as a result, which you may notice. We’ll also be implementing changes to the layout of Muritai Rd.
Double Decker Infrastructure Muritai Road
Introducing double deckers on the Eastbourne service should be seen as a first step to accommodating future growth in the Hutt Valley. As housing developments grow over time, we expect demand to be met of double decker buses on other key Hutt Valley bus routes.
Your support in helping us accommodate this growth with double deckers will enable us to give more reliability and punctuality to customers while also minimising the impact of congestion.