Auckland light rail: Trackless trams, rapid buses 'not right' for CBD to Māngere route

Monday, 20 September 2021

Public Consultation on Auckland's Light Rail scheme will initially be to listen.

Auckland Light Rail Group (ALR) has dismissed proposals for other transport options such as trackless trams, rapid buses and traditional heavy rail for the route to the airport.

The group’s latest technical assessment found light rail was “the ideal form of transport to pursue”.

“While the other modes have merit and were considered in a long list of options, they are not the right fit for the city centre to Māngere corridor,” ARL said.

Light rail had shown overseas it could provide “reliable and convenient access” to homes and workplaces, decrease car dependence and spur new business and housing growth, the technical assessment said.

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The Dominion Road Business Association (DRBA) had put forward trackless trams, which use rubber tyres and navigate via GPS on existing roads, as being the best solution to a mass transit system along the traffic-clogged route.

Association manager Gary Holmes said it would avoid the “worst features of light rail” such as disruption and high costs.

Timeline of decision-making for Auckland light rail.

ALR Project lead Tommy Parker said it was important to find the “right modes for the right parts of the city” as Auckland moved to a more integrated transport system.

“We're not saying trackless trams or electric buses are not part of the long term solution for Auckland, it's around their ability to meet or solve the challenges of this particular corridor,” Parker said.

While trackless trams had light rail features and operated without the need for rails, it wouldn’t offer enough capacity on a route that was “home to nearly 200,000 people and growing fast,” the assessment said.

A concept drawing produced for the Dominion Road Business Association of a trackless tram travelling down Dominion Rd.

A standard trackless tram could hold around 170 people, while light rail could hold about 420, and light metro 580 people per trip, it said.

The DRBA conducted a survey to understand how its 300-plus members were responding to renewed plans for light rail, as many believed they could not survive the long period of disruption that establishing it would necessitate.

Parker said while trackless trams were potentially less disruptive, they would still require significant changes to the streetscape.

Trackless trams weighed around 50 tonnes and needed strengthened pavements along the entire length of the route, and Dominion Rd would still need to be dug up due to it not being designed for overweight vehicles, the assessment said.

Rapid buses would also contribute to “significant overall network issues” because there were already too many buses in the city centre and “simply not enough space for all the buses needed to support Auckland's continued growth”, it said.

The scheme, promised by the 2017 Labour-led government, foundered a year ago due to opposition from New Zealand First.

Transport Minister Michael Wood got it back on track in March, and public views on possible routes and types of vehicles will start being gathered in a two-month stint, with Māngere the first to be heard.

However, the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown brought an early end to live public consultation on the proposed light rail scheme for Auckland over whether to construct a traditional surface-level tram, or a partially underground one.