The draft RLTP fails to address Auckland’s transport challenges.
The Regional Land Transport Plan is a 10-year investment programme for transport in Auckland. It is intended to identify the transport challenges our region faces now and for the next decade, and locks in what and where infrastructure improvements will be made. The RLTP gets reviewed every 3 years, and this is the public’s chance to submit feedback on the shape and direction of the plan.
The current draft RLTP takes a “business as usual” approach, at a time when we urgently need to change how we prioritise road safety, transport choice, and the impact transport has on the climate and our environment.
Our friends at Greater Auckland have written about the plan’s deficiencies here.
The RLTP full size document is 88 pages long. We’ve written a submission guide below, to help get the most important feedback across to Council, before they decide whether to accept the plan.
We encourage you to read over the information provided by Auckland Transport and to make a submission using Council’s online submission tool.
You can use our suggested answers below – but it’s best if you make any extra suggestions in your own words, to ensure your voice is heard.
Do you think we have correctly identified the most important transport challenges facing Auckland?
Yes – The correct transport challenges have been identified.
Please tell us why?
Auckland faces a climate emergency and road safety crisis.
To help us understand whether we have correctly allocated funding, please indicate how important the following focus areas are to you:
Safety
These projects provide good safety improvements for all users and often include provision for cyclists. We suggest you select “Very important”.
Travel choices
While excluding walking and cycling as a travel choice looks bad (spoiler alert: it is coming soon), public transport connections are part of many a ride and public transport is an important part of the transport change Auckland needs. We recommend selecting “Moderately Important”.
Better public transport connections and roading
While supportive of bus lanes the previous question gives support to public transport in general where this question is about increasing road allocation to motor vehicles. We recommend this is “Less Important”
Walking and cycling
Here’s the section we can’t miss – it deals with cycling and cycle infrastructure. We suggest you select “Very important” for this one.
Managing transport assets
We would like to see better use of the renewals budget as highlighted by Greater Auckland but some maintenance is always needed and “works to address climate change” could include cycleways.
We recommend you select “Moderately important”.
Other
We support local boards being empowered to influence transportation in their areas as well as long-term planning initiatives. We suggest you select “Moderately important”.
Having considered all of the projects included in the RLTP, please let us know if there are any other projects that you feel should be included.
We encourage you to support:
- Improved connections to major new cycleway projects such as connections to the North Shore’s Northern Pathway along SH1 and over the Harbour Bridge, Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive and the Southern Corridor Cycleway to connect people and places with these routes
- Funding to fill in the major safe cycling gap running south from K Rd towards Ellerslie. There are major destinations here (eg around Greenlane), but a plan and investment is long overdue to connect through Newmarket and onto the southern areas of the city from Penrose to the new cycleway underway between Takanini to Papakura.
- More funding for nimble and low key infrastructure projects like Innovating Streets, Low Traffic and Slow Speed Neighbourhoods and ‘popup protection’ that provide both value for money and speedy implementation.
Which project(s) would you remove in order to include the new project(s) you listed above?
Any project that does not aim to deliver on the core objectives of Vision Zero, mode shift and reduction of climate change emissions should be reassessed or dropped including:
- Mill Road
- Penlink
This should include property acquisition due to designations including:
- East West Link
- Warkworth to Wellsford
- SH1 Drury South to Bombay
Savings in these areas need to be need to be reassigned to projects meeting the objectives outlined in the RLTP.
Do you have any other feedback on the draft RLTP?
The RLTP should be aiming to:
- Reduce overall carbon emissions from transport – not just on a per user basis
- Reduce Vehicle Kilometers travelled year on year as a measure of a safe and sustainable transport system
- Increase the number of kilometres of cycle network delivered each year to provide safer trips across the city to key destinations. The draft RLTP funds approximately 16kms of new cycleway across the first 3 years, which means less than 5.5 km per year
Beyond the Regional Land Transport Plan
How important do you think the following policy changes are to deliver an effective and efficient transport system?
Road safety policy changes
While enforcement is not a replacement for a network that encourages the responsible behaviour, it has its place while we wait for the network to be completed.
For “Increased fines for unsafe driving” and “Demerit schemes to address persistent unsafe driving” we recommend selecting “Moderately Important”
Congestion charging
We support the introduction of congestion charging to promote mode shift and encourage people to consider thus we recommend selecting “Very Important”
Environment and climate change policies
We support higher standards for fuel emissions to reduce the number of cars on our roads which emit higher emissions, thus cleaning up the air in our city and recommend selecting “Very important”
Incentives to promote electric vehicle ownership
Electric vehicles have a role to play in decarbonising the transport system, they are not as effective as mode shift to active and public transport. We recommend selecting “Less important”
It would be a legitimate policy if it related to e-bikes, e-skateboards, e-scooters and the likes….
Removal of the Fringe Benefit Tax for employers who subsidise public transport for their employees
While we would like to see schemes to assist employers providing bikes and e-bikes to their employees like those available overseas, we support this and recommend selecting “Very Important”
Part B: Questions relating to the Regional Fuel Tax (RFT)
Do you support the proposal to vary the Regional Fuel Tax Scheme?
Yes
