Auckland – defined by congestion

Auckland – defined by congestion

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce strongly supports the initiative of Government to seek a negotiation with Auckland Council on an agreed 30-year programme focusing on reducing congestion, and boosting public transport where that reduces congestion.

Michael Barnett, head of the Auckland Chamber was responding to news reports that Transport Minister Simon Bridges and Finance Minister Bill English have sent Auckland Mayor Len Brown a letter proposing a negotiation and ruling out allowing Auckland to bring in motorway charges to help fund transport projects.

“The Auckland business community overwhelmingly agrees that immediate action to address the City’s transport congestion is required,” said Mr Barnett.
The Chamber with other members of the Auckland Business Forum have set out reasons in a supplement published today in “The Business” magazine of the New Zealand Herald on why an agreed, single Auckland-Wellington plan of attack is required on Auckland’s congestion.

It is very clear that current plans are not making a significant difference to congestion. A good outcome from Government and Auckland Council working together would be a package of fast-tracked projects aimed at:

• Improving public transport services’ reliability and frequency.
• Getting as much use as possible out of the transportation system we have.
• Removing parking from major arterial routes to create more usable road space.
• More high occupancy lanes to encourage a reduction of sole occupancy cars.
• Strengthened integrated traffic management covering arterials and motorways.
• Expanding park and ride facilities at main trunk rail and busway stations.

“Good leadership is about partnership,” said Mr Barnett. “It is about understanding that we have limited resources, so we must learn to prioritise correctly,” he concluded.

ENDS

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