Upside of paying to fix Auckland traffic woes

At first blush, there was not a lot of good news for the South Island in Tuesday’s Government announcements about transport projects. new fuel tax (or ‘‘excise’’, a tax by another name) of between nine and 12 cents a litre will bite in the South Island, where motorists already pay higher petrol prices than in the North Island.

And a good chunk of that will go to help fund commuter rail in Auckland.

We in the south are fortunate we do not have to contend with Auckland traffic but the reality is, we all pay for that city’s gridlock.

Auckland is the heart of the New Zealand economy and if it is performing inefficiently, we all bear the costs, if not the road rage.

Perhaps it is also some comfort that major highways in the North Island will lose funding in favour of upgrades to regional road and more investment in light rail and cycleways.

It is a win for evidence-based policy making, as study after study shows that building more highways adds to traffic jams rather than solving them.

But it is a change of priorities that is politically risky.

Rail projects are hugely expensive and take a long time to deliver, whereas voters can see progress on a new road comparatively quickly. And the young, urban people who tend to support mass public transport and cycleways are less reliable voters than older, provincial voters who drive.

In what seems to be designed to take the sting out of that change, regional and rural roads get more funding, with an emphasis on safety improvements such as rumble strips, median barriers, and bike paths.

And when The Press‘ reporter interviewed Transport Minister Phil Twyford, he held out the olive branch of more funding for public transport in Christchurch, which could take the form of more frequent buses.

Those decisions are largely led by Environment Canterbury’s 10-year regional transport plan, which is being considered now.

Cantabrians can also take some comfort that the bulk of the $900 million being spent on roads of national significance in Christchurch is tied up in projects that are already well progressed.

We have already reaped the benefits of upgrades to the SH1 bypass around the north of the city, the Western Belfast Bypass and significant earthworks on the Southern motorway project.

These projects are so well advanced that it seems unlikely they would be scrapped now.

But those dreams of four-laning SH1 from Christchurch to Ashburton?

That project, mooted by the last Government, seems dead in the water.

There will be anger over that, but bear in mind that as soon as we drive beyond SH1, the South Island has a lot of risky roads that have claimed far too many lives.

If we all have to sacrifice a little convenience and speed to make those roads safer, it is a tradeoff that will be worth the cost.