Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is throwing his support behind congestion charging, calling it a key solution to easing traffic, boosting productivity, and improving freight movement in the city.
It follows the release of the white paper, Auckland’s Cost of Congestion, prepared by accounting firm EY and engineering consultancy Arup with support from Auckland Transport, that looks at the impact of traffic congestion in the city.
The report found congestion will cost Auckland $2.6 billion a year by 2026 – factoring in the cost of lost time, as well as impacts like reduced business investment and consumer spending.
In terms of freight, the report estimates that congestion in Auckland is costing the trucking industry $130 million dollars per year on top of indirect disruption in the city and New Zealand supply chains.
“One of my key policies as mayor is to Get Auckland Moving and right now Aucklanders are not moving at peak time on our motorways and city centre.
“If anything, it resembles a carpark, and that’s not good enough,” Brown says.
“Congestion is costing our economy billions of dollars every year and if we don’t do something about it, it will get worse.”
Brown is advocating for a Time of Use Charge as a solution to manage demand on the city’s motorways and major roads at peak times.
Local traffic modelling shows Aucklanders sit in traffic for 29 million hours a year, translating to 17 lost hours for every Aucklander.
“We also have the worst congestion out of any city in Australia and New Zealand. This costs businesses and Aucklanders alike,” Brown says.
“A Time of Use Charge will enable people to think of other ways to travel, like public transport, carpooling or driving outside rush hour.
“Reducing Auckland’s congestion will mean that truckies can deliver more freight on less trucks, and tradies can spend more time on the job, rather than sitting in traffic.
“If we’re going to achieve the growth the government wants, we need to fix this now.”
The Government’s Time of Use Charging Bill is expected to be read in Parliament for the first time this month.
“It won’t be the only congestion solution, we will also need more dynamic lanes and smart traffic signals – along with a stronger, more reliable roading and public transport network,” Brown says.
Freight arteries ‘clogged’
National Road Carriers Association (NRC) chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers says the report confirms what road transport operators in Auckland have known for a long time –– freight efficiency “is in trouble” in Auckland.
“It’s not surprising that an average of 66 hours lost in traffic per year for commuters is the worst in Australasia. Truck drivers spend eight hours or more a day on the road, far beyond the average commuter, so they are losing a whole lot more.”
Tighe-Umbers says time of use charging is a tool needed to win back some productivity.
“It works in global cities with world class public transport and road network systems, and high population densities. We’d like to see it work in Auckland but are waiting to see evidence it will. The danger is if it doesn’t relieve congestion then it simply becomes another tax for road users.
“Supply chain is the life blood of the city, and the arteries are clogged. This slows down manufacturing productivity in Auckland and makes the transporting of critical items such as food and groceries and medical supplies more expensive.”
Tighe-Umbers says while the $2.6b figure measures lost time, it doesn’t include lost productivity such as fewer trips.
“Trucks that could do four runs in a day get reduced to three due to traffic congestion. That is a major loss of productivity for the transport operator.”
“NRC supports the objectives of time of use charging and has given it conditional endorsement providing it can be shown to improve overall travel times.
“Reducing congestion and increasing consistency of travel times across the network will help improve efficiencies across the supply chain,” he says.
Transporting NZ chief executive Dom Kalasih says reducing congestion will have big benefits for freight efficiency, labour productivity, and emissions reduction.
“Congestion reduces the number of trips that freight operators can complete, puts pressure on drivers who are only legally permitted to work a certain number of hours per day, and pressures freight companies to put more, less efficient vehicles on the road.”
Kalasih hopes there will broad cross-party support for sending the Government’s Time of Use Charging Bill to the select committee stage so it can consider improvements to the proposed legislation around freight and supply chain implications and exemptions.
“Getting congestion charging settings right is really challenging, and essential to getting enduring schemes put in place. Only a handful of cities operate comprehensive congestion charging schemes, and there have been many proposals that haven’t gone ahead due to concerns about cost implications and implementation.”
The latest New York time-of-use scheme is currently subject to legal action by the Trucking Association of New York, alleging that trucks are being disproportionately charged.
Kalasih says that Transporting NZ would like to see exemptions for freight and goods vehicles permitted by the legislation.
“Transporting New Zealand is concerned that the proposed legislation limits exemptions to emergency vehicles. This is bad news for bus users and road freight businesses who will have to pass costs on to consumers. Overseas schemes allow for wider exemptions that maximise savings for consumers and businesses.
“Around half of all vehicles in the London charge area are exempt or qualify for a discount.”
Kalasih says ruling exemptions out entirely will prevent an evidence-based assessment being done where schemes operate on key freight routes or around freight or passenger hubs.
He says that Transporting NZ will be consulting with its membership on the legislation and making a major submission at any select committee considering the legislation.
