KEY POINTS:
If rail is the key to urban mobility, as the Auckland Regional Council believes, the Budget has put the key in its hand. Not the money, just the key. The Cabinet has agreed at long last to the electrification of the Auckland tracks but allocated only $500 million
over four years, which must be shared with the upgrade and maintenance of Wellington's network and the national lines. The bulk of the finance must come from a levy on petrol sales if Parliament passes the necessary legislation and the regional council dares to impose the levy.
A 10c/litre surcharge would support a 30-year debt of about $1.5 billion, more than enough for the capital cost but it remains for the council to find the courage in its election year. It must assure Aucklanders that a levy on petrol sales in the region will produce a worthwhile reduction in road congestion and that, once running, electric trains would attract sufficient patronage to minimise the operating subsidies they would need from ratepayers.
The whole transport strategy depends on Auckland being reconfigured around railway lines, with more dense residential developments near terminals and buses providing feeder services for the trains. It is a gamble the Government still hesitates to take and it is right to invite the regional council to carry the financial responsibility.
Motorists, meanwhile, can take comfort from the Budget announcement that the Government is investigating "full hypothecation", as the Finance Minister puts it, of fuel tax. He means all revenue collected from road users would be permanently ear-marked for land transport, including public transport. Already, he says, all tax revenue from petrol is retained in the land transport fund, which now also receives income from general taxation.
The amount of road construction this is producing is evident at present, especially around Auckland. There can be no claim roads have been short-changed if all of the 10c additional petrol levy goes to the rail upgrade. If passenger rail is ever to work, it has to be reliable, frequent and fast, none of which can be said of Auckland's reconditioned diesels. At last those who are confident of the rail solution have the green light to give us the scheme of their dreams. Let's hope it eases the traffic.