Auckland toll road proposal to be revealed, but critics say poor will suffer

Friday, 27 November 2020

A new congestion charging scheme for Auckland is proposed but secret

Proposals to introduce charges to use key Auckland roads will be unveiled on Monday, but are unlikely to be adopted with urgency by politicians.

The government and Auckland Council have been jointly working on the issue since 2016, and Stuff understands the final report, The Congestion Question, includes alternative schemes in some detail.

Changing motorist behaviour has long been recognised as part of the mix of measures needed to reduce traffic congestion in Auckland.

“A progressive move to a pricing system that reflects the actual costs of each trip has the potential to result in much more efficient use of our existing road network, and provide better information on where investment in new capacity is required,” a joint government-council report said in 2016.

Congestion charges would be expected to deter some Aucklanders from driving at peak hour.

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Transport Minister Michael Wood said more work will be needed on congestion pricing in Auckland

Congestion pricing has appeal on several fronts as a means to reduce peak travel volumes, raising revenue, and by shifting travel into public transport, reducing greenhouse gas emission.

Completing Auckland’s City Rail Link, due in 2024, must come ahead of congestion charging, Mayor Phil Goff says.

A 2014 report by a multi-sector working group assembled by then-Auckland mayor Len Brown proposed a peak motorway charge of $2.80 per trip as one option.

The political challenges include the need to have a public transport network good enough to offer an attractive alternative, and ensure those least able to pay new charges aren’t disadvantaged.

The last toll charged on urban Auckland roads ended in 1984 with the lifting of tolls on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Stuff raised the topic of the impending report with Transport Minister Michael Wood several days after he took over the portfolio.

“It’s an important piece of work, but it's one we are going to take a bit of time to consider carefully,” he said.

“We'll take it seriously – it’ll probably inform further thinking and further work.”

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the idea had worked overseas and could work in Auckland, but the public transport alternative first needed beefing up.

“In Auckland that means the City Rail Link and the eastern busway, northwestern busway and northern busway extensions. Completion of those are four or five years away,” he said.

Councillor Richard Hills, who chairs the council’s environment and climate change committee, underlined the need for alternatives to a tolled road.

“You have to look at how it affects our most vulnerable communities.”

The 2014 council-commissioned report estimated “Auckland’s most vulnerable households would pay 11 per cent of the additional charges” of a motorway network fee.

“Around 3.4-3.9 per cent of low-income households would experience a high financial impact,” it said.

“There needs to be a discount policy in place that meets equity needs by reducing costs for those on low incomes,” Goff said.

Transport advocacy website greaterauckland.org.nz, said any scheme is probably still some way off.

“There will almost certainly still be issues to address and it will take a few years to implement but the critical thing is the government be bold and commit to starting the process to give some certainty,” editor Matt Lowrie said.

The Automobile Association (AA) describes itself as “a cautious supporter of congestion charging”, despite a member survey finding 45 per cent opposition.

The Congestion Question report, once released on Monday afternoon, will go to Auckland Council’s planning committee on December 3.