Dick Hubbard: Road tolls cut congestion on urban roads

Dick Hubbard

Road tolling has been around for almost as long as roads. The Romans tolled much of their high quality roads through Europe and the revenue was used to finance road developments.

Oliver Cromwell was a great advocate of tolling (although knights were to be exempt under his model).

In medieval England, legendary and real characters such as Dick Turpin and Robin Hood extracted unorthodox tolls - and probably helped to minimise potential congestion.

Tolling in New Zealand, and specifically Auckland, also has a long history. In March 1863 the Turnpike Act was passed by the Auckland Provincial Council to "erect toll bars or gates on Great South Rd for the purpose of raising money towards defraying the costs of repairs thereof".

A toll gate was erected at the corner of Manukau Rd and Remuera Rd (now in the middle of Broadway in Newmarket).

Three years later, a second Turnpike Act was passed and the levies were set: horses (three pence each), carriages (six pence for one horse, nine pence for two and one shilling for three or more), cattle (three pence a head) and pigs, sheep or goats (halfpenny each).

Payment was required only once on the same day. Government employees and members of the armed services were exempt.

Fast forward to 1959 and after decades of political fence-sitting the Auckland Harbour Bridge was opened as a tolled bridge.

The Americans have long had "turnpike tolls" for their long-distance motorways and around the world cities are moving to tolls. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all have urban toll roads albeit with different ownership and tolling structures and different technologies.

The rationale for tolls has also changed. Although revenue gathering for road construction is still important, innovative tolling solutions are now being used for reasons such as reducing congestion by altering demand through variable pricing, or to subsidise public transport.

Tolling is, of course, politically sensitive and can bring some inequities. But, generally speaking, tolls are acceptable where tangible benefits to the travelling public can be achieved and readily seen.

Before Mayor Ken Livingstone introduced the London congestion charging scheme there was only 40 per cent public support for it.

Three years after its introduction, public support is at 54 per cent and there are some calling for Livingstone's elevation to sainthood.

Clearly, if there had been a referendum on London's congestion charge before it was implemented it would not have proceeded.

In Edinburgh, where a referendum was held on a two-stage congestion charging system, the proposal was soundly rejected. Central London moves, central Edinburgh does not.

It is important that revenue from tolling be used specifically to finance transport solutions, including public transport. Use of tolling revenue to help subsidise the "national fund" would be a political no-no.

Electronic tolling is also helping public acceptance. It does not impede traffic and allows variation of charges during the day as a means of smoothing demand.

Even with electronic means, costs can sometimes be considerable. In London 50 per cent of the revenue obtained is used in costs while in Oslo, Norway, costs are down to 10 per cent of revenue. Fixed costs are high and the efficiency is therefore very dependent on traffic volumes.

Tolls also allow "public/private" partnerships. Private companies can build a road on behalf of government or a local authority and then charge to recover the investment.

Often there is a point at which the road reverts to public ownership (with or without the continuation of tolling).

How does all of this provide lessons for Auckland? There is universal agreement Auckland has major transport problems.

The question that faces Aucklanders is: Do we wait for Wellington to drip-feed money to us or do we get a consensus from Aucklanders that allows us to use selective tolling to control our own destiny?

Aucklanders are well travelled. Most of us have seen for ourselves what works and what doesn't overseas. We are a city that wants action. The choice is ours.

We owe it to ourselves to have informed debate on tolling, to weigh costs versus benefits, to reconcile pragmatism versus idealism and to send a clear signal to Government .

We need to tell our Prime Minister Helen Clark if we want Auckland to be "the fair city for whom the bell tolls!"

* Dick Hubbard is the Mayor of Auckland