Matangi trains in the Wellington railway yard, which could one day be owned by a new transport super-authority.

The Wellington region is being eyed up for a super-sized transport authority, to run everything from footpaths to highways to trains.

The new authority would gut Greater Wellington Regional Council of its public transport role, and take over all the other councils' transport responsibilities.

The super-authority is just one of several options put to councils in a new report written for the Local Government Commission after its super-city proposal was dropped last year. It has not been publicly released.

The report offers a menu of six choices, from the status quo through to a super-authority similar to Auckland Transport.

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This authority would cover Kapiti, Porirua, Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa, and would govern itself, run services, own assets and plan work.

The report says this would make the greatest efficiency gains over a system currently split between nine councils and the NZ Transport Agency.

The proposed entity, dubbed Greater Wellington Transport, would run "at arm's length" from councils, cover local roads, footpaths, cycling, and public transport, with an option to include state highways.

"Asset ownership could be governed by a board appointed by shareholding councils," the report said.

However, it warns that, the more ambitious the change, "the more difficult it is to get agreement".

The commission briefed councils for feedback, and was shortlisting options for a business case to be presented to councillors in June. It planned to start seeking community feedback after that.

A timeline given to Wellington councillors in a workshop on Tuesday said the commission would report back in August on the next stages.

Wellington city councillor Paul Eagle said that, if adopted, the change could chip away at council democracy.

"It's another part of council's core business going out to a new entity, with an unelected board, and highly paid CEO."

The option, he said, seemed to be aimed at dismantling the regional council. "Transport is the biggest part of their work. I think there's a disingenuous attempt here to try and kill off the Greater Wellington Regional Council."

The report is part of work agreed by the Wellington Mayoral Forum, the transport agency, and the commission.

Transport blogger Matt Lowrie said Wellington should get on board with an authority such as Auckland Transport, which was imperfect, but "far better than what we've had before".

Wellington's public transport was split between the regional and other councils, which "means you can't get anything very easily".

Auckland Transport was generally successful, and might not even go far enough, with state highways still overseen by NZTA, he said.

Since Wellington's super city was knocked back, transport at least should be looked at from a regional perspective, Lowrie said.

Regional council chairman Chris Laidlaw said it was "quite conceivable" that an Auckland-style transport entity might be viable in the long run.

"But a lot of people have doubts about CCOs [council-controlled organisations]; and making CCOs accountable is of course a major challenge in any context."

If the change ever happened, he doubted losing public transport would spell the end for the regional council. "Most of what regional councils do, most of the time, is beyond transport."

Commission chief executive Sandra Preston said it was too early to say how long it might take for change to happen.

"A small roading entity could be in place in a year; a larger entity involving public transport and roading would take several years to implement."

Some of the changes could be done by the councils themselves, but a larger Auckland-style change would need the commission's approval.

Transport agency central regional director Raewyn Bleakley said it had no preferred option yet.