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Wellington commuters are being reassured they are not going to be hit with a congestion charge any time soon.
The idea was raised in August last year in a report to the Regional Council as one way of solving peak-hour traffic jams, and boosting the use of public transport.
But Peter Glensor from the Council's Transport and Access Committee said nothing further had been done since then, so he was surprised to see it on the front page of this morning's Dominion Post newspaper.
He says he was worried commuters would think a congestion charge was about to be announced, when there was nothing currently on the table calling for one.
Regional council chairwoman Fran Wilde earlier told the Dominion Post the proposal could help generate the many millions of dollars needed to improve the region's buses and trains, but was only one of a number of ideas being studied.
A final plan would have to be approved by the city council.
However, Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast was not keen.
"We must do everything we can to protect Wellington CBD," she said.
Transport Minister Annette King's office said she expected congestion charges to "be on the agenda for some government in the future".
- NZPA with NEWSTALK ZB
