Auckland Council, Government commit $28b towards Auckland transportation infrastructure

Thursday, 26 April 2018

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Transport Minister Phil Twyford last year announcing the $28 billion Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP).

The Government and Auckland Council have unveiled a record investment of about $28b under a new 10-year funding package to solve Auckland's transports woes.

On Thursday at the Newmarket Train Station, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Minister for Transport Phil Twyford jointly announced the cash injection to the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) - the overarching 30-year blueprint for tackling the city's transport issues.

The largest single investment, at about $8.4b, will go into the construction of a rapid transit network which would feature light rail extending out to the airport. About $940 million will go towards heavy rail improvements such as electrification to Pukekohe and more electric trains.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says without the RFT, Auckland would be able to do little more than fund the operation and renewal of the existing transport system.

Rapid transit would also allow for the development of 124,000 additional homes across the Auckland region, with another 30,000 homes being able to be built in greenfield sites.

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$8.4 billion of the investment will fund the construction of a rapid transit network which would include a light rail out to the airport.

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Additionally, a range of projects such as beefed up bus services, much-needed park and rides, a boost to cycleways and walkways, and a redevelopment of the Downtown ferry terminal and will be included.

Improvements to the public transport system would increase passenger numbers over the next decade from 93 million to 170 million.

Twyford said the investment programme was fully funded.

A $9.7b fiscal hole in Auckland transport plan for the next 10 years was inherited from the previous government, but the revised ATAP had closed that hole, Twyford said.

'We have to do things differently. And this plan today is a signal for change and we will do things differently.'

Fuel taxes

The package confirmed on Thursday incorporated the proposed Regional Fuel Tax (RFT) into the funding plan, unlocking about $4.4b in new funding.

Goff said the expenditure made possible by the fuel tax would meet the cost of transport infrastructure across all forms of transport, benefiting the entire Auckland region.

'Without the RFT, Auckland would be able to do little more than fund the operation and renewal of the existing transport system and projects which have already been committed to.

'That would leave congestion caused by Auckland's annual growth in population of 45,000 a year to get much worse causing growing frustration at increasing gridlock and imposing over a billion dollars of lost productivity costs on New Zealand's economy,' he said.

The Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Bill, expected to be implemented in July, would allow Auckland Council to levy an expected 10c per litre on Auckland petrol sales.

It would sit alongside a fuel excise duty increase of between nine and 12c a litre to fund billions of land transport planning, focussing on road safety and rapid rail.

Once both are introduced Auckland motorists would be expected to pay upwards of 20c per litre more for petrol.

Two new roads

Funding was also approved by Twyford for two long-awaited roading projects - an upgrade of Mill Road giving an alternative to the southern motorway between Manukau and Papakura and further south where new subdivisions are emerging; and Penlink, a connection between the northern motorway and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

About $3.8b will be spent on strategic and local roads.

Twyford took a swipe at the Opposition, who he accused of stoking fears earlier this year that Mill Rd and Penlink had been dropped by the new Labour-led government.

He said his funding announcement 'puts paid to National's scaremongering: this Government is delivering the road upgrades Auckland needs as well as world-class rapid transit, without taking money away from the regions'.

'Mill Road and Penlink will now progress, something that never happened during Simon Bridges' tenure as Transport Minister. Up to $82m was pencilled for the initial stages of the Mill Road project under his watch, but only $2m of investigation work was ever done. Local road projects, such as Mill Road and Penlink, were starved of funding by Mr Bridges' obsession with a few gold-plated projects.'

Manurewa-Papakura Ward Councillor Daniel Newman said the Mills Rd corridor was essential if the south was to avoid a 'transport heart attack'.

He said what is proposed under the Auckland Transport Alignment Project is around $500 million in improvements to address 'severe safety issues'.

Last year, ahead of the general election, National announced it would inject nearly $1b into the project if re-elected, securing government funding through the National Land Transport Fund.

'Certainly, getting vehicles off Hill Road and onto a proper arterial road corridor is crucial. Funding to improve the alternative route via Mill Road will contribute to that,' Newman said.

However he says what is missing from the project is a commitment to complete the corridor.

He said 'first phase' is not the same as 'final completion date' and the scale of residential and commercial property development in Drury and Franklin requires a firm commitment to complete the entire Mill Road corridor to provide a comprehensive alternative to the Southern Motorway.

A mixed reception

The funding package has been met with an mixture of responses from a number of groups.

National's transport spokesperson Jami-Lee Ross said the only new idea in the package was a multi-billion tram which Aucklanders would pay extra petrol taxes for.

'The Government has just re-announced National's Auckland transport package but confirmed it will tax Aucklanders an extra 25 cents a litre of fuel to deliver its half-planned, half-funded multi-billion dollar tram to the airport,' Ross said.

Penlink and Mill Rd were going to happen under National with Mill Rd already consented, he said.

'The Government wants to deliver substandard alternatives while still expecting locals to pay more in petrol taxes.'

AA spokesman Barney Irvine said the project list was exciting and reflected an understanding on the part of the Government and Auckland Council that dealing with Auckland's transport challenges required action on all fronts.

However, there was little information regarding benefits in travel times and the cost of congestion, Irvine said.

'Aucklanders are facing a double-whammy of a national fuel tax hike and an Auckland regional fuel tax to help pay for this, and in return they expect to see real progress on de-congestion.'

Meanwhile, the AA commended the parties on the increased focus on road safety with $910m proposed across a range of areas, he said.

Greater Auckland editor Matthew Lowrie said Auckland's next decade of transport was 'looking fantastic'.

'Overall, this looks pretty damn good and is an impressive improvement over the previous versions of ATAP. Even better is that it's fully funded so it isn't a random wish list,' Lowrie said.

Generation Zero spokesperson Leroy Beckett said the announcement was a welcome relief for all Aucklanders as it unlocked the city and provided more transport choice.

'With the $6 billion funding gap in transport now closed, Auckland can move forward with essential investments in its public transport, walking and cycling networks that this new transport budget lays out,' Beckett said.

'This plan signals Auckland is now on track to deal with the transport problems that have plagued the city.'