Dialogue: Congestion tax would buy time to get roads in order

To relieve Auckland's growing traffic chaos, new roads and better public transport are obviously essential, but they will take time, says DAVID THORNTON*.

There is no such thing as a free lunch - or a free road. Someone has to pay. The Government's transport package has certainly produced a wide variety of opinions, including some solid opposition to the additional tax (excise duty) on petrol.

But if we are to relieve Auckland's growing traffic congestion, new roads and better public transport are obviously essential - and they cost money. Indeed, this has been the catchcry for many years. "Give us the money," the local councils have said, "and we will fix Auckland's problems."

The late Philip Warren was a great champion of the cause with the "Get Auckland Moving" campaign, and everyone involved always pointed to the need for more central government funding.

Well, the funding appears to be here, or at least the mechanisms have been put in place to provide additional funds.

There are cries from some parts of the country that provincial New Zealand should not bear the taxation burden of sorting out Auckland's roading. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton claims that the "regional development" part of the package will bring huge benefits to the rural sector, especially the forestry industry.

While that might be true, the rest of New Zealand will still baulk at subsidising Auckland even though, as some claim, Auckland has been subsidising the rest of the country for many years.

Another part of the package is also meeting opposition. The North Shore City Council has voted to oppose the introduction of tolls on the proposed link to the west, State Highway 18. The council still supports the general thrust of road tolls - just not in its backyard it would seem.

But will money alone solve the problem? And, if so, when?

The Government suggests that completing Auckland's motorway network will take several years.

Mayor John Banks claims that it will all be done by 2007.

Civil engineering sources claim there is sufficient capacity in the industry to build all these new roads by concentrating construction within the Auckland region. There may be some heated discussion about that from rural New Zealand.

However long it takes, congestion is almost daily increasing at an alarming rate.

There are still those who claim that building new roads will simply encourage more cars to use them.

Perhaps that is a justifiable position when the Land Transport Safety Authority has just released figures showing huge increases in the numbers of new and imported cars and trucks.

And, ominously, the Government admits that the new taxes and other measures may still not produce enough money to deal with the congestion problem. Nor is there any provision for another harbour crossing in the central Auckland area.

What is surprising is that the Government has not taken strong measures to deter some existing road-users to reduce the number of trips they make - and to encourage a substantial and permanent switch to public transport.

We all know that the real problem is that there are too many cars on the road at peak hours and, increasingly, at weekends in some suburban areas.

What solutions are possible to limit congestion now while we wait for the new roads and an efficient and popular public transport service? For example, where are proposals for the often hinted at "congestion" tax?

The Mayor of London has taken the bold step of slapping a $17 a day pre-paid tax on vehicles entering a defined area of central London from Monday to Friday.

The proposal is due to be implemented on February 17 next year and will affect all vehicles except emergency services and some key health workers.

An additional 200 buses will be put into service to bolster the public transport system.

The proposed regime, which will cost $2 billion to set up, includes 230 strategically placed cameras that read car number-plates. These are then checked against a central database and, if the daily fee has not been prepaid, fines of more than $400 will be charged.

It is estimated the scheme will produce revenue of between $450 million and $700 million a year.

Congestion is expected to be reduced by 10 to 15 per cent and traffic delays to fall by 20 to 30 per cent. Other British cities are watching closely and may follow the London scheme.

How would Aucklanders react to that sort of scheme? Certainly the rest of the country could not scream about it. Aucklanders and Auckland visitors would be paying to solve Auckland's problems.

A congestion tax scheme based on the London model could be in place in as little as 18 months.

This would buy time while all the other proposals for new roads and an expanded and efficient public transport system were carried out.

And perhaps there would prove to be no need for that extra petrol tax after all.

* David Thornton is a former member of the North Shore City Council, the Auckland regional land transport committee and the Greater London Council.