Transport progress

At last some serious talk from political leaders about solving Auckland’s transport crisis and it’s better coming later than never.

A 10 cent regional fuel tax isn’t going to go far if it collects just $160 million per year but at least it’s cheap to collect. However, the tax needs to be nationwide and spent regionally so that the long suffering regions with their one-lane bridges, dirt roads, crumbling gorges and poor infrastructure can have a catch-up as well.

In reality Auckland will never catch up. When you increase its population by 50,000 per year and put just as many additional vehicles on the road you are facing a losing battle. I applaud the party leaders for making this a major election issue but after nine years of procrastination and stonewalling by the National Government and a Labour Party desperate to regain some credibility, can you believe what they promise will actually happen?

In my wildest dreams a politician would lead a Government which actually caught up on Auckland’s transport problems and started planning ahead for the future growth of the city but I don’t live in Utopia, I live in Auckland.

Graham Fleetwood, Auckland