We need to stop relying on our cars
We live in a great country; wide spaces, long roads and the great Kiwi outdoors.
Early memories of long summer trips (are we there yet?) in hot cars are part of our national psyche.
Cars took us to school, to weekend sports and often became the bubble for meaningful conversations about life
But we can be naı¨ve when travelling overseas.
I remember a young friend thinking they needed to take their lunch on their first international flight.
And my own experience of the very efficient London Underground saw me standing on a station waiting for the ‘right’ train to take me direct to my destination.
I only goofed once, and soon figured out the concept of connecting systems that are ubiquitous in public transport.
We are lucky, in our major cities in New Zealand, we have fairly seamless public transport and nowhere is this more evident than in Auckland.
I can accept it is still not perfect, and not up to international standards in coverage, but hey, we’ve got a small population in a country larger than Great Britain so we’re not doing too badly at all.
There’s been a lot of coverage, and rightly so, on the need for passenger transport in our fast growing North Waikato.
On one hand, we’ve got the traffic frustrations of the Southern Motorway eroding family or leisure time, and on the other, a fortnightly bus service that is not conducive to employment uptake.
I ran a social media poll on how many people had used Auckland’s existing, city public transport.
To my surprise, the majority had not.
Those who had, revelled in riding aloof from motorway madness and catching up on reading or napping.
But what was more surprising, was the assertion that, if public transport was available, then those non-users would be lining up on the platform - with the proviso that it was a one-mode option.
And here, I think, is the blockage.
Fast rail from start to finish is the ideal, no question about that.
But, holding a wet finger in the air, initial costings look likely to need ratepayer support on top of the faretakings, and - considering most rail options will see passengers needing to change at least once - there is no guarantee of numbers.
My premise is, that we New Zealanders have to learn to rely our cars less.
We love to get in, get the music going, position the water bottle just so, and drive to right to our destination door.
But we need to reflect on a number of factors, including whether it is environmentally sensible, whether costs outweigh convenience and whether there is public transport that is frequent, reliable and user friendly.
A big job for all the organisations involved in pulling this together, but let me offer one plea.
If you haven’t travelled on the Pukekohe or Papakura trains to Auckland, give it a try.
Try it in the weekend and see what the experience is like.
You may just be persuaded to leave your car home, even if only once a week.
Jan Sedgwick is the Whangamarino ward councillor for Waikato District Council, and always enjoys a good train journey.
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