Time to change the commuting mindset as traffic jams return to Hawke's Bay - councillor

From locked down to gridlocked: cars clog Hawke's Bay roads in level 2. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay commuters should use their return from lockdown to consider a reset about how they get to and from work, a regional councillor says.

As soon as Delta level 2 kicked into gear on Wednesday, the traffic immediately returned to the region's main arterial routes, with cars backed up around schools and on the Hawke's Bay Expressway at peak hours.

Councillor Martin Williams, chair of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council transport committee, said the return to work was the ideal time for a public transport mind-shift.

Williams believes Hawke's Bay is "addicted to cars".

HBRC's draft Regional Land Transport Plan revealed earlier this year that just 0.5 per cent of Bay commuters use public transport get to work.

The plan aims to get 30 per cent of workers off the roads.

Williams said the high dependency on cars for transport has resulted in regional neglect of public transport options.

"People think that they don't like taking the bus, but they're just not yet used to it. What we need is a regional culture change."

Williams said user-friendly alternatives, like the council's soon-to-arrive on-demand minibus plan would be a part of the solution.

Walking or cycling to the shops in the same way we'd all got out and about for lockdown exercise was also key, he said.

"One-third of all car trips in the region are less than two kilometres in length, and it's these trips that we should be encouraging people to think about.

"Instead of taking their car people that can, should be putting their shopping bags under their arm and walking those two kilometres to the supermarket."

Traffic was light in level 4, hinting at the potential for a transport mode-shift in the region. Photo / Warren Buckland

Former Hawke's Bay Regional Councillor Paul Bailey said Hawke's Bay was a region that prioritises convenience, and public transport is still in the too hard basket for many locals.

"Public transport is too inconvenient, doesn't go to the right places and costs a fair bit. If you take away those barriers there will be a greater uptake.

"It doesn't surprise me that people get in their cars to go places, as it's convenient and cost-effective" Bailey said.

For Bailey, it's a matter of "putting the cart before the horse", to encourage public transport use as a viable option.

"It's going to be very hard to convince grey-haired buggers like me to change their ways, who are used to the convenience of going wherever they want whenever they want.

"This needs to change and I think it will be the younger generation with their environmental outlook who will be the ones to make it."