Auckland mayoral candidate Viv Beck is promising a $200 million fund to reduce congestion on the roads and capping spending on cycleways at $306m.
She has rubbished Auckland Council's "far-fetched" and unfunded transport emissions blueprint, saying the great progress on reducing emissions will come from the uptake of low and zero emissions vehicles.
Auckland councillors will today vote to approve the Transport Emissions Reductions Pathway (Terp) that calls for halving car use, increasing cycling from less than 1 per cent to 13 per cent of mode share and public transport use increasing more than five-fold by 2030 to reduce transport emissions by 64 per cent by 2030.
In a pre-election report for council candidates, chief executive Jim Stabback has warned that responding to a changing climate is "likely to require substantially increased funding".
Auckland Council chief executive Jim Stabback. Photo / File
Neither Stabback nor Auckland Transport have put any figures on how much it will cost to implement the Terp.
"As mayor, I will propose replacing the $2 billion cycling programme recently put forward by Auckland Transport with a commitment to a more effective roll-out of the existing $306 million programme ... and a $20m fund that encourages schoolkids to cycle and walk,
"I will lead a practical, robust plan to reduce Auckland's transport emissions … this will focus on concrete, achievable initiatives and a clear assessment of the social and economic costs," Beck said.
Beck's policy will include funding a $177m shortfall to achieve a zero-emission bus fleet by 2030 and setting up an EV Infrastructure Taskforce. One of its jobs will be to ensure all new homes are EV-ready.
She also has plans to establish a Congestion Reduction Unit with a budget of $200m aimed at getting traffic moving by upgrading clogged-up intersections, real-time traffic light phasing, more use of dynamic lanes, such as on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula; and speeding up the response to accidents on motorways.
"The bulk of Aucklanders rely on private vehicles to get around and that's expected to remain the case into the future," Beck said.
Viv Beck wants to scrap the Government's plan for light rail and build rapid buses instead. Image / Supplied
These policies are part of a fleshed-out transport policy.
Beck has previously announced she would defer the Government's $14.6 billion light rail plan from the central city to the airport for rapid buses, including a $2.5b busway alongside the northwestern motorway to West Auckland, bus rapid transit between the airport and Botany and $110m of stations upgrades on the Northern Busway.
Other new policies include doubling the investment of park and ride stations, especially on the outer parts of the city, from $51m to $102m, and spending $50m a year to subsidise public transport for students, seniors and low-income earners.
"I would support the extension of the Western rail line through to Kumeu/Huapai as a medium-term priority," she said.
Beck said congestion charging needs to be considered, but only once the Regional Fuel Tax of 11.5 cents a litre has been scrapped.
