A charge of up to $2 a time to enter the Auckland motorway network has been proposed as a way of funding the development of the city’s transport network.
Options were released today by Auckland Council’s Independent Advisory board, with two suggestions put on the table to meet the $12 Billion funding gap over the next 30 years.
One is to fund rail and road expansion with rates and a regional fuel tax – a rates increase of around 1%, and an additional fuel tax of annually of 1.2 cents per litre, or;
A charge on motorists each time they use the motorway network. If Aucklanders opt for this pathway they would pay an average charge of $2 when they enter Auckland’s motorway system, however this may vary by time of day or day of the week and be free at nights.
Aucklanders have told us right throughout this two-year process that something has to be done about our transport system and just to get on with fixing it,” says IAB Chairman Stewart Milne.
“Our announcement today presents two options for council to present to Aucklanders for how they could raise the funds needed to deliver on the promise of the fully-integrated Auckland Plan Transport Network.”
National Road Carriers association chief executive David Aitken is on the board and noted the freight sector was not necessarily opposed to road charging.
However, he points out that the freight sector already pays directly for using transport infrastructure through Road User Charges (RUC).
“While we are not opposed to paying our fair share of the funding shortfall to meet much needed transport infrastructure, the two pathways put forward by the Transport Funding Group are obviously high-level and in-principle,” Aitken says.
“In terms a principled approach that is fair to everyone, I expect most freight operators would agree that the biggest contributor to raising the required investment should be the users; i.e. transport system users.
“However, the value for money and fairness in practice of any Motorway User Charge scheme will need to be tested in terms of its impact on the freight sector and customers.”
“A $4 charge for each freight vehicle trip ($2 for cars) on the motorway network may seem reasonable if there are measurable benefits, such as a faster delivery trip and giving certainty to the building of critical infrastructure such as the East West Connection with speed and urgency,” he says. “But when a freight operator is making five or six return trips a day to deliver goods from, say, the Port in central Auckland and a distribution centre in Southdown the cost quickly adds up, and it is likely that customers will be asked to pay.
“On top of a Motorway User Charge are freight operators also going to be expected to continue to pay an RUC?”
