Drive and pay the price, if you can

Drivers on central Auckland roads in morning peak hours may be tracked by almost 100 sets of electronic scanners and cameras in a congestion-busting scheme.

Overhead gantries pepper-potted across almost 40sq km of the Auckland isthmus north of a line from Westmere to Remuera would electronically "interrogate" vehicles with windscreen-mounted transponders and photograph the number-plates of those without.

A one-off daily fee of $5 could be charged by a variety of means, such as through the post or against credit cards, in a plan which the Ministry of Transport estimates would cost the average affected household about $900 a year.

More than 30 gantries would guard entry points to a target area of about a quarter of the isthmus, about 50 more would be stationed at strategic points inside, and a further 10 mobile charging units would be rotated to prevent fee-dodging.

These units could be fixed temporarily to overhead mounts or be operated from the rear of vehicles similar to police speed-camera vans.

The ministry estimates that about 126,000 motorists would be charged each week-day under the scheme, which would apply from 6am to 10am.

About 91,000 others would be priced out of the zone, leaving them to find other means of transport such as buses, trains or bicycles or to resort to such tactics as changing travel times or destinations.

The so-called area charging option is just one of five assessed in a $2.3 million study for which public submissions close on Friday, and bears the closest resemblance to a scheme credited with curbing congestion in inner London by 30 per cent since 2003.

Although the Government has refrained from stating a public preference before hearing from Aucklanders and their leaders, a Cabinet paper issued ahead of the deadline shows ministers were ready before Christmas to promote the scheme over the other four options.

The paper, which also outlines a timetable for enabling legislation to be ready for introduction to Parliament as soon as August, says ministers expressed a preference "to communicate that the area scheme would form the basis of work going forward".

"Underpinning this preference was ministers' view [sic] that the congestion, revenue, economic, social and environmental objectives should be balanced."

But officials persuaded them to hold back, given a likelihood that other options could be adjusted to achieve similar objectives, such as through a greater investment in public transport.

The area scheme is also favoured by the Auckland City Council, even though it would not be quite as effective at tackling congestion as a double-cordon system which would see a second ring drawn up around a larger area of the isthmus.

Auckland City's submission to the ministry says the scheme's potential for raising money for better public transport and other improvements is "particularly encouraging".

But the issue is dividing the council's centre-left majority, with senior Labour member Richard Northey leading opposition in the belief that Auckland is far from being able to offer a realistic public transport alternative to many residents.