What will it take to change our transport behaviours?

Friday, 8 April 2022

Transport Minister Michael Wood speaks on the first day of half price public transport fares. (Video from April 2021)

Alan Brent is a professor of sustainable energy systems in the Wellington Faculty of Engineering–Te Wāhanga Ahunui Pūkaha at Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington.

OPINION: Behavioural changes are essential if we are to meet our aspiration goal of a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

But those required behavioural changes will likely be met with much resistance, as we see from the debate about Auckland’s parking strategy. So, what will it take to change our transport behaviours?

Consider the case of a family of five in the Wellington suburb of Karori.

Occasionally, they go down to Queen’s Wharf on a Sunday afternoon for a family meal. They pile into a big SUV petrol guzzler (they haven’t switched to an EV yet because of cost and charging infrastructure constraints at their home) to make their way down to the waterfront.

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Alan Brent writes that it’s too dangerous to brave cycleways in Wellington with car traffic as it is now.

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It’s 5.2 kilometres and usually there’s free parking to be found as you turn right onto Jervois Quay coming from Parliament.

Climate campaigner Paul Winton thinks lockdown's car-free roads offer a glimpse of our future transport system.(Video from October 2019)

If not, they’ll opt for the basement parking at the TSB Arena. They’ll be there for just under two hours and so the parking will cost them $20 at most.

The rate used by IRD to reflect the fixed and running costs of a petrol or diesel vehicle is 79 cents per kilometre, but for this family’s SUV it’s probably closer to $1 (not that this cost is ever considered driving around the city). Based on the IRD rate, driving the vehicle there and back to Karori is therefore just over $8.

Overall, the transport cost of the outing is less than $30 and probably around $20 on average, depending on how often on-street parking is used instead.

Interestingly, that is similar to the cost of using public transport (not considering the current half-price fares until the end of June, which have certainly seen more uptake of public transport, albeit in peak commuter times).

It’s now or never if the world is to stave off a climate disaster, Alan Brent writes.

The family lives 450 metres from a bus stop on Karori Rd. They can get off in Lambton Quay at the Cable Car, which is 350 metres from Queen’s Wharf. The standard off-peak fare for two adults and three children is $11.40 one way (with a Snapper card) – so less than $23 a round trip.

The Metlink app makes things more convenient, but not convenient enough it would seem. What are their other options?

They could bike. But no sane person will consider this option in Wellington for their family. It’s just too dangerous with no dedicated cycling lanes all the way from Karori into the city. And getting five bikes onto a public bus with available bike racks isn’t possible either–not that you would need them given the walking distances.

They could Uber. But that will require two cars there and back. On a Sunday afternoon that amounts to under $60 return.

The answer to the question is straightforward. It’s about convenience and cost. On-street parking for personal cars should be less available in the city. Remove at least half of them to make way for better, dedicated cycling routes, two-wheel vehicle parking, pedestrian walkways, and so forth. Where on-street parking is available, it should cost at least $60 for two hours. Then the family might change its behaviour. Maybe.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted the urgent need for behaviour changes in one of its 2021 reports.

In the IEA’s modelling, behaviour changes – such as restricting use of petrol vehicles in large cities and driving more slowly on motorways – could cut CO2 emissions from road transport by 15 per cent by 2030.

The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released at the beginning of this month, spells it out clearly: it’s now or never if the world is to stave off a climate disaster.