policy
Wellington Fuel Tax Referendum on November Ballot: Projected Costs for Drivers and Bus Route Changes
Voters will decide on a 10 cent per litre regional fuel tax increase that the Wellington Regional Council projects will raise NZ$28 million a year for specified transport projects.
How we reported this
The Wellington Regional Council placed a referendum on the November 2026 ballot that asks residents to approve a 10 cent per litre increase to the existing regional fuel tax. The measure would apply at pumps across the Wellington region and direct revenue to bus priority lanes and footpath upgrades listed in the council's May 2026 statement of proposal.
The proposal follows a 2025 council report that identified a NZ$45 million shortfall in transport maintenance funding through 2028. Council documents state that current fuel tax revenue covers only routine road repairs and leaves no margin for new bus lanes on routes such as State Highway 1 between Tawa and the CBD.
Household and Travel Impacts
For a household driving 12,000 kilometres a year on petrol, the tax would add roughly NZ$120 annually at current fuel efficiency levels. The same documents project that the added revenue would fund 4.2 kilometres of new bus lanes on routes serving Newtown, Karori and Johnsonville, which council modelling says could cut average morning peak bus travel times by seven minutes on those corridors.
Residents who rely on the number 1 and number 7 bus services would see the first lanes installed between the CBD and Newtown by late 2027 if the measure passes. Council estimates indicate that 38,000 daily boardings on those routes would benefit from the priority infrastructure, while drivers entering the CBD during peak hours would pay the higher pump price regardless of whether they use the new lanes.
Timeline and Voting Details
Special voting opens on 12 October 2026 at council service centres and selected libraries. Final results are scheduled for release on 20 November. If approved, the tax increase takes effect on 1 April 2027 and remains in place for five years under the terms set out in the Local Government Act 2002 amendment referenced in the proposal.
The referendum question will appear as a single yes-or-no item on the voting paper. Council staff have confirmed that no other transport funding measures will appear on the same ballot.