Ferries forgotten

With a shiny new mayor elected with a stated keen interest in transport, now is a good time to revisit the Auckland Transport Alignment Plan (ATAP).

Its release close to the elections let it miss the close scrutiny it deserves. It has several major very worrying deficiencies.

Firstly, it only mentions the costly enhancement of road and rail but totally neglects to explore passenger ferry potential. This is incomprehensible.

Ferry infrastructure development costs will be far less, they do not have ongoing expensive maintenance costs and further, land badly needed for housing will not be gobbled up.

Secondly, millions (billions?) of dollars are planned to be spent widening the North, South and NW motorways, but ATAP makes no reference whatsoever to what happens when these “super highways” reach spaghetti junction.

Planning to spend $24 billion (over time this will escalate) makes the City Rail Link’s $4b seem like petty cash and all taxpayers, not just Auckland ratepayers, will be contributing to it. So, Mr Goff, let’s revisit ATAP and address its apparent, serious faults.

Philip Hickling, Pukekohe.