@nashthomas profile picture
Thomas Nash @nashthomas

Cities, transport and economic and climate transitions. Social Entrepreneur in Residence and Adjunct Lecturer @masseyuni.

Joined January 2009
  • Tweets 11,580
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  • Followers 5,588
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Thomas Nash@nashthomas
23 Nov 2022
Today council has given me the job of Transport Chair. My top priority is a reliable bus service and, to achieve that, I’ll have a laser like focus on building up the driver workforce. I also want to make sure our transport network is accessible and affordable to everyone. 1/4
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Big moment today to help sign the contract with Alstom for 19 new trains to serve people in the lower North Island from 2029. This will allow us to quadruple rail services to Palmerston North, double services to Masterton and open up more development around railway stations. 1/
Me signing the contract for new trains with Alstom representatives in Wellington.

ALT Me signing the contract for new trains with Alstom representatives in Wellington.

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Very grateful to the Greater Wellington staff who led this procurement and to Horizons Regional Council and the other partner organisations and external advisors. The support of various Ministers over the years, including Transport Minister Chris Bishop, has been critical. 4/
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P.S. Typo above - it’s 18 trains not 19.
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Bringing Wellington’s bus depots under public control is already helping attract interest from a wider range of bus companies. Public ownership of critical assets can help secure public services, drive competition and get a better deal for the public. thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360802…

Fresh contenders line up for bus contracts

With Wellington’s next round of bus contracts less than a year from being put to tender, the competition is already heating up. Alongside the four current operators, another four “serious” new...

thepost.co.nz
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Thomas Nash retweeted
Sam van der Weerden@svdweerden
25 Jun 2025
Hello stuff.co.nz/nz-news/36073001…

‘Good news story’: Wellington cyclist numbers well over double in two years

A cycling advocate said the swell of cyclists coming through the Basin Reserve was due to a new cycleway that opened mid-2023.

stuff.co.nz
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This new Harbour Quays bus route is big. Speeding up bus trips through the city makes daily life better for people, gets more bus frequency for the same cost and services more destinations. I hope the government will reconsider its decision not to help fund this infrastructure.
Map showing the proposed Harbour Quays bus route with existing Golden Mile stops and proposed future Harbour Quays stops.

ALT Map showing the proposed Harbour Quays bus route with existing Golden Mile stops and proposed future Harbour Quays stops.
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Thomas Nash retweeted
NZ Transit Buzz@NZTransitBuzz
24 Jun 2025
#BusNews: Plans for a long-awaited second Wellington city centre bus route running along the waterfront quays are beginning to take shape, and the Capital’s two councils will decide in August whether to progress them.
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Wellington needs council candidates to focus on affordable, high value for money projects they can actually deliver. Bus lanes, especially on the Harbour Quays, are a good example. Saving 10 mins for each of the 70,000 bus trips people take each day through the city is big. 1/
Map of the proposed faster buses route through the city noir to the eastern suburbs.

ALT Map of the proposed faster buses route through the city noir to the eastern suburbs.

Fact sheet on the faster buses proposal

ALT Fact sheet on the faster buses proposal

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The Harbour Quays bus route will give back 700,000 minutes overall, that’s 11,600 hours a day at a cost of $10m. This is why the benefit cost ratio will be so high. I wouldn’t be surprised if it works out 10 times better value than any of the proposed urban motorway tunnels. 2/
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Councils can deliver bus lanes now without being held back by central government. Wellington also needs to get moving, by ourselves if need be, on debit card payment, better transfers between bus and rail and sensible fare caps that we can afford and can actually deliver. 3/
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Thomas Nash retweeted
Geordie Rogers@grogersxyz
17 Jun 2025
Your Wellington Greens are committing to delivering a faster and more efficient bus network with bus lanes, stop improvements, and priority lights all the way from Seatoun to the Railway station
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Thomas Nash retweeted
NZ Transit Buzz@NZTransitBuzz
13 Jun 2025
#BusNews: A Happy Valley site has been purchased by Greater Wellington for the development of a bus depot as part of the regional council’s Public Transport Asset Control Strategy. MORE: metlink.org.nz/news-and-upda…
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Quite a striking increase in Wellington’s weekend bus use. Saturday is up 31% from 2019, Sunday up 45%. In this period we increased our off peak discount and boosted off peak frequency, reducing drivers’ inconvenient split shifts. Still loads of untapped potential off peak.
Bar graph showing increase in weekend bus patronage in the Wellington region between 2019 and 2025.

ALT Bar graph showing increase in weekend bus patronage in the Wellington region between 2019 and 2025.
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Thomas Nash retweeted
Rebecca Matthews@RebeccaJEmm
27 May 2025
Please encourage anybody considering voting for Ray Chung or the IT candidates to read this about their links to extremist groups, or if you can, look at the Better Wellington socials to see what and who is driving this. thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360688…

Mayoral hopeful faces scrutiny over conspiracy group links

Ray Chung is under pressure to explain his campaign’s apparent connections to groups linked to anti-trans rhetoric, vaccine conspiracies and the 2022 Parliament occupation.

thepost.co.nz
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My take on the new maintenance and renewal funding for the government’s rail assets. This new funding needs to be part of a wider shift towards a new and fit for purpose rail model that properly recognises the value of rail for our cities and our economy. thepost.co.nz/politics/36069…

Welcome new rail funding helps address the slow down of passenger rail trips

OPINION: The Government allowing this rail passenger slow down to occur is the equivalent of it leaving potholes on State Highways for years and telling drivers just to slow down.

thepost.co.nz
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This new $143m covers the next two years of maintenance and renewals of the Crown’s rail assets. It should help lift some of the speed restrictions KiwiRail has put on the network due to the state of its assets and allow time to agree a new funding model. rnz.co.nz/news/national/5615…

Budget 2025: $600m for upgrading rail network

Wellington and Auckland will see $140m to replace and upgrade their rail - but not everyone was happy to see the minister during Tuesday's announcement.

rnz.co.nz
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Wellington has doubled bus lanes and bus priority over this council term. One result is afternoon peak travel times from Newtown to the city are a third faster. But the full benefits of these bus lane time savings rely on doing the Golden Mile and Harbour Quays projects ASAP. 1/
Graphic showing bus travel times on the Newtown to Courtenay Place corridor from 2019 to 2025, showing a signs and reduction in afternoon peak travel times.

ALT Graphic showing bus travel times on the Newtown to Courtenay Place corridor from 2019 to 2025, showing a signs and reduction in afternoon peak travel times.

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The number one thing the city council can do for public transport is bus lanes, including crucially the Golden Mile, Harbour Quays and eastern suburbs route. Serious candidates committed to public transport need to commit to advancing the bus priority plan with no more delays. 2/
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