Years of ‘transport chaos’ taking a toll
Poor public transport in Auckland and the white elephant $14.6b-$29b Dominion Rd light rail project will cost Labour the election, motoring expert Clive Matthew-Wilson predicts.
OPINION: Nearly six years ago, with strong government support, Auckland Transport began a mission to replace Auckland’s inefficient car-based culture with a smoothly running system based around bikes and public transport.
Nearly six years later, Auckland’s transport system is far, far worse than when the current Government took office.
Buses, trains and ferries are hopelessly unreliable and often operate seemingly at random, with the Government apparently unable to do anything except promise more massive disruption.
Auckland Transport, the multibillion-dollar transport body, is worse than useless, and the Government has done little to sort this mess out.
For example, when this Government took power, four bus stops in my area lacked any kind of shelter from the weather.
Nearly six years later, the buses are even less reliable and the same four bus stops still lack any kind of shelter from the weather. And I still can’t take my bike on to buses.
How can the Government be so blind to the most basic transport issues?
Despite what many in Wellington think, a large percentage of Aucklanders understand climate change and strongly support improved public transport. However, voters are currently completely alienated from grand transport plans and I can’t blame them.
Most Aucklanders now strongly oppose the proposed $14.6b-$29b Dominion Rd light rail project, described by respected public transport advocate Matt Lowrie as the ‘‘worst of both worlds’’.
A number of city councillors are also opposed to the plan.
Other critics include Professor Peter Davis, the husband of former prime minister Helen Clark.
The Public Transport Users’ Association has called for the light rail project to be cancelled immediately and replaced with a simple extension to the existing heavy rail network from Puhinui to the airport.
If this were done, it would require only a short section of track to join the airport to central Auckland.
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The Dominion Rd light rail is an incredibly wasteful system; buses could do the same for about 10% of the cost. There are already bendy-buses that run on ordinary roads and can carry 300 people.
And within a decade, most buses will probably be driverless, making tracks pointless.
General elections are won or lost in Auckland. For the opposition parties, the light rail issue is a gift from heaven, along with the $51 million bike bridge to nowhere.
At election time, the voters of Auckland are going to make a mental choice between multiple more years of transport chaos or a change of government.
The current Government is therefore likely to lose.
❚ Clive Matthew-Wilson has been actively campaigning on road safety and consumer issues for 26 years. He is a strong supporter of pedestrians’ and cyclists’ rights, and has helped shape many major road safety policies in New Zealand. He is the founder of constitution.org.nz.