As part of the changes, at least 10 per cent of passengers will need to change bus at new interchanges

Every bus route in Wellington is set to change in the first major review of the city's network in about 20 years.

Greater Wellington regional council is preparing to go public with the proposed revamped bus network on Monday and the public will have one month to provide feedback.

As part of the changes, about 10 per cent of passengers will need to change bus at new interchanges, the core route from Seatoun to the railway station would bypass the Golden Mile, instead looping onto the Terrace, and some peak services could be sent along the waterfront to ease congestion.

Greater Wellington regional council has released maps to illustrate the changes.

Click here to view all of the maps in a high-resolution, zoomable format.

KEY POINTS:



Seventy-five per cent of people within 10 minutes walk of the core bus network, compared to 58 per cent now.

The number of bus trips would increase by 15 per cent.

Aim of one bus per minute through the CBD.

Three types of route: core, secondary, and peak only.

Core route run every 15 minutes and run seven days, from early morning to late evening.

Secondary routes run every 30-60 minutes. Most would run seven days, from early morning until mid-evening. Some would run into the CBD, but some would stop at suburban interchanges. Extra services would be added in peak times to some areas, such as Wilton, Wadestown, Khandallah and Lyall Bay, to increase frequency.

Peak only routes would be driven by demand, providing express services to areas serviced by secondary routes, to minimise connections.

The core route from Seatoun to the Railway Station - most similar to number 11 bus now - would have one of the biggest changes, going through Miramar, and bypassing the Golden Mile, instead travelling along the Terrace.

Some peak services could travel along the waterfront instead of the Golden Mile to ease congestion.

There will be interchange points at the Miramar shops, Kilbirnie, Wellington Hospital, Island Bay, Brooklyn, Karori, Zealandia, the Railway Station, Johnsonville and Newlands.

What do you think of the changes to bus routes? How will your daily journey be affected? Let us know at news@dompost.co.nz or leave a comment below

Greater Wellington economic well-being committee chairman Councillor Peter Glensor said the proposed changes aimed to simplify the network, which had become over-complicated as additional services and routes were added without changing existing routes to suit.

''There's an ongoing issue of congestion through the CBD and we want to have a network in place that will allow for long-term growth.''

The aim was to increase the frequency, so core routes would have services every 15 minutes, and others every 30 minutes throughout the day, he said.

Services would also run more frequently on weekends.

But while buses would be more regular, the trade-off for some passengers would be the need to change buses if they want to get to the city centre.

In particular, the Miramar hills, Strathmore, the Southern bays, Karori South, and suburbs north of Johnsonville, including Churton park and Grenada Village, would be affected, with buses throughout the day taking them to interchange points where they could link with core services running into the city.

''About 10 per cent of passengers would need to make a connection where they don't currently make a connection. What we will ensure is that those connections are safe, rapid, and comfortable,'' Mr Glensor said.

For many areas, such as the Southern bays, people would get a higher level of service than they do now, project manager Doug Weir said.

Any bus changes within the same company would be free, and there would be express services so people could get directly into the city without switching buses in peak periods, he said.

Every bus route would experience some level of change.

The changes will be done within the existing budget of about $35 million a year on the network.

After consultation, more detailed plans will be developed, with the first changes rolled out next year.

Information on the changes will be available from Greater Wellington from Monday.