Posted on 26-8-2004

The Motorway To Waterloo
25.08.2004

Three out of the four main contenders for Mayor of Auckland are for more
motorways, with only Christine Fletcher opposing. My observation is that
Auckland is the Waterloo of motorway wars, and all the trucking companies,
the entire car sales and support industry, the property developers and of
course the oil companies, in short a very big chunk of NZ business, know
that what happens in Auckland is the decider for what happens to road
transport in this country.

Its the old public (transport) verse private (transport) struggle with the
impending oil crisis giving it an urgency and importance second only to
being militarily invaded by the USA - instead of just economically
invaded. Its make or break for the supporters of more and more roads and
the only hook they have is scaring people that they won't be able to drive
their car anywhere, anytime and any speed they choose. In fact of course
the supporters of motorways don't give a hoot about Joe and Jean public in
their 10 year old japanese import trying to get to work or school or the
mall. The most vociferous lobby, the transport businesses, are worried
about their trucks, period. The oil companies don't care, they know there
will always be enough cars for any petrol they can supply.

Waterloo is only 6 weeks away. This time a self-styled Napolean may well
win. The Green Party is hoping not.

Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons is questioning the wisdom of
building billions of dollars worth of new roads around the country, saying
the rising price of oil will eventually leave them empty.

A four-pronged roading spend-up is recommended in a report commissioned by
the Automobile Association which was released this morning. The report
says the economic benefits of completing a national passing lanes project,
Auckland's western ring road, Wellington's regional land transport package
and Western Bay of Plenty's Strategic Roading Network will be four times
the cost of $2.4 billion. The report was produced by Allen Consulting
Group and Infometrics, with backing from the Employers and Manufacturers
Association and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce.

"This report applies to a fantasy world in which petrol is less than a
dollar a litre and where everyone owns a car and drives it everywhere,"
said Ms Fitzsimons, the Green Party's Transport spokesperson. "The reality
is we're fast using up all the easily extractible oil reserves and fast
approaching the point of peak oil supply, after which oil will be priced
beyond the affordability of the ordinary motorist."

Ms Fitzsimons said planners should be preparing for a fundamental change
in transport behaviour rather than fuelling road-builders' fantasies. "A
case in point is the Western Bay of Plenty project, which is touted in the
AA report as demonstrating 'the greatest benefits to its region and the
nation for every dollar spent'. "The Port of Tauranga already has an
excellent rail terminal that receives 60 per cent of the freight arriving
at the port. Instead of throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at
building roads for trucks, we should be looking at using the existing rail
network throughout the Bay and the surrounding region and building links
to key industries that use the port."

"Similarly in Auckland, which has already invested in Britomart and
improved rail services. The priority must be to connect the city by rail,
with a city-to-airport line and a connection from Britomart to the western
line, so that the city is part of a through-service and not just a rail
dead-end."