Auckland mayoral Candidate Efeso Collins' free public transport policy has been attacked by the Auckland Ratepayers' Association. Photo / Greg Bowker
Auckland mayoral Candidate Efeso Collins' free public transport policy has been attacked by the Auckland Ratepayers' Association. Photo / Greg Bowker
Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins' policy of free public transport has come under attack from the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance.
In a full-page advertisement in today's Herald, the lobby group has accused Collins of wanting to cancel essential road improvements for vanity projects, including $2 billion for cycleways, a $785 million cycling and walking bridge and "free" public transport.
Under the headline, "Efeso = Defunded Roads", the alliance outlined a hit list of projects, the Lake Rd, Glenvar Rd Lincoln Rd and Smales Allens Rd upgrades, the Hill St intersection improvement at Warkworth and unsealed road improvements.
Collins, the Manukau councillor who has been endorsed by the Labour and Green parties, has made free public transport his flagship policy.
An upgrade of Lake Rd is one of the roading projects Efeso Collins could scrap, says the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance. Photo / Alex Burton
Last month, he announced a "fully free public transport system" from July 2024 if he wins the mayoralty and expanded public transport. He signalled cancelling road projects and spending on consultants as ways to help fund these projects, but has no detailed plan or costings.
Auckland Transport has told the Herald free public transport would initially cost $100m to fill the funding gap, rising to more than $200m once patronage recovers and could reach $500m by 2030.
Whoever wins the mayoralty will be faced with huge financial challenges, including a budget deficit of $90m to $150m, deferring at least $230m of council projects, a looming budget blowout in the $4.4b City Rail Link and a rescue package for Auckland Transport, which is running out of money to fund public transport at current levels.
Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance spokesman Josh Van Veen said there had not been enough scrutiny of Collins' free public transport policy and where the money would come from, although the obvious source would be roading projects.
Collins described the advertisement as desperate tactics designed to mislead people, saying some of the things in the advertisement are untrue, such as the $2b for cycleways which is still up for discussion.
So far, said Collins, the council has only approved an additional $336m for cycling.
Unsealed road improvements would be cut to pay for free public transport, says the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance. Photo / Richard Robinson
He said roading projects will definitely be looked at in terms of what fits the theme of cutting back on carbon emissions and projects that increase carbon emissions will be "seriously reconsidered".
Van Veen said the alliance will also be running an advertisement attacking the policies of another mayoral candidate, restaurateur Leo Molloy. It would target his policy of a year-long trial of free public transport paid for from the Regional Fuel Tax and a $3b waterfront stadium.
Molloy said his policies of trialling free public transport and building a waterfront stadium stand up to scrutiny and is not bothered by any attacks.
Van Veen said the advertisements are being funded from donations from 27,000 Aucklanders who subscribe to the Auckland Ratepayers' Alliance newsletter.
