Auckland congestion charge: Motorists urged to submit feedback on plans

Saturday, 27 March 2021

Aucklanders can have their say on whether motorists should be charged to use certain roads at certain times, in attempt to ease the region’s traffic woes.

Central Government, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council officials have been mulling over the idea of introducing the road charges since 2017, in a project dubbed The Congestion Question.

A detailed proposal on the project published in November 2020 explored whether congestion pricing, starting at $3.50 for peak hours, was a viable option for “improving the overall performance of the transport network by charging road users a fee to travel at different times and/or locations”.

It is hoped any such charge would encourage people to change the time, route or method in which they travel, or to not travel at all.

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Aucklanders are being asked to have their say on whether motorists should be charged for using certain roads at certain times.

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“A change in some people’s behaviour contributes to a reduction in congestion; even a relatively small reduction in traffic can have a big impact on improving congestion,” the report found.

On Friday, parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee called for submissions on The Congestion Question report as part of its inquiry.

Factors the committee hope to investigate include how the project would be implemented, which groups might be negatively affected, the impact on public transport and how transport emissions and air quality might be impacted.

The Congestion Question project proposed a charge of $3.50 for motorists crossing an inner city cordon during peak traffic hours.

The inquiry also hoped to give people living outside Auckland a chance to engage with the issue.

The first phase of the congestion plan proposed a cordon around the inner city that would be free to cross off-peak but would cost up to $3.50 between 6am-9.30am and 3.30pm-7pm.

Number plate recognition technology, such as what is used at the Northern Gateway Toll Road between Ōrewa and Pūhoi, in north Auckland, would trigger charges to a user’s account.

The inner-city cordon was seen as a low cost, low-risk first step towards a more wide-ranging scheme that might cover main roads across the Auckland region.

The cordon could cost $46 million to set up and $10 million a year to run, bringing in $20 million in revenue.

The region-wide road option could cost $185 million to set up, $87 million to run annually and generate $223 million.

If either option replaced the current Auckland regional fuel tax, about $150 million a year of that revenue would be lost.

Officials recommended introducing the charges around the time major city centre public transport improvements such as the $4.5 billion City Rail Link are completed, scheduled for 2024.

The report also suggested options for lowering the financial burden of congestion charges for less well-off motorists, including discounts for those with a Community Service Card.

Have your say on congestion pricing in Auckland here.