Auckland Council, Government exploring pricing for city congestion charges

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

The Government and Auckland Council are investigating pricing options for Auckland drivers.

Pricing options are being considered for a possible congestion charge for Auckland drivers.

However, a final decision on how much congestion charges could be is years away.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced on Wednesday the Government was investigating price points for a possible Auckland congestion charge.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges, Finance Minister Steven Joyce and the Mayor's office announced on Wednesday the Government and Auckland Council were exploring 'smarter transport pricing'.

The move follows investigations made last year by the agencies into reducing Auckland's traffic woes, tabling a highway toll as a possible solution.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says there's no silver bullet to solving Auckland's transport woes.

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On Wednesday, Bridges said pricing could involve varying what road users paid at different times and locations to encourage drivers to change the time, route or way they travelled.

'It is essential that we carefully consider the impacts of pricing on households and businesses,' he said.

'A key factor will be the access people have to public transport and other alternatives. The Government has also made a clear undertaking that any form of variable pricing will be primarily used to replace the existing road taxes that motorists pay.

'This is about easing congestion, not raising more revenue.'

Officials will spend the rest of the year assessing different pricing options for the scheme, dubbed the Smarter Transport Pricing Project.

Joyce said a final decision on figures was still some years away.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said he welcomed the project, which he described as a 'practical, long term solution' to easing the city's clogged motorways.

Eight hundred more cars were hitting Auckland roads each week and 'radical changes' were needed, he said.

'Well designed road pricing systems have proven successful in influencing driving behaviour and reducing congestion in cities around the world such as Singapore, London, and Stockholm.'

However investment in alternative transport options in the meantime were necessary, he said.

AA principal infrastructure adviser Barney Irvine agreed.

He said the AA agreed congestion charges should be looked into, and that the sooner the costs and benefits were weighed up, the better.

But while congestion charges were a long-term solution, there were 'big questions' about short-term needs, including funding for future projects.

'We've all felt the rising congestion tide in Auckland, and the scary thing is that it's going to keep rising for the next four or five years at least,' Irvine said.

'We're worried that traffic conditions will become unbearable before congestion charging or any other big-ticket solution is introduced.'