Auckland's Light Rail: Project hit the buffers when NZTA took over, former AT chair says

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

A 2016 video by Auckland Transport shows the proposed route of light rail line to the airport, later taken over by NZTA.

Auckland's Light Rail project could have been under construction now, had it not been taken over by the government's transport agency NZTA, according to the former chair of Auckland Transport.

Lester Levy said AT had done much of the work on Light Rail prior to the change of government in 2017 and had even found prospective private sector funders.

'A project that was heading down a path towards implementation, really just stopped,' Levy told Stuff.

Levy said he was now worried about the future of Light Rail, which he described as a project that had become isolated outside of the city's transport network.

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Lester Levy has just ended 7 years as chair of Auckland Transport

The future direction of light rail is now in the hands of the Ministry of Transport, which will decide early next year how to advance it.

'The rest is history and is re-writing itself at the moment – we should have gone ahead with it,' said Levy.

The fate of the Light Rail project was one of his greatest frustrations at the end of his seven-year term chairing the council agency AT.

Artist impression of Auckland's proposed Light Rail route on Dominion Road, Balmoral

'Light Rail is misunderstood and I categorise it as one of the missed opportunities,' he said.

AT unveiled at the end of 2014 the idea of a light rail from the CBD to Mt Roskill along the busy arterial Dominion Road.

Former Auckland Transport chair Lester Levy, the mayor Phil Goff, and Transport Minister Phil Goff announce a fare-free day at Akoranga Bus Station

The mayor at the time wanted the focus to stay on getting government approval for the $4.4 billion City Rail Link, and AT continued for three years to work away on light rail.

'We were pushing forward on that and making really good progress, and did all the work internally funded,' Levy told Stuff.

Levy said light rail was the solution to bus congestion on busy arterials, a problem which has only been temporarily eased with the introduction of double-deckers, but would become serious again.

Artist impression of Auckland Light Rail trains en route to the Airport

After the 2017 general election the government assumed responsibility for Light Rail, with the project shifted from AT into NZTA, which had never developed an urban transit system.

The subsequent arrival of a competing proposal backed by the NZ Super Fund, has seen the rival plans put in the hands of MOT, and development has stopped.

The chair of NZTA Sir Brian Roche last month said it 'could have and should have' done better for Transport Minister Phil Tywford after it mishandled an unsolicited consortium bid from the NZ Super Fund to build Auckland's light rail project.

Roche, who joined the NZTA board after the fiasco, said the agency 'dropped the ball,' and lost the confidence of the Minister.

Levy believed ownership of a project could change, without it being seriously disrupted as had happened with Light Rail.

He was hunted for the AT chair's role, just two years into the agency's life, following the death of the inaugural chair Mark Ford.

His background had until then been in the health sector as both a chief executive and later simultaneous chair of all three District Health Boards in Auckland.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

Stuff took Levy through a checklist of the good and bad, during his time at the top of an agency tackling the city's thorniest problem.

Electric Buses - is the rollout too slow?

A: It doesn't have to be (so slow) it just needs more money

Ferries - Can Auckland afford a big step up in services?

A: Not likely unless there is a lot of money - ferry is very expensive and maybe if there was a way to make it work with private investment, but otherwise we just need to improve the service we've got.

Auckland Transport - the bureaucracy

A: I did want to make a strong push on customer focus and being more agile - it was more difficult than it had to be because quite a lot of the culture is embedded.

The back of that has been broken, but it is quite slow, it's a big organisation and in many ways still got its element of bureaucracy which is quite frustrating.

The biggest constraint to solving transport woes?

A: It is certainly about funding, if you had that you'd be able to get all these projects done. ATAP (the multi-decade project and funding agreement between council and the government) was a significant step forward in funding, but in some respects, a step back for AT.

ATAP sets timelines, but they don't necessarily line up with NZTA funding rules, it might take longer to get through NZTA, or a project might not come through at all.

Council plans to review the structure of agencies including AT?

A: They should do whatever they think is right, but stop tinkering. This might be the third or fourth review from the council – I don't think there has been enough time for it to work through.

Main achievements?

A: Implementing the list that (former mayor) Len Brown said he wanted achieved in 10 years. Electric trains, the ATHOP smart card, Integrated Fares (across different modes), the introduction of the new bus contract regime and the New Network route system, getting the City Rail Link underway, and the eastern AMETI bus, car and cycle highway. Brown's hope to double public transport patronage in a decade seemed impossible at the time, but might still be reached.

The one that got away?

A: I'm personally disappointed I couldn't get reduced fares over the line. I was the proponent and the other was (ex-councillor) Mike Lee. We put that up last year, a fully-developed idea, and got knocked back. Someone's got to fund it so that's not happening.

Missed opportunities?

A: All agencies flying in closer formation – we have got Auckland Council, AT, MOT, Kiwirail, City Rail Link Limited – it is too complicated and simplicity would be a really good thing.

If Levy had a magic wand?

A: There is no magic wand of course, but if I had one it would be to accelerate the Rapid Transit Network, to shift people out of cars and ease the pressure on the roads. If you want to drive a car you should be able to, but you won't be able to get very far very quickly unless we create an environment in which people who want to shift modes, do.