The Auckland Business Forum is calling on the next Government to change how the city has traditionally tackled its transportation problems.
“If we could duplicate across Auckland the success the Waterview Tunnel project has had on reducing congestion, we would soon be ahead of the game,” says Auckland business forum chairman Michael Barnett
Barnett says it took nine years for Government, Auckland Council, and private sector groups to develop an agreed transport strategy.
“It is an integrated $20 billion-plus package of investments in road and rail network improvements that will enable significantly upgraded public transport and goods distribution services,” says Barnett.
“If the strategy is to make a Waterview-styled difference to travelling around Auckland, the big call we need to make is to commit to its delivery as a package within the next ten years – not 30 years as a first draft proposed,” he says.
Barnett says to speed-up the process a three-pronged action plan is needed:
He says there must be a commitment to a 10-year investment strategy directed at Government and Council allocations, and agreement on from where the revenue will come.
Secondly, he says there must be prioritising of the delivery of these projects over the next ten years – providing Auckland with the impetus to meet its existing growth challenges.
Thirdly Barnett says to ensure that the supply of the projects to market is on a scale and timeline that’s appealing to both domestic and international investors and partners
He says the significance of Auckland’s growth challenge is on population trends.
According to Barnett, in the last two years, Auckland added 87,500 people, a growth which is higher than that projected for Wellington over the next 30 years – 84,600.
He says an updated projection has Auckland reaching 2 million by 2029 rather than the mid-2030s which Auckland’s current transport strategy assumes.
“This latest growth surge has generated a 15% increase in freight trips on some roads, and on current trends, a third of Auckland’s arterial roads will congest through most working days by 2020,” says Barnett.
“The few days remaining in the election campaign is enough for political aspirants to show their intentions for Auckland,” he says.
“It is about the next government providing courageous leadership with Auckland Council and the private sector to commit to doing in 10-years what we have in the past been content to set out in a 30-year agenda,” says Barnett.
