Auckland Transport vows to change its tarnished image and respond to needs of Aucklanders

Auckland Transport wants to move on from past stuff-ups, like removing car parks and installing pedestrian crossings without properly consulting the St Heliers community. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland Transport (AT) has come up with a plan to polish its tarnished image by listening and responding to the transport needs of Aucklanders and making journeys by car, public transport, or walking and cycling as easy as possible.

In a frank admission, acting chairman Wayne Donnelly said the beleaguered transport agency is suffering from “a serious lack of trust” and needs to regain social licence.

“Our direction is clear. Aucklanders expect a fundamental change in our approach. We have heard that, and we will change,” he said.

First up, said Donnelly, AT needs to demonstrate it is truly listening to and understanding the needs of Aucklanders and its communities, getting the basics right, and focusing on value for money.

“We have previously tried to do too much, potentially stretching our resources and losing our connections to the communities we serve,” said the man in the hot seat.

Auckland Transport acting chairman Wayne Donnelly. Photo / Auckland Transport

Donnelly was responding to a directive from Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown for AT to stop trying to change how Aucklanders live and listen to and follow the wishes of how people actually live.

“Aucklanders do not always have the choice of using an e-bike, a bus or even a train but rely on the roading and car parking networks to make their life functional,” Brown told AT shortly after winning the mayoralty last October.

Brown was pleased to see AT acknowledge the need for a fundamental change, a view shared by the Automobile Association (AA), which noted the proof will be in the pudding.

AT’s commitment to refocus on the wishes of Aucklanders is in a draft Statement of Intent (SoI) - a formal document that sets out the council’s priorities and expectations for AT over the next three years.

The draft SoI is due to be approved by the council’s transport and infrastructure committee on Thursday.

Auckland Transport wants to return bus patronage to pre-Covid levels. Photo / Jason Oxenham

It follows 13 years of AT losing the trust of Aucklanders and numerous attempts to impose its wishes on Aucklanders, often referred to as “a war on cars”.

For example, AT got a bloody nose when it tried to install 12 new pedestrian crossings and remove 40 car parks at St Heliers in 2019, and scrapped plans for a speed bump on the busy Pakuranga Highway last year following a revolt by locals.

When senior bureaucrats at AT sought special powers to remove car parks off arterial roads without any consultation in 2021, then-Mayor Phil Goff called their actions “bloody arrogant”.

At its most basic level, AT aims to make the typical three trips an Aucklander takes every day as easy as possible under the new SoI.

One area where AT hopes to win support from Aucklanders is following up on Brown’s crackdown on “annoying” road cones, by reducing the numbers and trialling a new risk-based approach by applying common sense.

When it comes to improving relationships, AT is promising to engage more meaningfully and transparently with Local Boards.

“We will engage with the public fully, openly and with humility, beyond ‘consultation’, including by co-designing solutions for the people who will benefit from them,” the document said.

AT's plans to remove car parking were slammed by former Mayor Phil Goff. Photo / George Novak

The transport agency has also set a goal of returning public transport patronage to pre-Covid levels of 100 million boardings in the 2024-2025 financial year and plans new measures for public transport reliability, and punctuality at the last stop.

The agency has also picked up an election promise by Brown to put transponders on buses to trigger green lights, and dynamic lanes where use changes throughout the day.

Brown called the draft SoI a major step in the right direction, applauding AT’s work to reduce costs and achieve quick wins like bus transponders and dynamic lanes to speed up journeys.

However, Brown still considers AT needs to show greater urgency in the recovery of Auckland’s public transport services, improving communications with Aucklanders, and addressing the significant disruption caused by temporary traffic management.

Transport and Infrastructure committee chairman John Watson agreed with Brown that AT is heading in the right direction.

“Their response thus far shows an increased awareness of the need to bring the Auckland public along with them, to get back to basics and to look at more innovative practices in terms of timely project delivery, given the constrained financial situation,” he said.

But Watson thought AT could provide more effective communication with Aucklanders on public transport services, both in terms of the current challenges and growing services in the near future.

Public Transport Users Association national director Jon Reeves. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Public Transport Users Association national co-ordinator Jon Reeves said after 13 years of the Super City, this is the first time he has been pleased to read the direction AT is going in.

“Improving communications with passengers is a must. Communications have to be available to passengers, right to the last service at night,” he said.

Reeves said the basics have disappeared over the years and is pleased to see AT is talking about bringing them back.

For example, he said, every bus stop should have seating, a timetable, and digital displays showing how far away buses are on high-frequency routes.

Automobile Association policy director Martin Glynn said it looked like AT has listened carefully to the mayor’s call that it needs to understand and respond to the things that matter most to Aucklanders.

He said the draft document commits to a much great emphasis on understanding Aucklanders’ travel needs and delivering the things they value - in contrast to the past, when Aucklanders’ current needs have been relegated to the back seat.

“However, while the draft SoI is a promising start, the proof will very much be in the pudding. Aucklanders will no doubt be very keen to see the sentiment in the draft document flow through to actions on the ground,” Glynn said.