Aucklanders Want Transport Fixed: Will Councillors Honour the TERP?

All Aboard is urging Auckland councillors to commit more investment to active and public transport when they consider the Long Term Plan (LTP), also known as the 10-year Budget, on Thursday 16 May 2024.

Council released the Summary of Feedback Report at the end of last month. When asked about transport, and whether the council should do more, or less, the largest group among the 16,554 respondents, 44%, said “do more”.

It was the strongest “do more” response, across 7 specific areas of council activity, that submitters were asked about.

On transport, 36% supported the budget’s “central proposal” and 20% wanted lower spending.

The All Aboard Transport Decarbonisation Trust (All Aboard) pointed to the dominant role of transport in reducing Auckland’s carbon emissions to targets unanimously agreed in its Climate Plan.

Halving Auckland’s emissions by 2030 requires a 64% cut to transport emissions, and within that a more than five-fold increase in public transport use, a halving in driving, and an increase in biking and micro-mobility to become 13% of all travel.

“This Long Term Plan feedback shows Aucklanders want transport fixed. Councillors can feel confident investing in active and public transport rather than roading, given the clear public support shown in the recent deliberative forum,” says Magalie Ménard, Executive Director of All Aboard TDT.

Ménard is referring to work commissioned by Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to understand what Aucklanders “think are needed to ensure that everyone can get around Auckland efficiently, affordably, safely and sustainably, well into the future”. Undertaken by Koi Tū at the University of Auckland using deliberative principles, the forum showed that Aucklanders wanted investment in rail, bus services, walking, and in a safe and connected bike path network across the Auckland region. In contrast, building more road lanes was so unpopular Aucklanders would prefer to see higher taxes, road pricing and higher parking costs to help manage demand.

“These findings are similar to the public feedback on the last RLTP, yet were not reflected in that transport budget.” says Ménard.

On Thursday, Councillors will consider the mayor’s final Budget proposal, which makes a few changes in response to the public feedback, including an extra $10 million to ward off bus service cuts.

All Aboard welcomes the direction of this change, however stresses that the plan must be improved to deliver the necessary changes to the transport system laid out in the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway (TERP). 

All Aboard emphasises that Council's approval of the TERP means the LTP should now be delivering on its list of actions. Councillors are urged to send a clear message to Auckland Transport to shift the balance within the transport budget towards active and public transport. 

“Plenty of the big projects mentioned in the Long Term Plan are expensive because they involve building or widening roads and buying up land. This is unnecessary. Reworking these designs in line with the TERP would save tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars per project. That’s all money which could be used to deliver improvements Aucklanders need and want all over the city,” says Paul Winton, Chair of All Aboard TDT. 

Auckland Transport will give Aucklanders the opportunity to share their feedback on the proposed Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) from 17 May 2024. The document was released last week and can currently be accessed here.

While the Auckland Council co-funds the RLTP, the final sign-off rests with a stand alone committee and Auckland Transport’s Board. 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Magalie Ménard, Executive Director - All Aboard TDT - 021 276 0155 , or email communications@allaboard.co.nz