Posties will soon be cruising the streets in electric vehicles, but we won't see them in Wellington.
The vehicles (EVs) are being introduced as part of a move to cut costs and reduce emissions and have already been through a trial phase in
New Plymouth.
The vehicles will be rolled out in Auckland later this year, and NZ Post has approached local councils for approval, in principle, for the buggy-style vehicles to be driven on footpaths across the country.
However of the nine councils in the Wellington region, Wellington City Council is the only one which has not given NZ Post the green light to operate the vehicles on footpaths, NZ Post spokesman and sustainability specialist Sam Bridgman said.
Bridgman spoke at an electric vehicle symposium in Wellington on Monday, where news of the council's disapproval was met with surprise.
Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the city's footpaths were simply not suitable for the electric postal vehicles.
"They are quite bulky.
"Many of our footpaths are hugely busy – you think of Lambton Quay – and some of our suburban ones are really quite narrow.
Wade-Brown said the council would be happy for the vehicles to be driven on roads, "and the posties would just have to get out and walk to the letterboxes".
The vehicles, named the Paxster, had a top speed of 45km, "but we won't be going that fast on footpaths", Bridgman said.
They require the operator to have a driver's licence.
There were 60 million fewer letters sent across the county in 2015 compared to the previous year, Bridgman said.
"That means we're losing $20 million to $30m a year in revenue. Parcels are increasing but not as fast as letters are decreasing."
A total of $15m has been set aside for the purchase of the vehicles over the next two years.
Bridgman said the trial of the vehicles in New Plymouth saw a 60 per cent reduction in both greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs.
A Government policy allowing electric vehicles to drive in bus lanes won't work for some Wellington streets, Wade-Brown said.
The Golden Mile – which runs from the Railway Station to Courtenay Place – in the central city, was already overcrowded, she said.
"I think we have 160 buses per hour down the Golden Mile at peak times and we really should only have 100.
"So EVs down Manners St, I think no. We have got really good public transport usage and we want to encourage that to continue."
The legislation was due to take effect later this year, Transport Minister Simon Bridges said.
"[We] have seen that this is the single most effective non-financial incentive you can put in place to increase EV uptake.
Bridges admitted that in some cases, EVs in bus lanes "won't make sense".
"However it will ultimately be a decision for the regional controlling authorities like the NZ Transport Agency and regional councils around the country."
Wade-Brown said the council was supportive of electric vehicles.
"I think EVs are absolutely the way of the future. We will be installing charging stations around the city in the 2016/17 financial year and adding EVs to the council fleet."