But Kiwi voters have given the tick, wittingly or otherwise, to Steven Joyce's road-centred policy for Auckland.
Three of the seven routes National regards as roads of national significance are in Auckland. The $340m Victoria Park Tunnel is already in the bag. The western ring route and the so-called "holiday highway" complete the planned trio.
However, National's Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye has also championed the idea of an inner-city tram link.
Apart from transport, Diack said environmental policy was the big election issue for her this year. She said governments normally addressed environmental concerns at the last possible moment.
She also lamented the high student debt saddling the country. "The best idea is to just write it off," she said.
In swanky Elliott St, flanked by department stores and cafes, 24-year-old inner-city resident Seth Munn said the campaign bemused him. He found few policy differences between Labour and National.
"Having seen some of the debates between Phil Goff and John Key, they almost seemed like left and right-wing extremists."
Munn said employers would probably appreciate another three years of a National-led government.
"I think National has been doing a good thing with their business policy. They really try to protect people with small up-and-coming businesses."
Munn would like to have seen the increased minimum wage Labour promised, but he said National's rejection of a capital gains tax was a good thing. He and his wife would like to invest by buying a house, doing it up, then selling it for more.
He may be in luck. Many Aucklanders retain a fondness for the quarter-acre dream. National's rejection of the capital gains tax meant property speculation was likely to continue.
"The value people get when they sell the property at the end would've had a tax that currently doesn't exist," University of Auckland property expert James Young said of Labour's planned tax.
"It would have messed things up. I know people said it wouldn't, but it most certainly would."
Apart from working about 30 hours a week at an Auckland cafe, Munn was a masters student. Wearing his student hat, he said National's win could make it tougher for him to borrow money to finance his final year.
On election day, Parnell resident Mark Griffen, 49, was waiting outside Parnell District School. He had brought his family along after they'd had breakfast. "Never vote on an empty stomach," he said.
His oldest daughter, 24-year-old Helen, worked as an engineer. Transport was a big issue for her, too. Helen said she backed National's plan to boost spending on big-ticket roading projects like the Western ring route.
Big business lobbies like the Auckland Chamber of Commerce shared Joyce's fondness for road projects but may also push National to make some concessions on rail.
Chamber of Commerce chairman Michael Barnett has called for a third Waitemata Harbour crossing and extensions to state highways in the next five to 15 years. But Barnett and his colleagues have also backed projects including a CBD-Mt Eden rail tunnel loop.
Back at Britomart transport hub, student Alan Pedrera, 21, said he'd have preferred Labour to win, even though he voted for Key in 2008. He was worried that asset sales could cost jobs.
Like Diack waiting for her train, Pedrera said National should spend less money on motorways and more on public transport.
Pedrera accepted the will of the electorate but said Key's victory would probably push him overseas.
"If that's how he wants to run the country, good for him, but there are a lot of better opportunities in Australia."
