In the 10-part series What's the Plan? The Herald's political and specialist reporters examine the big issues facing New Zealand and how the main political parties plan to deal with them. Here, Bernard Orsman compares the policies for transport

Voters hungry for some new transport policies will be disappointed with the vanilla and predictable offerings from the major parties.

It feels like the gear stick is stuck in 2017, instead of moving up a gear in 2020.

National is unashamedly splurging on roads, the Greens want fewer cars on the roads, New Zealand First fancies heavy rail and Act wants the private sector in the driver's seat.

Labour is sending mixed messages, promising light rail one minute and new roads the next.

When a gust of wind caused chaos on the Auckland Harbour Bridge this month no party had a quick fix to the fragility of the city's ageing infrastructure.

Transport has always been a long game, hijacked by the three-year cycle of politics.

Politicians have no problem chopping and changing transport policies and no shame cutting the ribbon on projects started by their opponents.

This term witnessed the Labour-led Government instruct the NZ Transport Agency to change its mindset from highways to road safety and public transport.

Before that, National's focus was on building "Roads of National Significance", which improved the motorway network at the expense of regional roads and safety measures.

To be fair, the last three National and Labour governments have recognised the need to modernise the country's transport infrastructure to help grow the economy and address the challenges of climate change.

It's a question of which party's policies appeal to voters, who should be mindful that transport costs are huge and New Zealand, with a small, sparsely spread population and challenging terrain, is limited in what it can afford.

Labour's record on transport this term has been underwhelming. Like KiwiBuild, it talked a big game on light rail in Auckland but failed to deliver.

At her first public appearance as Labour leader in August 2017, Jacinda Ardern promised to have modern trams running from the CBD to Mt Roskill in four years.

Three years later and not a shovel in sight, Ardern's Government changed tack in January this year with a $6.8 billion transport package that included a number of National's "Roads of National Significance" it had mocked as a "1950s development model".

Labour has gone from promising a transformative agenda on rapid transit in 2017 to being champions of the status quo - lots of tarmac, the odd rail upgrade, an electric bus or two and tacking a cycle lane on every new length of motorway.

Labour's Phil Twyford and the Greens Julie Anne Genter have a different take on transport. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Labour hasn't ditched light rail altogether, but is now talking about light metro, or driverless trams, that run on elevated structures and tunnels so as not to mix with traffic. The details of what, when and where and cost are a closely guarded secret that pesky voters will have to wait for until after polling day.

NZ First leader Winston Peters, privy to details for plans on light rail, put the cost between $10 billion and $15b and claimed it would cause a "decade of chaos". The figure was rubbished by NZ Infra - a joint venture of the NZ Super Fund and a Canadian pension fund - which, with the NZ Transport Agency, has submitted plans for light rail.

Labour - and the Greens - have progressed the SkyPath cycle path over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, although the cost has blown out from $67m to about $240m. Work could start next year.

National is promising a splurge of new roads to fix Auckland's congestion and transform the Upper North Island into one economic powerhouse.

Party leader Judith Collins said National would spend $31 billion over 10 years, $17b of that in the upper North Island.

The ambitious programme includes a four-lane highway linking Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Whangarei with new tunnels through the Kaimai Ranges and Brynderwyns, plus a new road and rail tunnel under the Waitemata Harbour with construction starting in 2028.

The Nats are also promising to double both the Mt Victoria and Terrace tunnels in Wellington as part of a $4 billion spend up across the region over 20 years.

These projects would be funded from the Government's Covid fund, allowing the NZ Transport Agency to borrow $1b a year and tolls on the new tunnels.

National would scrap Auckland's regional petrol tax and Labour's "light rail ghost trains" and replace them with rapid buses from the CBD to Onehunga from 2023.

National, which chose not build a busway when the northwestern motorway was widened under the John Key Government, is now committed to rapid buses along the heavily congested motorway.

National is keen to build more roads. Photo / Michael Craig

A close look at National's transport policy shows only a handful of projects will begin construction over the next three years. The big tunnels are uncosted and multi-decade projects.

The most immediate work programme is $300m to fix potholes, roundabouts and crash corners.

The Greens, who promised free public transport and to build light rail from the CBD to the airport by 2021 at the last election, have revved up their 2017 "game-changing plan for public transport".

For example, a Youth Green Card to make public transport free for under 19s has been replaced with a Go Anywhere transport card offering free transport for those under 18 and over 65, and half price for tertiary students and apprentices.

Everyone else would pay for the first eight rides a week on public transport and intercity trains and the rest would be free.

Securing wins in transport has not been easy for the Greens, but the party led the way to change the dial on road safety and fix dangerous stretches of road, like Dome Valley north of Warkworth on State Highway 1.

There was also the hoo-ha surrounding the secrecy of Green MP and Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter's Let's Get Wellington Moving letter that pushed for mass rapid transit ahead of a second Mt Victoria tunnel.

This election, the Greens continue to push for climate-friendly policies, including intercity rail connecting Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, and connecting Christchurch with Rangiora and Ashburton.

They are also promising a $1.5b "cycle superhighway fund" and set 2030 as the likely date for zero-emission light vehicles. Incentives will be put in place for heavy vehicles to be zero-emission by 2050.

NZ First leader Winston Peters and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones are pushing for more rail. Photo / Tania Whyte

Upgrading rail was the big platform of NZ First's transport at the last election, and the party has made progress with the re-opening of the Napier to Wairoa line and $200m on the Northland rail project.

NZ First supports heavy rail to Auckland Airport by building a 7km spur line from Puhinui to the air terminal.

It also wants passenger and freight services between Waikato and the Bay of Plenty to Auckland, which could be used by passenger and freight services from Waikato and the Bay of Plenty.

Act wants to take the politics out of transport and vest them in an independent NZ Infrastructure Corporation to work with the private sector to build road and rail networks based on congestion levels and safety considerations. Fuel taxes would be replaced with road pricing.

Plumber Jackson Foster uses a van for work and is a keen cyclist. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Jackson Foster starts the day with an early morning bike ride before getting in his white van and criss-crossing Auckland.

The Mt Eden plumber knows what it's like to battle the city's congested roads and enjoy the growing network of cycleways, which, he says, are good but could be way better.

In the past five years, Auckland's traffic has become a lot worse with school traffic and unforeseen problems, says Foster.

He says tradies like him can spend four hours a day in traffic if they are not careful, and it's not unusual to be caught in traffic for 90 minutes to do a 10-minute job.

Foster would like to see school hours moved so children are not travelling at 8 o'clock when workers are trying to get to work. Another bugbear is parking on major arterial roads like Dominion, Manukau and Great South Rds. They should be clearways, 24/7, he says.

"Some plonker parks his car and thinks he can go for a coffee and disrupts the traffic. It's like a car on a motorway and having a cup of tea," he says.

Foster says Auckland has finally become an international city and it's time to improve the public transport system, suggesting the tunnelling machine for the City Rail Link should keep going under the Waitematā Harbour to Devonport, Takapuna and the East Coast Bays.

The days of the 1980s lifestyle of going everywhere you want to by car is over, he says, and if people still love that lifestyle they should move to a smaller town.

When it comes to cycleways, Foster says the more that are built, the more people will use them, and were so popular during the first lockdown you couldn't move.

He has even considered using an e-bike with a big box on the back for work.

Transport: The policies

Labour
•Build $6.8b of road and rail projects as part of the NZ Upgrade Programme.
•Invest $700m into shovel ready transport projects to create 800 to 1000 jobs.
•Continue with light rail, possibly driverless trams that run on elevated structures and tunnels.
•Continue to invest in electric vehicles and build more EV chargers.
•No fuel tax increases in the next term.

National
•Spend $31b over 10 years on roads, including:
•$17b in the Upper North Island.
•Four-lane highway linking Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Whangārei with new tunnels through the Kaimai Ranges and Brynderwyns.
•$4b to address congestion in Wellington.
•Scrap the Auckland regional fuel tax.

Greens
•Create a nationwide Go Anywhere transport card free for those under 18 and over 65.
•Build light rail from the Auckland CBD to the airport and Westgate, plus light rail in Wellington.
•Connect Auckland to Hamilton, Tauranga and Whangārei with commuter rail, and commuter rail from Christchurch to Rangiora and Ashburton.
•Create a $1.5b cycle superhighway fund.
•Set 2030 as the date for all light vehicles being zero-emission and 2050 for heavy vehicles.

NZ First
•Continue upgrading rail.
•Build rail line from Puhinui to Auckland Airport.
•Provide passenger and freight rail services from Waikato and Bay of Plenty to Auckland.

Act
•Set up independent NZ Infrastructure Corporation to take politics out of transport.
•Corporation to work with the private sector to build road and rail networks.
•Replace fuel taxes with road pricing.