Eric Thompson: Fragile egos with no vision

Where is one meant to park at the so-called park-and-ride that's always full? Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Many decision makers, and a number of media commentators, say we must forego our current preferred mode of transport - the car.

The suggested alternatives are public transport (now that's the biggest joke of all), hybrid, electric, hydrogen, or a myriad of other propulsion methods, including bicycles, to replace the internal combustion engine.

Public transport will never work because New Zealand has only small-minded decision makers who have no faith in their own beliefs. Auckland's Northern Busway park-and-ride system is a perfect example. If you want to get people off the roads and into buses, build a carpark big enough to take thousands of cars - not a few hundred.

"Get off the roads and on to a bus that travels on its own road," was the rallying call. Good, we all thought. So off we go to the bus hubs, only to find the carpark's already full.

I used the park-and-ride at Oteha Valley Rd for a matter of days, until the carpark filled. I then had to park on the road around the station where traffic wardens started to ticket cars as an additional revenue scheme.

I have no idea what happens these days because I gave up and went back to driving my car.

Also, in all honesty, New Zealand doesn't have an adequate public transport system as urban planners of yesteryear forgot to implement any infrastructure to accommodate the potential need for one. Hadn't anyone back then heard of the car, or population growth, or urban sprawl?

One of their greatest blunders by a country mile was not incorporating a rail line when the harbour bridge was built.

In all fairness though, not enough people live in New Zealand to warrant an underground system like those in Europe and some US cities. An overhead monorail system as used in Sydney would be an option for our largest city.

However, the fragile egos that used to run the six fiefdoms that made up greater Auckland would never agree to put personal agendas away and work for the common good. And mark my words. Now that we have the Super City, there is definitely no chance anything will be done. The former separate fiefdoms have now morphed into various committees who will agree on only one thing - to vote themselves pay rises. The titles may have changed, but the egos remain the same.

What about go-green, I hear you ask? What's the point in replacing thousands of existing cars with a more expensive version when you'll still end up sitting in the same traffic jam? Or not being able to find a park at the, wait for it, park-and-ride.

Some would argue they pollute less and use less fuel. But there are conventional petrol and diesel cars that have been proven to be as economical, if not more, than their green counterparts. A well-maintained new-generation petrol or diesel engine almost matches the carbon emissions of some hybrids.

When it comes to hybrids and electric cars, I would like to know what's going to happen to all the dead batteries? Also, will I be able to tow a boat or caravan and still be able get through the Desert Rd without having to plug into the nearest pylon?

Before I forget, nobody's told me how much more fossil fuel, and the resultant carbon footprint, will have to be burned to accommodate these electric cars whispering around our roads.

So let's just celebrate what we've got. There is nothing wrong with the modern car. It does what it says on the box, and as always, the doomsayers have been proved wrong, yet again, about the cost of fuel.

Since man started trading in petroleum the price has fluctuated and it still hasn't hit the height of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In fact, it's just gone down again. Funny, that.

Here in New Zealand, outside oil-producing countries, we have one of the lowest per-litre costs in the world. Of course the cost will continue to rise, as costs of just about everything do.

If you want a real fright, stop looking at the numbers on the fuel pump and have a look at the prices in your supermarket. Food prices have increased far more than the cost of fuel has.

Sure, have an eye on the future of transport design, but if you want to make immediate, noticeable difference, change your bad driving habits and maintain your car.