A visiting international transport expert says Auckland should forget about its railway deal and spend the money on more roads.
American transport consultant Mr Wendell Cox, from St Louis, told 150 people at the 'The Case for Roads' conference in Mt Wellington that the accepted wisdom about public transport was wrong and that money spent on buses and trains would be better spent on roads.
Mr Cox said public transport only worked effectively when it fed downtown areas and only 13 per cent of Aucklanders were employed in the inner city.
31 per cent of those already used public transport and it would be too costly to try and boost that number.
He said Auckland was spending 35 times as much on public transport for each person who used it as the city was spending on its roads.
The answer, said Mr Cox, was to shift priority to the roading network. "I hope for your sake you start to look at reality instead of fantasy."
Mr Cox was speaking as Auckland politicians work towards a $112 million deal to secure the lease to Auckland's railway tracks.
Other transport consultants from the US and Australia will address the seminar, sponsored by 20 city firms, later today.
Auckland should forget railways says visiting expert
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