Auckland Council showed up for our transport choices!

10 min read

If you have been following the saga of Central Government underfunding our cycleways and how that’s affected our 10 year plan for transport (Regional Land Transport Programme), you will be pleased to know that option 4c, the option which best protects a pipeline of cycling projects, as well as delivering on climate action and safety, was unanimously endorsed at today’s Auckland Council Governing Body meeting. Forefront of their discussion was the impact that the reduced budget would have on climate action and on safety across our region. Ka rawe Councillors!! Thank you for making the best of a tricky situation and supporting the pipeline of cycling projects to continue now and into the future.

And thank you to all of you who urged your councillors to show their support for cycleways and continue investment through this process. Ka rawe, you are awesome.

So what happens next? The decision will be ratified at the Auckland Transport Board meeting on Tuesday 29 October.

Skip to…

The Governing Body Meeting, 24 October, 2024

Skip to 2:12:50 for the ‘National Land Transport Programme – Funding Implications’

Today’s Governing Body included an item to finalise an alternative version of the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP; 10 year plan for our region’s transport), due to a $564 million shortfall in funding from Central Government (via the National Land Transport Programme). Essentially, the decision was focused around what to do with the $480 million of Council match funding which would not be matched by Government co-funding as had been expected. You can find out more about this shortfall in our previous write up on this here.

Auckland Transport staff presented several options to the Councillors, with their recommendation being “Option 4c”; an option which retains Auckland Council’s $480million of match funding and redistributes it in a balanced way across various renewals and smaller transport projects (including cycleways).

Climate

Auckland Transport staff’s presentation included investigation into climate outcomes from the options, noting that, while the old RLTP would have had a better outcome, option 4c is the best choice for climate action with the reduced budget we now have available. 

Climate impact across programmes. Note: lower numbers are better for climate action!
Image: Screen shot from Governing Body live video.

Safety

Responding to questions from Cr Angela Dalton, Auckland Transport’s Head of Road Safety Michael Brown said they estimated the reduction in funding would result in this iteration of the RLTP being 40% less effective in terms of safety than this original RLTP. They forecast that option 4c would save 5 deaths and serious injuries per year, contrasting this against the old RLTP which forecast 8 deaths and serious injuries saved per year. As Cr Julie Fairey pointed out, what this means essentially is that the reduction in budget will lead to 3 more deaths and serious injuries per year, or 30 more over the full 10 year RLTP period. 

It’s important to note that this analysis does not take into account the effect of raising speed limits, as has been mandated by the Central Government via the Speed Rule, and the potential effects of which Auckland Transport are still working through. It was been confirmed that Waka Kotahi NZTA will have some co-funding available which Auckland Transport can apply for to cover some of the costs of raising those speeds but it is not yet clear how much funding will be required or where in the budget lines this cost would come from.

Cr Richard hills noted the irony that though they had expected $70 million towards safety, they had been funded only $6 million, and it could cost $12 million to raise speeds, meaning it was essentially double the road safety budget (from Central Government) being put towards making streets less safe.

As an aside, there is a handy map available here from which we can estimate the streets that will have their speeds raised as a result of the Central Government’s Speed Rule.

Bike Skills Courses

There was a general sense of horror among Councillors that the Road Safety Programme being funded at only 60% will mean the loss of Adult Bike skills and kids learn to ride courses, and the drastic reduction of the in-school bike skills programme.

Cr Fairey put forward a suggestion that community groups, local board, or other funders may want to work together with Auckland Transport to ensure specific programmes were supported such as bike skills courses or walking school buses. Auckland Transport staff said they would support that happening if they can. They will be assessing which parts of the programme have the highest value for investment, and planning accordingly. They suggested that the annual plan (yearly budget) process could allow for Councillors to allocate more investment in to these programmes.

We are also very concerned about the severe reduction in bike skills courses. Our priority during this funding situation has been ensuring there will continue to be a pipeline for cycle infrastructure delivery. And, alongside this, bike skills courses are an important complement to the delivery of safe connected cycleways, supporting communities in their first step towards cycling for transport.

The outcome

When it came time to vote, the Councillors unanimously adopted Option 4c – the option recommended by Auckland Transport, which best protects a pipeline of cycling projects, as well as delivering on climate action and safety – and then they went for their lunch break. Their decision will be ratified at the Auckland Transport Board Meeting on Tuesday, 29 October.

The Statement of Intent for the Regional Land Transport Programme will also need to be modified to reflect the impact of the reduced budget. An alternative version will be brought to the next Transport, Resilience, and Infrastructure Committee meeting for discussion.

Cr Alf Filipaina had noted that there will need to be a later discussion on how to mitigate negative effects of this loss of budget, especially for safety and climate outcomes, and that this should be considered as part of the decisions made during the annual plan process.

Cr Hills also spoke out loud what I was feeling – that though this is the best decision that can be made at this time, overall it is a very sad situation. He noted that investing in safety and cycling is not political, that overseas it is a very normal thing to do, that kids want to get around in active ways, and that Simon Bridges made some of the largest investments in cycling while he was in office – some of those projects are still being delivered now. There has been an overall trend (regardless of the political spectrum) of an increase in cycling investment, and it’s very unusual for safety funding to be slashed like this.

“I’m glad we are doing this today but it is disappointing where the cuts and the priorities have taken away from our communities.”

Cr Richard Hills

When it was over, I turned to Teva and said “this is the best outcome we could have had, but I feel so sad.” We wandered out to our bikes, and rode off, somewhat dazzled by the sun. After a small while of being outside, and speeding along somewhat chaotically, I felt joyous again. Cycling numbers are higher than ever, it may be slow but the network is growing, and we have such an awesome community of people. Just like a tail wind, or the ease of riding down-hill, the momentum will catch us up – and there are good things still to come.

Fiain and Teva with big grins. Fiain has their fingers in a peace sign.

Fiáin and Teva posed for a selfie during the Governing Body meeting

List of Projects / Programmes

Projects that will definitely continue!

Projects that will continue but have reduced funding available

  • The Road Safety Programme – this includes bike skills courses and bike hubs.
    60% of this programme has funding, compared to what was previously outlined in the Long Term Plan (LTP). Public bike skills courses will likely disappear, and in-school bike skills programmes will be reduced. Unless other sources of funding are found, kids will miss out on learning to ride bikes.
  • Renewals and Resilience Programme 
  • Cycleways Programme (lower cost)
  • Community Cycling and Micromobility, which includes the pop up protection programme. Delivery of this programme will slow down due to the reduced funding available
  • First and Final Leg programme, which improves walking and cycling connections to public transport stations
  • Projects for Franklin Paths Targeted Rate
  • Local Board Transport Capital Fund
    This pot was already very small so, with 89% of it funded, Local Board’s are likely to feel the difference.
  • Cycling for Climate Action Programme. We don’t know which projects from this Programme will be delivered in the 3 year period (these are funded through the Climate Action Transport Targeted Rate (CATTR)).
    While Albany Highway, Kelston-New Lynn, and projects in Manurewa all have some Central Government co-funding, decision makers may still decide to halt them and instead reallocate the share of Council funding to other projects (meaning they would return the National co-funding back to the Central Government). Other projects under this programme include Onehunga Cycle Connection, Glenvar and East Coast Road Improvements, Takapuna Cycle Connection, and the Hobsonville Road Cycleway.
    It seems likely that the Hobsonville Cycleway will proceed but the decisions ultimately rest with the CATTR Governance Group. They will be investigating what they can deliver using more affordable pop-up infrastructure, to enable the limited budget to go further.

Projects that are still uncertain

  • Urban Cycleway Projects – Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive Stage 4B (the final section of Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai, connecting Ōrākei boardwalk to Tāmaki Drive).
    This project is currently out to tender, which will help the transport authority to find out how much it will now cost. It’s possible that if the cost is too high they will decide not to proceed with it. “NZTA co-funding level is secure but was fixed in 2019. The tender will confirm what local share funding is required for the preferred design, this is important given the significant inflation since 2019. We will also revisit value-engineering opportunities to help reduce the local share burden on ratepayers. This project is still planned for delivery this financial year, subject to affordability.”
  • We’ve been told that Meadowbank to Kohimarama (the Gowing Drive connection to Te Ara ki Uta Ki Tai) is unlikely to proceed in the next 3 years. 

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