Road users, and the road freight industry in particular, are totally opposed to any national or local attempts to make them pay for the Auckland inner city rail loop, says the Road Transport Forum (RTF) chief executive officer, Ken Shirley.
“Road users pay for the infrastructure they use and its maintenance through their petrol taxes, road user charges (RUC) and registration fees. They accept that there is some limited cross subsidisation of public transport, including rail, but it is totally inappropriate to fund a project this size from the Land Transport Fund.
“Road users are already faced with regular increases in their petrol taxes and RUC to pay for much needed improvements to the roading network. Adding an extra impost to pay for the rail loop would be totally unacceptable as would cancelling major roading projects to fund it.”
The road freight industry fully agrees with the prime minister that the Future Investment Fund (FIF) should be used to pay the Government’s contribution to the project,” Shirley says. “It is entirely appropriate that this fund is used to provide Aucklanders with the expanded rail service. Using the FIF represents a sensible realignment of public assets.”
Shirley says the RTF is absolutely against the selective solutions of a regional fuel tax or toll roads to meet the Auckland City Council’s share of the project costs.
“Regional fuel taxes don’t work and they are wrong in principle. It is iniquitous to require road users, including road freight, to provide the funding. If all Aucklanders are to benefit from the rail loop, as its proponents claim, then all Aucklanders should pay for it.
“The sensible solution is to follow the government’s example and use some of Auckland’s existing capital assets to help pay for this new asset. The forum is calling on the Auckland Council to liquidate some of its present holdings, such as the Ports of Auckland, and its shareholding in Auckland International Airport, to lessen the burden on its ratepayers and taxpayers nationwide.
“We also know from the Port of Tauranga’s experience, that the Ports of Auckland would likely operate more efficiently with the discipline provided by a partially publicly listed company. It would also be a good investment for many New Zealanders,” says Shirley.
