Getting Aucklanders out of their cars will be the sales job of the century
Friday, 19 August 2022
Todd Niall is the senior Auckland affairs reporter for Stuff.
OPINION: The 170 people elected to Auckland Council roles in October have one of the biggest challenges in the region’s modern history ahead of them.
That is: to win over Aucklanders to the idea of halving their driving – either travelling around less, or doing it on public transport, on foot or by bike – within eight years.
A shift on that scale is called for in the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway that was passed 18-3 by councillors and members of the Independent Māori Statutory Board.
**READ MORE:
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* Climate change: Aucklanders need to halve their driving to reach emissions goal
**
The detailed plan is forecast to deliver the target of cutting climate-harming transport emissions by 64%, enabling the city’s greenhouse gas output to halve by 2030 in line with city goals.
The plan is said to be “technically” doable. The biggest challenge will be getting Aucklanders in behind it.
Several councillors recognised the magnitude of that challenge. They are, after all, the ones that have to front up to their communities on local issues, and every three years face re-election.
Some won’t have faced the halls of angry residents as the Unitary Plan and its citywide housing intensification was released in the run-up to 2016.
But hints of what may lie ahead have shown up in local protests against relatively small initiatives, like the scuttling of the trial of a more walking and cycling-friendly street in central Henderson.
A similar pushback, including vandalism, ended the trial of a scheme to create safer neighbourhood streets in Onehunga.
It is easy to cite surveys conducted for the Climate Plan, which was the forerunner to TERP, showing Aucklanders wanted action.
A separate Auckland Transport survey in late 2021 showed the challenge ahead.
Aucklanders clearly believed in climate change (82%), backed immediate action (78%), and agreed it would impact their lifestyle (59%).
But fewer than half (43%) said they either were reducing, or considering driving less, as their contribution to climate change action.
Only 37% believed private vehicles contributed most to global warming, with 45% picking trucks as the main culprit.
What’s needed by 2030 is both simple and complicated. Not everyone should or can halve their driving. Some already have excellent access to public transport, others don’t. That needs fixing.
TERP envisages more people working from home more often, and spending more time locally. This may demand more investment to make local centres more attractive and easily accessible.
Councillors and local board members might want to consider taking the initiative, before formal, branded consultation starts to happen on how communities might adapt.
Getting communities to start their own discussions, in their own way, on what they need in order to be less dependent on cars, would let them “own” the debate and make their own headway.
The Covid-19 vaccination response showed what could be achieved in the south and west, when communities found their own ways to engage with their people.
How Aucklanders respond to tackling climate change could be helped by that experience, rather than just expecting an agency or organisation to turn up and do the right thing for them.