COMMENT
As I noted a while back, the Automobile Association cries poor at the idea of rescuing a member, stranded following an accident, on the side of a remote motorway.
But it's happy to waste our subscriptions on a glossy pro-roads, pre-election propaganda mail-out to 300,000 Auckland members.
Stephen Selwood, general manager, transport policy, claims the AA "transport plan" is "what Aucklanders are expecting". But how would he know that, when he hasn't even consulted his own members?
What really annoys a long-suffering member like myself is that Mr Selwood and his pro-Eastern Highway buddies have been shouting doom and despondency for so long that they have failed to notice that just about everything in the AA list of demands is either under way, or soon will be. If he stopped to draw a breath, he'd see he's won.
Only the Eastern Highway obsession has no starting date, and that's no surprise for despite all the mischief-making in support of that folly, it is not a high priority of either the regional transport strategy or of Transit New Zealand.
Parts of the AA propaganda are just inaccurate scaremongery. For example, "funding and Resource Management Act hold-ups are expected to delay completion of the Western Ring Route until 2017". Expected by whom? Fact: construction of State Highway 20 extension past Mt Roskill begins this year and the $850 million Avondale extension linking it to the North-western Motorway is planned to start in 2011 and be completed 2013-2014.
The AA reluctantly concedes that "we are making progress ... after decades of neglect", then jumps up and down about the need to send a signal to central Government to release more funding for our city.
The "defining issue of Auckland's October 2004 local body elections will be the level, timing and allocation of transport investment".
But what would we do if the Government was to pour in more money at this stage? The roading and construction industry is already struggling to cope with Auckland's present roading and economic boom.
Without the staff and equipment to build more roads, more money will only inflate the price of everything.
The AA Transport Plan comes under two headings. First is "Essential Upgrades", which all just happen to be roading developments, and then comes "Progress Public Transport", as something of an afterthought.
Significantly, the only "essential upgrade" that can be affected by the upcoming local election is the Eastern Highway. And that only marginally at best, because neither Auckland City nor Manukau City can build it without huge central Government support.
Transport investment is not going to be the defining issue of the upcoming election. What will be is the ongoing folly of the Eastern Highway. But that's a very different thing.
Meanwhile, to more pleasurable forms of transport. This week I called on travel agencies and airlines to adopt an honest approach to advertising the price of fares and holiday packages.
Little did I know that Bill Mathews, chief executive of Go Holidays, had been moved by the same news item I saw to a similar conclusion.
From Monday all advertised Go Holiday prices will include all prepayable fuel surcharges, insurance levies and airport taxes, including airport departure taxes from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Mr Mathews says client feedback "makes it very clear to us that travellers would much prefer a clear proposition which sets out the true cost of the holiday".
He concedes that at first glance, "our holiday prices will look more expensive than our competitors ... but we nevertheless believe that our clients will quickly cotton on and will appreciate our approach".
Well done, that man. Here's hoping he shames the rest of the industry into this more honest approach.
As for hidden extra travel costs, readers keep adding to the list. Best/worst so far is the $132.90 penalty, Flight Centre tried to add to frequent flyer Tony Mitchinson's $4430 bill, for using his Global Plus Gold Card Visa.
He paid cash instead and got a "discounted" fare. But that meant losing his airpoints.
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