KEY POINTS:
Auckland needs a single regional transport body with the power to plan, fund and implement the number one issue on people's minds, the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Auckland Governance heard yesterday.
Auckland Regional Transport Authority chief executive Fergus Gammie said his organisation was a good start but further steps were needed to address Auckland's transport needs.
ARTA was established in 2004 with limited powers to plan, fund and develop a successful transport system for the Auckland region.
Mr Gammie said the current multiple agency/council approach was hampering progress and leading to inconsistencies and delays.
He gave examples where the system was failing, including ARTA having to step in to protect the proposed inner city rail loop from a 41-storey tower over its route, problems protecting rail access to the airport and the inability to co-ordinate cycleways across the city.
He said the regional transport authority would have the power to develop a co-ordinated transport strategy for roads, motorways and public transport with funding from local and central government. Mr Gammie envisaged the regional transport agency would be run by a board, whose members would be appointed at a political level by the regional council.
Commission chairman Peter Salmon, QC, queried the political input into the transport agency.
Mr Gammie said it could work like Translink in Vancouver where that body submitted a three-year plan to the regional council for approval.
The transport plan would have to take account of the regional growth strategy, he said.
Another commissioner, David Shand, wondered how regional and central government would feel about handing over billions of dollars to a single transport body. Mr Gammie said the way to obtain Government buy-in was to have a plan that made sense and could be delivered on.
Ideally, the region should have a three-to-five-year funding agreement with central government. At the moment, Auckland had to go to Wellington to get funding for transport projects on a case-by-case basis.
"One of the clear benefits of having an empowered regional agency is it would be able to bring one view to the table in negotiations and discussions with the Government," Mr Gammie said. Bernard Orsman
