Longer-term Issues

Auckland Transport Planning and Urban Form

41. Auckland is our major city and the place most affected by traffic congestion. It is also the fastest-growing region. Some major Auckland transport investments have been completed or are in the construction stages (the Auckland Northern Motorway extension, double-tracking the western rail line, State Highways 20 and 18, electrification of the metro rail network, Newmarket Viaduct, Victoria Park Tunnel). Other major projects are in early discussion stages. These include AMETI[9], a third harbour crossing, a city to airport rail link, and a CBD rail tunnel.

42. Major transport projects of this type have a significant impact on the location and form of economic activity — they tend to shape urban development rather than follow it. For example, a third harbour crossing would likely lead to more development of the suburbs north of the harbour (in a similar manner to the growth facilitated by the existing bridge) while a CBD rail tunnel would likely result in greater intensification of the inner city, suburbs and town centres that lie along the rail network, e.g. New Lynn. Strategic decisions of this kind can lock in patterns of growth for many decades, whether good or bad.

43. While the government is concerned about the co-ordination and delivery of ‘follower’ infrastructure, it is more focussed on the need to ensure that the right strategic or ‘shaping’ infrastructure is delivered at the right time and in the right place, to ensure maximum productivity gains over the longer term. In terms of transport, this means choosing those strategic projects that will produce the most desired pattern of household and firm location, reduce aggregate travel times and enable connectivity.

44. It will not be feasible for New Zealand to fund several of the proposed multi-billion-dollar projects at the same time. Therefore, it is important that projects are prioritised. This will require the region to reach clear conclusions about how it wants Auckland to grow. The Auckland governance reforms provide an opportunity for the new Auckland Council — through the proposed regional spatial plan and regional infrastructure investment plan[10] — to present a comprehensive and agreed vision for the shape of the city and the strategic infrastructure it will need to deliver the vision. But it will also require participation by central government, and therefore alignment between regional and national infrastructure investment and planning. Achieving this will go a long way towards creating the kind of planning certainty that will both facilitate private investment and ensure maximum value for money from public investment in Auckland's infrastructure. Alignment between regional and national infrastructure planning and investment will also be important for other regions.

Road funding and pricing

45. Though increased transport investment will have a significant impact on traffic congestion, building our way out of congestion is unlikely to be an affordable or efficient strategy. An efficient level of use is most likely to be achieved when users pay for the full costs they generate. Current road pricing takes the form of Road User Charges (RUC) for diesel vehicles and Fuel Excise Duty (FED) for petrol vehicles. These charges (particularly FED) are relatively unsophisticated and weakly targeted. For example, they don’t discriminate on type of road or time of day.

46. The government considers that there is a need for a public debate on the long-term issues of affordability and efficiency facing the transport system, and the potential benefits in the medium to long-term of moving to new forms of charging and pricing that replace, rather than add to, the existing system.