The Auckland Ratepayer’s Alliance can reveal that Auckland Transport failed to conduct a specific cost-benefit analysis for the $12.8m pedestrianisation of Queen Street in Auckland's CBD.

The project involved the removal of car lanes and widening of footpaths, affecting hundreds of businesses, making Queen Street virtually un-drivable and disrupting emergency services.

Auckland Ratepayers Alliance spokesperson Sam Warren said: “A cost-benefit analysis should be stock standard for any project, especially one of this scale.

“Rather than doing the work to figure out whether this was a good use of ratepayer money, Auckland Transport produced a range of vague and un-costed platitudes, such as ‘Aucklanders are prepared for change’, and ‘making the city centre attractive, healthier, inclusive and safer’ – presumably because they knew any economic analysis would rubbish their proposals.

“Auckland Transport is the only council-run transport system in the country without democratic accountability. Once again, the pursuit of ideologically-driven pet projects takes a higher priority over respect for the ratepayer, which in reality, they should be accountable to.”

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