Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning, Mayor Wayne Brown reiterated his push for Auckland Transport to have a change in approach. Video / Newstalk ZB
Auckland Transport has handed out millions of dollars worth of fines to motorists in the past 16 months for using a stretch of Queen St closed to cars.
The transport body has collected $5.6m in fines from motorists using the Essential Vehicle Area between the Civic Theatre and Aotea Square since September 2022 and has issued a further $6.4 million worth of fines that have not yet been paid - $12 million in total, Newshub reported.
Auckland Transport (AT) banned cars, taxis and ride shares from the roughly 200m stretch of road in July 2022 as part of the Wai Horotiu Queen St project, which was designed to make the street more people-focused.
Only buses, cyclists, delivery vehicles and emergency services were allowed to use the Essential Vehicle Area (EVA).
Motorists were given warnings for the first two months of the car ban before $150 fines began being issued.
An Official Information Act request revealed 80,890 fines have been dished out since the EVA came into force, Newshub said. A further 37,912 have yet to be paid.
AT’s programme director for city centre transport integration Graeme Gunthorp told Newshub the level of the fines was set by the Ministry of Transport.
Gunthorp also said the EVA was “the only mechanism which [AT] has” to make its buses work efficiently.
Essential Vehicle Area on Queen Street between Wakefield St and Wellesley St. Photo / Dean Purcell
“We don’t have the privilege of changing those [fines] up and down, similar to parking fines,” he told Newshub.
“We don’t see this as a revenue stream. We see this as an important part of the transport network that we need to make sure buses and goods vehicles can get through efficiently,” he said.
Some affected motorists told Newshub they believed the signposting for the EVA wasn’t clear enough.
The chief executive of the local business association Heart of the City also told Newshub she thought the ban was confusing.
Auckland Transport has collected $5.6m in fines for motorists who have used the EVA, or ‘Essential Vehicle Area’ on Queen St. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Gunthorp said: “Remember, we did issue eight months’ worth of warnings to first-time offenders,” but he did tell Newshub the signposting could be clearer.
One motorist fined for driving through the area spoke to Newshub and questioned how clear the signs were.
“What does GV mean?,” she said, referencing the sign which means ‘goods vehicles lane’.
She told Newshub she “never would have guessed that”.
Graeme Gunthorp, Auckland Transport's programme director for city centre transport integration.
“I try and be law-abiding... but you’ve got to give people a fair chance to make an alternative route,” she said.
Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck told Newshub she had asked AT to review the ban, saying she wanted “common sense”.
Given it was a busy area for city nightlife, Beck said, “We certainly think we should have taxis [in the EVA] at night, rather than full-time bus access”.
Gunthorp told Newshub AT was “exploring, outside our core bus operating hours, when can taxis and ride-hailing use the area?”
