Congestion charging: Motorists deserve transparency, fairness and affordability – Automobile Association

If congestion charging is implemented, motorists will have to pay at different times on sections of motorways during the morning and afternoon peak times. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Opinion

THREE KEY FACTS

• The Government looks set to introduce time-of-use congestion charges to help pay for its Roads of National Significance programme.
• If implemented, motorists would have to pay at different times on sections of motorways during the morning and afternoon peak times. Councils will be able to do the same on arterial roads.
• Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has said congestion charges must be strictly a demand management tool, not a source of revenue for central government.

Martin Glynn is the Automobile Association’s policy director.

OPINION

Plans to introduce time-of-use charging on Auckland’s congested roads are now moving quickly, but the key challenge with getting it over the line will be the public’s reaction.

The Government is set to decide on legislation by the end of September that would make time-of-use charging (often called congestion charging) possible.

The mayor has been clear he wants it in place as soon as possible and Auckland Transport, Auckland Council, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and a team of consultants are working to have a proposal ready for public consultation as soon as the law is passed.

Everyone agrees about the problem: congestion is widespread across much of Auckland’s road network. It affects everyone who uses the roads at busy times – and of course anyone who does is also contributing to the problem. And it’s only set to get worse with population growth.

Congestion consistently ranks among the top problems Aucklanders identify with regard to living in the city, and sometimes it feels we talk about it almost more than the weather.

The case for time-of-use charging to a large extent reflects the absence of alternatives capable of meaningfully tackling the problem. Adding more lanes or building new roads in the built-up part of Auckland is increasingly impractical and unpopular.

Improving public transport is essential but forecasts show it won’t be enough to stop the rise in congestion.

The logic behind the concept is simple: charging motorists to drive on certain roads at busy times of the day incentivises those who can to change when, where or how they travel.

While most will still need to drive, and pay to do so, they will benefit from quicker and more reliable travel times with fewer vehicles on the road.

The AA accepts these arguments and is open to the idea, but we are cautious about implementing it in Auckland.

Significant work is needed before we can be confident it will reduce congestion without being too much of a barrier for people who have to drive at peak times.

Our members are far from convinced.

Fewer than one in three think time-of-use charging should be seriously considered and more than 90% have significant concerns about whether it would be fair and affordable.

They worry it could just shift congestion from charged to uncharged roads and are suspicious it’ll end up being more about raising money than saving time.

The few cities that do have time-of-use charging are in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. They all have dense public transport networks that offer genuine (and often better) alternatives to driving. Charging is predominantly focused on their city centres.

Time-of-use charging could theoretically work in Central Auckland too. Public transport is arguably able to offer a viable alternative for most trips to and from the city centre and inner-city suburbs and will be even better when the City Rail Link opens.

The problem is most of Auckland’s congestion is on the motorway network and the vast majority of motorway trips are not heading to or from the city centre.

Time-of-use charges on the motorway network could definitely reduce congestion but there are limited public transport alternatives for most motorway trips.

The challenge will be finding the “Goldilocks zone” for the charge – it would need to be set high enough to reduce congestion by encouraging people who don’t need to drive at peak times to consider other options, but low enough that people who do need to drive aren’t priced off the roads.

To ensure time-of-use charging isn’t just the right tool to cut congestion but also works for Aucklanders, the AA will be looking for the upcoming legislation, and any proposed scheme, to address the following principles:

• Transparency: Proposals should clearly set out expected travel time savings, the traffic impacts on roads outside the charging area, and how performance will be monitored and reported.
• Fairness and affordability: Charges should be applied only where and when congestion needs to be reduced, be set at the lowest level needed to achieve a reasonable reduction in congestion and reflect people’s ability to adjust their travel.
• Support: Consideration should be given to whether support may be needed for people who might struggle with the costs (e.g. maximum daily charges, discounts or exemptions). Any proposed support should be designed to minimise adverse impacts on congestion goals, overall fairness and administrative efficiency.
• Revenue allocation: Revenue raised from charges should cover the costs of time-of-use charging first, then improve its effectiveness and fairness (e.g. with new or extra bus services or minor road improvements to address displaced congestion on the boundary of the charged area), and finally support broader Auckland-wide transport improvements.

Time-of-use charging holds significant potential for reducing Auckland’s congestion – but considerable work remains to show it can be made to work for the people it will affect the most.