People, Places and Movement – an integrated public transport and urban form design guide (draft)

We are seeking feedback from the sector on the draft People, Places and Movement, a new, best practice design guide to help plan better places and connections to public transport in our towns and cities.

The guide recognises the vital role public transport can play in creating vibrant, thriving, and connected communities. It focuses on creating safe, attractive, and accessible urban spaces and places that enable walking, cycling, and shared modes around key public transport hubs.

This design guide will help planners, designers, engineers, and architects integrate public transport and urban form to provide better travel options, improve safety, and support lower carbon emissions as our towns and cities grow.

Transforming public transport in our towns and cities will help to make Aotearoa a more sustainable, better connected, and safer place for ourselves and future generations.

About the consultation 

The guide is currently in the final stages of development.

We  expect to release a draft version of the guide for wider feedback in late 2023, before releasing the final version of the guide.

How to have your say

If you are interested in reviewing the guide as part of this sector feedback, please  email  urbandesign@nzta.govt.nz by 20 October 2023 to receive further details on how you can provide feedback.

About the draft guide 

We have worked in partnership with other central government agencies, local government, and wider sector groups to develop this draft design guide.

It is intended for:

  • Practitioners in central government who are responsible for transport and urban form planning and decision-making. 
  • To support partnerships with local and regional government organisations that are responsible for planning and decision-making in relation to the interface between land use and urban design and transport. 
  • Enable best practice for planners, engineers, architects, and designers who work on public transport projects in our main urban areas. 

People, Places and Movement integrates and builds on a growing suite of Waka Kotahi technical guidance on street planning and design, multi-modal guidance, safety, environment, and sustainability.

The guide, once finalised and ratified, will be available for use on projects. 

It will be revised regularly to ensure it functions as an up-to-date tool, taking into account the changing landscape of policy and technical guidance in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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