Barney Irvine: Six ways to pick up pace in Super City

One easy fix would be to use variable lane directions on arterials during peak periods. Photo / Nick Reed

Opinion

Barney Irvine urges the Government and Auckland Council to strive for an accord on transport when they meet tomorrow.

A marriage that never really began. That's probably the best description of the relationship between Auckland Council and the Government in transport. Since tying the knot, the two sides have largely lived separate lives, occasionally coming together for public displays of affection or animosity.

Meanwhile, their children suffer the consequences. The AA regularly surveys its members on a wide range of transport issues and what we're seeing is that Aucklanders' confidence in transport decision-making is at an all-time low. Auckland AA members don't care who's more at fault for the situation - they just want to see local and central government working together, and progress.

So what needs to happen?

They need to agree on a long-term transport plan. The good news is that Auckland Mayor Len Brown and Transport Minister Simon Bridges have agreed to work towards some form of alignment on Auckland transport issues. It may mean more talking for the next year or so, but the Automobile Association believes the long-term benefits of an accord between the two levels of Government will outweigh the short-term delays.

Here are the six main things the AA thinks the alignment should strive to address:

• A realistic congestion target - settle on a meaningful target, while helping the public digest the fact that Auckland's congestion is likely to get worse, even with increased spending.

• Cross-party support - seek support from across the political spectrum, to ensure that objectives and projects are not reset every time a new government is sworn in.

• A joint set of objectives for the Auckland network - based on measures such as access to jobs within a certain travel time, congestion performance, and growth in the proportion of people using public transport and active modes.

• A review of the council's transport programme - identify where the proposed extra investment is not delivering the goods, and what could be improved.

• A shared position on funding - give the public broad times for decision-making on new funding options and whether to proceed with some form of traffic demand management.

• Enhanced accountability - establish an external auditing process that reviews all project decisions, and can easily be accessed by the public.

In the meantime things don't have to grind to a halt while local and central government are working out how to work together. There are a number of initiatives that can be rolled out now to help build public trust and confidence.

Things like re-marking lanes at choke points, enhanced incident response capabilities, and variable lane directions on arterials during peak periods are less cost-intensive than "hero" projects, and can deliver important benefits.

Much more needs to be done to give users of the network - particularly the 75 per cent of Aucklanders who travel to work each day by car - clarity about the costs and benefits of the programme.

As is the case with housing, inaction in the face of Auckland's transport challenges is not an option. It's time to develop a joined-up solution based on collaboration, not confrontation. Thankfully, both Auckland Council and the Government seem to realise this.

• Barney Irvine is principal adviser on infrastructure for the New Zealand Automobile Association.