Aucklanders 'still in the dark' about key light rail details, AA says

Wednesday, 22 September 2021

The New Zealand Automobile Association (AA) says the “public is still in the dark” on the specifics of Tāmaki Makaurau's light rail and “big questions” needed to be answered.

AA principal adviser Martin Glynn said even before live public engagement came to an early end because of alert level 4, the project had failed to impress those looking for “more than a vision and artist’s impressions”.

Two of the “biggest calls” yet to be made were which route the line would take – Dominion Rd or Sandringham Rd – and what type of light rail would be used, surface or metro-style, he said.

“No information was provided to enable Aucklanders to develop informed views on these key choices,” Glynn said.

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How much the project would cost and who would pay for it was a major concern for Glynn because it was likely to be the country’s most expensive infrastructure project ever.

“There is currently no information on how much the project will cost beyond Winston Peters’ claim that previous proposals were between $10 billion and $15b.”

Auckland Light Rail Group (ALR) project director Tommy Parker said costs would being assessed through an indicative business case, which couldn’t be released until after Cabinet had seen it.

Glynn said motorists had already contributed $1.8 billion from petrol taxes and road user charges.

Modelling of passenger capacity across a number of different transit options.

“We’re interested in understanding value for money, what the project’s actually going to achieve, and what some key trade-offs will be if things go ahead,” he said.

Information was also lacking around passenger demand for the service and the number of stops.

Pre-pandemic bus use along Dominion Rd averaged around 12,500 trips a day, which was enough to fill 30 light rail vehicle trips a day, or 15 in each direction, Glynn said.

Light rail aimed for services every few minutes, which Glynn said “implied a lot of expensive near-empty running”.

However, he did acknowledge it was unfair to look at current bus passengers because it was a future project and needed a wider catchment.

Lots of stops might best serve residents, but too many would mean a slower service and it raised questions about which other routes earmarked for rapid transit “would suffer the same fate”, Glynn said.

Parker said modelling showed that, for surface light rail options, there would be about 40,000 boardings per day in the years following its opening and was likely to increase to 65,000 by 2051.

Meanwhile, light metro options predicted 67,000 boardings per day rising to 106,000 by 2051, he said.

It was also too early to determine the exact locations of stops because this detail would depend on the route and mode, but modern tram stops were usually located every 600 to 800 metres, he said.

Minister for Transport Michael Wood has been approached for comment.