Road rage

Auckland, my beloved home city, has many transport woes.

When Sydney reached the same population size that Auckland is now (over 1.5 million), she invested in a world-class railway network.

In the 1950's, Auckland was 'well served' by public transport, but we also chose to dismantle our tram system then (why?). 

Auckland has one railway line. One. You can go to one platform, or you can go to the other platform.

When Auckland hosted the Rugby World Cup in 2012, the trains just couldn’t handle it. People pushed the emergency buttons and trains were stranded for hours - Auckland Transport (AT) couldn’t quite grasp the fact that they would be inundated with three times as many passengers than they had planned for. Or failed to plan for.

Word on the street tells me that even town planners avoid working in Auckland.

Petrol prices in Auckland are $2.24 NZD per litre, even before the government's (much needed 11.5 cents) fuel tax is implemented. 

So despite what we are paying (and we can add expensive rent and astronomical house prices to that), we don't get quite the same infrastructure that many other cities enjoy.

This puts us in quite a quandary. What do we do about the mess we are in?

If you drive into town from the West or the North Shore, then may the Lord (Mayor) have mercy on you.

For me, it's not rocket science - get out of the car and hop into the future. 

When I see considerably large amounts of taxpayer money spent on roads, or plans to create more toll roads, I feel a stabby sort of rage.

Obviously we need those roads.

For all the Prii and hydrogen cars and buses and bikes.

I feel anger towards the wide berth we gave to Communities and Residents and their business-friendly chums for so many years. People whom I have always struggled to understand. Would love to hear from them though. 

Why, why do the people who scorn the very institution of government, get themselves elected to purposefully do as little as possible and undermine the whole system that got their sorry selves elected in the first place? I will never know.

Auckland, a stunning isthmus where there are beaches and volcanoes everywhere. Auckland, where the restaurants are to die for. Auckland, a dazzling array of multiculturalism and amazing people. 

Look at it this way:

Imagine you are at a party. A very good party. A party with different rooms for different DJs. But the music is so loud in the other rooms, you can’t hear your own room. So you turn the volume up.

Then the room next to you has more trouble hearing their own DJ, so they pump up the volume too.

Eventually all the rooms follow suit and the music becomes deafening, so people leave the party because it’s shit.

I’m sure anyone who has ever queued in Auckland’s traffic jams or for a crowded bus can relate to this.

I’m sure young people such as myself who have left New Zealand for a better, quicker, more sustainable commute to work, can relate to this.

Try taking public transport to a random place in Auckland, for example. Leaving Mt Roskill at 6:30 am to get somewhere near the airport by 8:00 am, (is Auckland Airport a random place??) I used to live on a main road and take two buses to work when I was saving for my move to Melbourne. A 30 minute drive by car.

And that was on a good day. A day when the bus showed up.

There are silver linings to the new "Auckland Transport Alignment Project" (ATAP) announced today though.

Jacinda’s government, bless them, rejected an earlier version of the Regional Land Transport Plan, Auckland Transport's 10-year funding plan, in January because it didn’t align with Auckland Council or government policy.

And we also have Skypath and Seapath which will see cyclists and walkers commute across our beautiful Harbour Bridge.

When an integrated fares system (the HOP card) was introduced in 2012, patronage was double what was forecast. 

Patronage continues to grow in leaps and bounds on our humble train line. 

But personally, the way transport is going in Auckland, I think what we need is a path of revolt.

What we need are angry cyclists buzzing and weaving through our roads, scaring those pesky one passenger cars away.

A real photo from Auckland.

A car-free day where everyone takes to the streets and walks to work in protest, no matter where they come from or how late for work it will make them.

The ATAP plan may invest a lot of money. But as the transport writer who I have been following for years, Simon Wilson says, ‘The money is widely spread, with most of it going on roads and few projects getting all the money they need.’

Most of it going on roads.

We’ve been spending most of our money on roads for decades, while Auckland's growth carries on regardless.

It’s time we spent our money smartly.

It’s time we started thinking more long-term, if it’s not too late, that is. Investing in a world-class public transport system doesn't cost what it did 20 years ago.

It’s time to wake up, Auckland.