"The needed transformation for our transport system makes us healthier, more connected, gives us transport choice, increases access to jobs and play, all while costing us less."
"The needed transformation for our transport system makes us healthier, more connected, gives us transport choice, increases access to jobs and play, all while costing us less."
Opinion by Marie Guerreiro
THREE KEY FACTS
The Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway was endorsed by Auckland Transport’s board and adopted by Auckland Council in August 2022.
The Terp provides formal direction that Auckland Council and Auckland Transport must follow in all of their activities.
It contributes to the target to halve Auckland’s regional emissions by 2030 (against a 2016 baseline).
Marie Guerreiro is the executive director of All Aboard, which advocates to decarbonise the transport system.
Unfortunately, while the Terp was adopted by Auckland Council in 2022, it has been consistently undermined and Auckland Transport has not sufficiently incorporated the plan. The Terp is built from the experience of other cities and every action is not only based on evidence, but is realistic and achievable by the end of the decade.
Without it, Auckland will fail to reduce our transport emissions and we will not meet our climate goals. The good news is that not only is the decarbonisation of transport one of the easiest and most affordable ways to rapidly reduce emissions, but it has a multitude of wider benefits.
The needed transformation for our transport system makes us healthier, more connected, gives us transport choice, increases access to jobs and play, all while costing us less. The Terp provides the foundation for this transformation.
Yet, the Terp has been misconstrued as setting out specific projects, like building cycle lanes, to achieve its goals. This is untrue.
The Terp actually aims to comprehensively change the process for how projects are planned and prioritised to ensure we fund and build a transport system fit for 21st-century Auckland.
It sets out 11 transformations, and all need to be enacted to achieve our emission targets:
Supercharge walking and cycling
Massively increase public transport patronage
Prioritise and resource sustainable transport
Reduce travel where possible and appropriate
Safe, low-traffic neighbourhoods for people
Build up not out
Electrify private vehicles
Enable new transport devices
Low-emissions public transport
Efficient freight and services
Empower Aucklanders to make sustainable transport choices
While the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway does lead to higher prioritisation of public transport, walking, and cycling projects, this is because when we build a multi-modal transport system we give people a choice in how they travel.
Whether it’s by walking, cycling, or public transport, every person we enable to travel in a way other than a car is one less person on the road contributing to congestion.
This frees up road space for people who either need to or want to drive cars. Every cycling, walking, and public transport project is just as much a project for cars and drivers.
By building our streets to supercharge walking and cycling, by creating safe infrastructure and low-traffic neighbourhoods, we allow our city’s kids to have the independence to travel to and from school and play.
This means parents are not forced to drop off and pick up kids from schools, giving them time and flexibility every day and allows our kids to have more engaged, connected and active lives.
"We have only built for one mode of transport in Auckland for decades, and it’s led us to congestion, higher emissions and a less connected city."
The Terp pathways use the experience of cities such as Paris, London, Sydney, Barcelona, Singapore and many more to show this transformation is possible.
Yet here, and not just from Councillor Newman, consistently it is said that there is not enough funding for implementing the Terp. But this misses the point. With limited funding, the Terp is actually the solution.
Embracing it and changing the way we think about transport results in a more effective planning process. This ensures funding is invested into the most cost-effective and impactful projects.
And something that detractors of the Terp never ask is, can we afford not to? Low-traffic neighbourhoods in London are estimated to return up to 200:1 in benefits from healthier and more connected people. And that was a conservative estimate.
Congestion costs Auckland over $1 billion a year, and air pollution from fossil fuel-powered vehicles results in illness and premature death for thousands of us.
We have only built for one mode of transport in Auckland for decades, and it’s led us to congestion, higher emissions and a less connected city.
The Terp is a different way of doing things that leads to healthier people, less congestion, more connected communities and more choices for how we travel. It’s a way of doing things that is possible in the next five years, not far into the future, all by changing the way we think.
It’s why the decarbonisation of transport is one of the easiest ways to achieve our climate goals, because it makes our lives better.
If we want Auckland to be the city we want, one where people can choose how they travel, in safety, and without congestion, the Terp is how we get there.
And it is Auckland’s plan right now, we just need to embrace it.
