Local government is broke - congestion charges are a possible saviour

Auckland Transport and the Auckland Council are investigating the possibility of introducing a congestion tax in the central city.

I’m not necessarily opposed to such a tax, but there are a number of questions that need asking. The first is this: why should thousands of Aucklanders from the far-flung fringes of Auckland, like Pukekohe, Helensville and Wellsford, have to commute to Queen Street or thereabouts each day to work? I know congestion is Auckland wide, but motorways into the city centre are the most clogged.

Unlike London, Auckland does not yet have sufficient public transport. London has the underground trains, and when congestion charges were first instituted, 700 new buses were introduced on the day.

Many new apartments have sprung up in the central city, housing some thousands of, mainly young, Aucklanders. But there are still many huge towers where hundreds of people work - banks, insurance companies, legal firms, even Fonterra for goodness sake. Shouldn’t Fonterra’s head office be in Hamilton, or Matamata?

There are thousands of Aucklanders driving madly for a couple of hours to get to work in our central city - crazy.

What we need is commercial hubs and business centres spread across the Super City. But better public transport into and out of the city is critical.

If I want to go to a meeting in the central city, say at Ellen Melville Hall, I need to allow at least an hour, and even then I arrive in Wellesley Street well up the road from the Ellen Melville Hall. I can drive there in five minutes. That’s why Mike Hosking is poo pooing getting out of private cars. Of course with climate change and scarce oil it will happen, but unlike London we have no Underground and a still inadequate public bus schedule.

Let’s use the most sustainable environmental policies at our disposal.

There are so many competing claims for council and Government money that we can’t do it all, but one thing I’d say out loud is Auckland should sort infrastructure including water, waste water and drinking water before we approve a ‘Phil Goff Memorial Stadium’ on the waterfront, or extra millions for the America’s Cup. We also must put a carefully thought-out comprehensive commuting programme into practice, and if it includes a congestion charge, the rest of the package must be in place at the same time.

Although there are contrary views, most Aucklanders applaud the supply of cycleways and safe pedestrian walk ways, but part of the problem was a lack of consultation by AT, and a refusal to do the other necessary things at the same time as cycleways were put in, eg, permit parking, more buses on more routes, smaller buses where more suitable. Parking for cars is still necessary, too.

Contrary to local fears where congestion charges were introduced in London, the central London retail sector has boomed. There has been an 83% increase in cycling trips, and more than 40,000 have switched from private cars to public transport. So it can work if implemented carefully.

Currently motorists pay for the use of roads through a range of methods: petrol taxes, road user charges, vehicle registration fees and rates. These charges don’t take into account the time or location of travel - for example driving on a congested motorway in rush hour versus driving along a quiet country road at night.

Congestion pricing could change this by varying what road users pay at different times and at different locations to better reflect the real costs. Too much variation, though, would increase the cost of implementation.

Congestion in Auckland is costly in terms of lost production, time costs for commuters and contractors getting from job to job, not to mention health and safety issues resulting from CO2 emissions on clogged roads at peak times.

The first stage report doesn’t paint a pretty picture, saying an average motorist is taking 40 to 55% more time to travel Auckland roads at peak time than they did just four years ago.

It is critical to remember that many of the world’s cities which have embraced congestion charging have viable alternative methods of transport, like London mentioned above, such as underground rail or bus networks, multiple cycleways and pedestrian malls.

Local government minister, Nanaia Mahuta, says a funding inquiry into local government pressures would soon be launched, to investigate how infrastructure improvements could be paid for.

Rate payers will be watching staff salaries at council, and that secret society, Auckland Transport. We will also be seeking a huge reduction in the use of expensive consultants who keep writing reports which are never used.

Council must ensure careful coordination of essential improvements and eliminate frivolous projects.

Consult your citizens, council, and then act on the congestion problem in Auckland. Do it all together, or don’t do it at all.
(JOHN ELLIOTT)