Auckland mayoral hopeful John Tamihere pledges to scrap petrol tax and light rail

Wednesday, 21 August 2019

John Tamihere has announced his transport policy in his run for the Auckland mayoralty. (Video first published in August 2019)

John Tamihere says he will dump the regional fuel tax and light rail plans if he is elected Auckland mayor in October's local body election.

Tamihere announced his road and rail transport policy at a press conference on Wednesday morning.

He said he would prioritise road projects in growth areas and extend the rail network through the airport, as well as to the North Shore and to East Tamaki.

The current plan for light rail from the city centre to Mount Roskill would be scrapped and buses retained through the main isthmus routes.

John Tamihere launching the transport policy in his Auckland mayoral bid.

* Phil Goff to scrap diesel buses, buy electric cars for Auckland council if re-elected mayor

* Auckland mayoral billboard war begins

John Tamihere's proposed expanded rail network mixes 'tram-trains' with the existing commuter trains, to reach the airport without transfers.

* Goff, Tamihere butt heads for Auckland mayoralty on live national television

Tamihere said his proposed rail link from Mt Albert to Māngere and on to Wiri could be built within nine years.

Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere says he would prioritise road projects in the city's growth areas

The challenger has produced a detailed new version of a transport network for Auckland, introducing 'tram-trains' – a mode between light rail and conventional commuter rail.

A tram-train line would be built from the CBD, over the proposed new harbour bridge, to serve the North Shore.

The scrapping of the 11.5 cent regional fuel tax and the cost of the proposed new 49km of rail lines would be borne largely by the government in Tamihere's plan.

'It will take [a] multi model approach that includes track, road and more park and rides,' he said of his proposal.

'When I get the mandate from Aucklanders in October, I will head to Wellington to start a new conversation. I will not go to Wellington to get my instructions, like the present guy. My instructions will come from the people of Auckland.'

Tamihere proposed 30 new park and ride facilities, created in joint ventures with the private sector.

'This is not an anti-car policy and priority roading like Penlink and Mill Rd will give ratepayers who commute from Warkworth, Wellsford, and Kumeu and from the south on via Mill Rd respite.'

The policy also prioritised the Kumeu by-pass in the north-west.

Tamihere backed the current plans for regional rail, with lines to Rotorua, the Western Bay of Plenty, Cambridge, Te Kuiti and Whangārei.

The proposal has not found favour with transport advocates Greater Auckland.

'Over the past five years two governments and two mayors have landed a broadly agreed and affordable transport programme for Auckland,' editor Matt Lowrie said.

'This would blow all that open and mean very little progress for years as these plans are re-evaluated and probably – with more information – ultimately reconfirmed,' he said.

Lowrie said tram-trains were a poor substitute for the proper high-frequency and connected metro system currently planned and being built for Auckland.

Mayor Phil Goff, who has yet to release his full transport policy, has called Tamihere's plans 'pure fantasy.'

It was 'unfundable, unworkable and undeliverable', he said.

'It's electioneering nonsense costing billions of dollars that the government wont fund and Aucklanders couldn't and wouldn't fund through their rates.'

Another mayoral candidate, Craig Lord, backed Tamihere's opposition to the regional fuel tax, and also favoured exploring a form of road pricing instead.