GEN Seminar: Transport impacts of the Wellington Storm

Seminar Details

The storm over the night of Thursday 20 June 2013 severely affected Wellington’s transport network, with both immediate and flow-on effects for commuters in the region. Of particular impact was the damage done to the Hutt Valley rail line between Petone and Wellington, and the consequent disruption to passenger rail services for the days following the storm.

We decided to investigate the impact of the closure of part of the Hutt Valley rail line from 21-26 June, to see how transport users adjusted their travel patterns and behaviour to cope with changes in the network. This feeds into our understanding of travel behaviour, network capacity and resilience.

The work was also used to help trial/ develop the use of social media as a possible survey tool. 

This seminar gives a summary of the work, looking at the impact of the storm on this part of the transport network as detailed by a variety of data sources: State highway traffic counts, rail patronage figures and an online survey of those who commute into Wellington. The survey allows a more detailed investigation of commuter experiences, such as delays experienced, how commuters adapted their travel patterns, and how people found out about what was going on.

This work is a joint project by the Ministry of Transport, the NZ Transport Agency, KiwiRail and the Greater Wellington Regional Council.