A new book is exploring the history of transport in Auckland and the inner workings of central and local governments that have helped shape it.
Waka Paddle to Gas Pedal: The First Century of Auckland Transport is written by award-winning journalist and Bruce Jesson Critical Writing Award grant winner Keith Mexsom.
The book builds on the founding and development of Auckland’s transport system from 1940 to the present, describing how the motor vehicle evolved from a novelty and a nuisance of the 1920s to an indispensable utility that virtually replaced the city’s public transport services.
It is a tale of countless and costly transport studies, reports, and accounts of why most of the advice generated was not acted upon. It argues how the parochialism and fragmented vision of city leaders played into the hands of begrudging, purse-string- holding governments of the day.
“When I worked in Auckland for nearly 40 years I spent many hours driving bumper to bumper on city roads and motorways,” Mexsom says.
“One day, I read an article about the traffic congestion experienced by Los Angeles which the author of the article blamed on the undue influence of what he called the ‘Road Gang’ and I wondered if I could identify members of the ‘Road Gang’ that could have influenced and profited from Auckland’s road-building programme.
“It was only meant to be a short work to begin with, but I soon found that the story started with Auckland’s first settlers, and to do a proper job I would have to start there, which I did, 12 years ago,” Mexsom says.
Auckland’s transport woes are a long story beginning with the first volume, Waka Paddle to Gas Pedal: The First Century of Auckland Transport which explored the period between 1840 and 1940.
The book is extensively researched, referenced, and indexed with historical narratives describing the real people and factual events that have resulted in the Auckland of today. The content of these books is supported by 12 years of study and research by Mexsom who has spent forty years as an investigator, writer, editor, and researcher.
The book includes information he believes to be little known, including certain aspects of the Master Transportation Plan for Metropolitan Auckland 1955 and various references to the persuasive advice of the city engineer at the time, Arthur Dickson, and his Road Gang.
From trams, suburban rail, buses, ferries, and of course motor vehicles, it has been a long, overcrowded road since the concept and ambition of an Auckland underground railway was first proposed by Royal Engineers in 1860. With the belated start of the City Rail Link, a happy ending is anticipated.
*Go to keithmexsom.pubsitepro.com for more information.
