Auckland Transport Strategy Heads In Right Direction

Controls of NZ ADL 801 |William M (aucklandrail tag on flickr.com)

There is no silver bullet to Auckland transport changes, according to the latest version of the ARA’s report setting the direction for transport in Auckland over the next 30 years.
But it accurately nails what that direction should be.
It warns that by 2051, Auckland region’s population will almost double. If we continue past travel habits, by 2041, an extra 1/25m trips will be made by car and 60,000 trips by public transport each year.

It recommends:

• “We need to make better use of what we’ve got – to move more people and goods on arterials (i.e. maximising throughput) and to encourage behaviour change by making it easy to choose sustainable transport options.

• We need to invest in all types of transport – walking and cycling, public transport, behaviour change initiatives and roading. This investment will give the people of Auckland more sustainable transport choices and reduce the impact of transport on the environment providing resilience against climate change and encourage efficient energy use.

• Funding arrangements will need to change to match the strategy – this includes local and national funding for transport.”

The informal title of the new Regional Land Transport Strategy is recommended to be “On the right track,” and in this blogger’s view, it is so much so, we can only hope that whoever and whatever bodies rule the transport funding and decision making in the next few years, accept it to be the way to move.

On specific strategies of interest to rail travellers, a more realistic urgency has been given.

The CBD rail link, now supported by Auckland mayor John Banks, was, in an original draft, expected to be constructed within the period 2021-2031 but this was changed to read that planning for and construction “needs to be progressed with urgency and the links needs to be operational by 2021.”

Similarly, on the airport rail loop, while still acknowledging that only limited investigation has been done, the suggestion is that “priority needs to be given to planning and route protection for this route” and that it was expected the airport rail loop will be constructed in the period 2031-2041. The loop will consist of connections to the airport from the north via Onehunga and from the east via Puhunui Station.

The rest of the overall preferred strategic public transport options are well known to us –  electrifying rail, extending the Northern Busway to Orewa, developing Panmure-Botany-Manukau and Henderson-Westgate-Albany bus connections and the still-eagerly awaited integrated ticketing. They are all essential and exciting to dream about.

But the key is that the version before the ARA’s regional transport committee aims to make us all think of that world in 2041 as it moves through the consultation process and beyond.

It wants us to think seriously about sensible travel choices, reducing our reliance on a car-based society and economy and make more effective use of public transport services we have.

Let’s hope it does trigger a wide helpful debate because we’re entering a new funding era where clear urgent decisions without fragmented politics of the past are crucial for the city’s future.