Step away from your cars, Levy tells drivers

Auckland Transport chairman Lester Levy had a stark warning for Aucklanders yesterday: “We will never solve the problems of transport in Auckland unless we address head on the issue of car dependency. We cannot move forward without reducing the number of single-occupancy cars.”

He hopes people who can will take advantage of the improved public transport, walking and cycling options AT is rolling out.

He was speaking at the end of an AT board meeting, where it adopted a new $16.5 billion budget for city transport spending for the next 10 years.

Most of the money will go on roads. The plans are the city’s part of the new Auckland Transport Alignment Project, a $28b agreement between the council and Government signed off in April.

The AT plan, officially the Regional Land Transport Plan, contains a long list of funding for public transport projects, along with nearly $500 million for walking and cycling and new technologies to help manage congestion.

Projects include extending the Northern Busway to Albany, creating rapid transit routes, more electric trains, a new downtown ferry terminal and new bus terminals on Quay and Albert Sts.

AT has not allocated light rail funding in the plan; the Government will meet that.

In addition to other budget items announced in the Herald yesterday, $60m will be spent on scoping and route protection for a new Waitemata crossing.

Electrification of the rail line to Pukekohe by 2022 will cost $232m. Rail freight will benefit from a third set of tracks to the inland port at Wiri and railway improvements near the port at the cost of $173m.