Transport

Wellington's transport network is structurally fragile: a single coastal corridor carries the dominant share of freight, passenger rail, and road traffic. A major seismic event, infrastructure failure, or weather event on this corridor leaves the region with no viable alternative route. The Cook Strait ferry dependency amplifies this single-point-of-failure characteristic at the national scale.

Wellington's suburban rail network is the backbone of regional commuting but suffers from deferred infrastructure investment, aging rolling stock, and a capacity ceiling on key corridors. Post-COVID patronage recovery has been partial, and the network's ability to absorb future growth is constrained by both physical infrastructure and funding uncertainty.

Wellington's state highway network carries volumes far exceeding its design capacity on key urban sections. Transmission Gully (opened 2022) has provided partial relief on the northern corridor but has not resolved congestion in the inner city and Hutt Valley, where tunnels and narrow corridors remain binding constraints.

Despite Wellington's compact geography and moderate climate, cycling mode share remains very low relative to peer cities, held back by disconnected cycling infrastructure, safety concerns on shared roads, and topographic barriers. Walking infrastructure is uneven across the region.