Project Auckland: Could light rail be an option for our city centre?

G:link, the Gold Coast's light rail tram system in Queensland, Australia. Photo / Anne Gibson

When Prime Minister John Key confirmed support in principle for the City Rail Link (CRL) last year, he also made reference to the need to address conclusions of Auckland Transport's City Centre Future Access Study (CCFAS) showing bus crowding and congestion coming into the CBD as a priority issue, and promised to make funding available for projects to deal with it.

In particular, the CCFAS identified that the city centre is facing access capacity issues across all road entry points which would worsen from as early as 2021, particularly from the central and southern isthmus not served by the rail network including:

• Key arterials with major bus routes are already near capacity and will be significantly over capacity in the future, even with the CRL and surface bus improvements.

• If not addressed now, there will be area-specific problems, including the impact of a high number of buses on urban amenity in the medium term, and acute issues on key corridors in the longer term.

To address these issues, Auckland Transport has work underway to provide an effective public transport solution for those parts of inner Auckland and the city centre that cannot be served by the heavy rail network once the CRL is operational.

A range of options that supports growth requirements in a way that maintains or enhances the quality and capacity of the city centre streets are being explored, including light rail.

Auckland Transport's Strategy and Planning manager, Peter Clark, confirms that the programme benefits being sought include:

• Improved transport access into and around the city centre from areas not served by the rail network in a way that is best able to satisfy immediate needs and the long term, rapidly growing customer demand in the city centre and approaches.

• Improved efficiency and resilience of the transport network of the city centre by improving journey time, frequency and reliability of transport access into and within the city centre and city fringe; improving the linkages and service of key destinations - particularly those not served by the CRL, notably the university campuses and the Wynyard Quarter; maximising the benefits of existing and proposed investment in transport; and releasing the capacity constraints around the city's most important approach routes and nodes.