Wish list: commuters get their say

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Hypothetical Harry is a rich, middle-aged European living in Manukau. He would rather drive to work than take public transport.

Young, unemployed Asian Virtual Viswanathan, on the other hand, is quite happy to use trains, buses or ferries when travelling from his central Auckland home.

Stereotypes perhaps, but well-founded ones, according to figures released yesterday.

They show that 97 per cent of Europeans, 97 per cent of those with a household income over $70,000 a year and 96 per cent of people in populous but spread-out Manukau mostly use their own vehicles to get around.

As for public transport, the highest usage rates for buses, trains and ferries are 14 per cent of people aged under 30, 11 per cent of people not working, 17 per cent of Asians and 12 per cent of people living in Auckland City.

Aucklanders have grizzled about their clogged motorways for years, and the letters pages of newspapers are crammed with their complaints and opinions.

But the new statistics give the strongest indication yet of what Aucklanders as a whole really think about city transport - and what they want for the future.

The figures come from a 64-question, 40-minute Research Solutions survey of 801 Aucklanders aged over 18, paid for by the Automobile Association. The survey has a 3.5 per cent margin of error.

Perhaps the most telling figures are that 12 per cent of people are willing to give up their cars for public transport and another 25 per cent could be swayed to do so.

This comes as the city is trying to strike a deal with Tranz Rail that will initially cost $112 million just to obtain public transport corridors.

Auckland Regional Council transport director Barry Mein says shifting just 5 to 10 per cent of car users to public transport would have a big effect on peak-hour traffic jams.

He suspects that many will use public transport once they have given it a go. He cites the Half Moon Bay ferry running from the Tamaki River to downtown Auckland as an example - three-quarters of the commuters using the service used to drive to work.

Auckland now has morning "rush hour" peaks which last from 7 am to 9.30 am. The afternoon peak lasts from 4 pm to 7 pm.

One thing the AA wants is a better road system for its members, so it is no surprise that many of the questions in the survey focus on motorways.

But also tackled are our views on paying tolls, public transport, willingness to change and other factors.

Here, then, is what Aucklanders think:

ip0MOTORWAYS

ip1A whopping 83 per cent of Aucklanders want city leaders to finish building our transport network.

That result came after researchers showed plans for proposed city transport routes and asked if they should be built.

The plan is to link gaps in the eastern and western motorway systems to give a "ring road" layout. It also includes options for trains and buses to use the corridors.

The AA's northern manager, Stephen Selwood, says those findings give "the strongest possible mandate" for getting on with building the western and eastern corridors. He says other figures from the survey show that Aucklanders want new motorways blended with public transport.

For instance, 93 per cent want a western corridor built, with 28 per cent wanting it to carry both cars and trains. Others want bus or cycle lanes included.

In fact, the western route is one of the few areas where city planners are making real progress. Transit NZ is talking to Mt Roskill/Mt Albert folk as it firms up its bid to link the Southwestern Motorway to the Northwestern Motorway by ploughing through their suburbs.

Progress has stalled on plans for a similar road from downtown Auckland into the eastern suburbs, although there are hopes that a deal with Tranz Rail will open up railway lines in the area.

The survey showed that 90 per cent of Aucklanders want an eastern corridor, with the most popular form a blend of road and rail (25 per cent).

Many Aucklanders told researchers that finishing the eastern and western routes would speed up traffic and ease clogged roads in the central city, give more direct routes to some areas.

However, a small number were worried about the impact on residents and the environment, or complained that more motorways would simply promote more traffic.

ip0CARS, BUSES, FERRIES

OR TRAINS?ip0

ip1Aucklanders love their cars, and hate motorbikes. That much is clear from questions in which they were asked to rate different types of transport from a "very negative" 1 to "very positive" 7.

Private vehicles scored a healthy 6, followed by ferries (4.7), commercial vehicles (4.4), and trains (4.2). Those scoring negatively were buses (3.9), taxis (3.6), bicycles (2.8) and motorbikes (2.6).

The survey allowed people to say why they dislike some forms of transport. With buses, a substantial 31 per cent said they were inconvenient, unreliable or too slow.

"Don't like buses - the waiting, the inconvenience" was one response that summed up the gripes.

Trains also attract some negative reactions, an obvious one being that many Aucklanders are not near a railway. That may apply from both ends of the journey. Until downtown Auckland gets trains into Queen Elizabeth Square, for example, office commuters face a bus trip to the railway terminus at the foot of Parnell.

Needing to get to and from the station is a problem for some.

Other comments included trains not being regular or running late at night and an absence of safe parking near railway stations.

Taxis were seen to be too expensive.

Bicycles, sometimes touted as an alternative way of getting children to school and reducing rush-hour traffic, are regarded as dangerous by 28 per cent. People suggested there was not enough space on the roads for bicycles or proper provision for bikes.

Motorbikes are even more dangerous, 45 per cent believe. Comments included "very dangerous because of the heavy traffic in Auckland" and "unsafe, don't trust drivers on the road."

One of the few reasons people disliked ferries was that they were available in only a few areas.

"If I lived in Devonport it would be brilliant," one landlocked person said. "But for me it's a silly question."

The survey boffins used special analysis to figure out how many people would switch from cars to public transport if the strategic corridors were built.

They decided that 12 per cent would stop using their vehicles for commuter trips and a further 25 per cent were "uncommitted" to their cars. The easiest people to convert would be aged between 50 and 59, living in Rodney, the North Shore or Waitakere.

Statistically, women living in Franklin were the least likely to give up their cars.

Half of all Aucklanders - 49 per cent - do not want to use public transport, and a further 20 per cent are "ambivalent."

ip0THE COST

ip1The Aucklanders surveyed were told that of all the transport options, rail was the most expensive and a bus-motorway blend was the cheapest.

The result was that 30 per cent preferred the cheapest option - but a rail-motorway blend still pulled 24 per cent.

Overall, 92 per cent of people wanted transport plans to include roads, followed by buses (51 per cent), rail (44 per cent) and cycle lanes (29 per cent).

But who will pay for our roads?

The most common feeling, at 46 per cent, was that everyone should pay. A further 31 per cent said that all road users should cough up, and 21 per cent wanted a user-pays system based on who drives the most.

However, one surprising result was the willingness of Aucklanders to pay road tolls to help fund new motorways.

Just 18 per cent said they would avoid using tolled motorways as much as possible, while 42 per cent would use them if the route was short enough and the other 40 per cent would use them occasionally.

ip0WHAT NOW?

ip1So what does all this mean?

The AA's Mr Selwood says it proves that an overwhelming number of Aucklanders want transport corridors in the east and west. They want an integrated network for public and private transport.

The regional council's Mr Mein cautions that the survey results must be looked at cautiously because the AA has an agenda, and the findings may have been swayed by the way the questions were drawn up.

And although the results are probably a good sign for public transport plans in Auckland, most of those plans are progressing rather slowly.

This was nicely summed by one of those surveyed, when asked what the most desired transport development would be in Auckland: "Everything seems to stop - too many surveys. Get on with it."

Herald Online feature: Getting Auckland moving

Herald Online traffic reports