Revealed: Government leaves $600m hole in Auckland’s transport budget

Friday, 13 September 2024

Auckland Transport has forecast what the changes in the government’s National Land Transport Programme will mean for its capital programme.

Auckland’s transport budget is facing a $600 million hole because of the Government’s land transport funding decisions.

The shortfall means Auckland Transport and Auckland Council will have to decide which projects are priorities.

Last week, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi unveiled their $33 billion National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) which sets out which projects and priorities will be funded and how.

New state highways, road maintenance and public transport in major cities were a major focus while walking and cycling saw its funding cut.

The Post can reveal as a result of the funding changes in there is now a $600m shortfall in Auckland Transport’s capital programme for the next three years.

Auckland Transport’s chief financial officer Mark Laing said the agency had now forecast what they’d receive from the NLTP fund and measured it up against projects outlined in the council’s long term plan.

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“Auckland Transport will need to discuss with Auckland Council the implications of this reduction in funding on its capital programme. This remains a record level of investment.”

Auckland Transport’s capital programme was likely to be about $3.9b while the projects in the long-term plan had been outlined to cost $4.5b.

Laing said the process to adjust to the gap was not new and there was “always a challenge to bridge everything we’d love to be able to deliver for Aucklanders and what is available”.

Auckland Council voted in May to endorse a plan to spend $306m on 210km of cycleways throughout the city over the next decade.

There would be a series of workshops with the Auckland Transport board and Auckland Council’s transport, resilience and infrastructure committee this month and next to understand how funding is best prioritised in the next three years.

Until then Auckland Transport could not comment on specific budgets, Laing said.

“Our staff are getting on with the job as there is still an incredible amount of important work to deliver to ensure we offer great transport choices for everyone across the region.”

The chair of the council’s transport, resilience and infrastructure committee, Andy Baker, said the shortfall wasn’t a surprise because the councils had to do their budgets before the release of the NLTP. And the council knew it would be a challenge for the government to fund their share of the planned projects.

But Baker said the $600m shortfall would be a challenge.

“It’s going to be a really, really interesting conversation … a pretty serious conversation.”

Baker said councillors would have to look carefully at their priorities and what their appetite is to fully fund some projects.

If that is the case, they would then need to look at how they’d be funded.

“We have to focus on what we need to have.”

This week Greater Wellington Regional Council estimated the funding cuts in the NLTP led to a $134m shortfall in its budget.

It said it would need to make some “tough and unpopular decisions” including cutting projects, raising public transport fares or reducing services.