Decision makers deceived by roading lobby, says documentary maker

4 March 2007

The deliberate misleading of decision makers by roading lobbyists in an influential report is one of the revelations in the latest installment of Michael Tritt’s documentary series, Auckland: City of Cars.

The 2004 Allen Report had a major influence on the transport policies of both the Government[1] and the National Party[2].

A key piece of evidence in the report – data showing a rapid slowing of average travel speeds on Auckland’s roads – is revealed in the documentary to be based on a deliberate misrepresentation of the truth[3].

“During the course of my research, I have uncovered several instances of the roading lobby engaging in deception to get their own way,” said Mr Tritt, “this is among the most insidious”.

The first two episodes of City of Cars were released on Youtube in December, and total online viewings are already over 5,000. They were recently screened to the Auckland City Council Transport Committee, and as a trailer to the Auckland premiere of Who Killed the Electric Car?, where they received a round of applause.

The internet is allowing activists to get their message out in ways that were not previously possible. It is a local example of the phenomenon that led Time Magazine to name “You” as their 2006 person of the year.

Mr Tritt made the videos in his spare time, has no experience or training in film production, received no funding for the project, and is releasing the work into the public domain to be viewed and distributed free of charge.

“I just wanted to make a statement about transport in Auckland,” said Mr Tritt, “I’ve been lucky enough to talk to some of the world’s pre-eminent experts in transport and urban sustainability – and the response to their message has been overwhelming.”

City of Cars investigates Auckland’s extraordinary car dependence, and addresses a number of “urban myths” about why the situation cannot be changed.

Notes

City of Cars, episode 3 is viewable at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3d13EOfRI
Episodes 1 and 2 are viewable at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCKDBHT3i74&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QYNpS7SI7k&mode=related&search=

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[1] For example, https://www.aa.co.nz/e-advocate/Section?Action=View&Section_id=597&Story_id=3477

[2] For example, http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?ArticleId=3955

[3] See Allen report page 10 and its data source: http://www.transit.govt.nz/news/MediaReleaseView.do?MediaReleaseId=nz.govt.transit.transweb.content.news.MediaRelease-2204

See Transit’s most recent survey data for further info: http://www.transit.govt.nz/content_files/travel-time/results-200603.pdf

ENDS

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