Jack Tame: Removing Auckland street parking benefits car lovers as well as cyclists, bus passengers

Auckland Transport is proposing to remove parking on busy roads like Lake Rd between Takapuna and Devonport. Photo / Alex Burton

OPINION:

For the past five years, I've lived in a 16th-floor apartment on the Karangahape Ridge, with an amazing view down the guts of K Rd.

There's always something happening on Karangahape Rd. I can see the beautiful people walking their designer dogs or alfresco-ing in the afternoon sun. I can see people driving off in their new vehicles at the Tesla showroom. I can see drunks stumbling about on a Friday night, homeless people chatting to each other, and the clientele at both of the Peaches and Cream stores (It's not who you might expect).

I'm also afforded a unique view of the traffic.

Over the past five years, Karangahape Rd has changed. They've introduced partial bus lanes. They've built bike lanes in both directions. They've restricted parking. And watching from the 16th floor, the effects on the traffic don't take a PhD to decode. They're obvious.

Firstly - and this isn't rocket science!! - buses are far and away the most efficient way to transport a lot of people in the city. When the traffic snarls and slows to a painful crawl, as it often does, I stare down at the cars as they sit there idling. One bus has 10 or 12 times the capacity of a single sedan or hatchback. When it can use the K Rd bus lane, it immediately overtakes the idling vehicles as they wait. Easy.

Secondly, more often than not, the fastest way down K Road is on a bike. I often ride mine along the cycle path and stop at a few places on the way. If there's bad traffic, in the time it takes a crawling car to travel from the Ponsonby Rd intersection to Pitt St, I can dismount my bike to collect a coffee and a heated cinnamon scroll and still beat them there. Happy days.

My third observation from on high is that parking spaces are an excellent way to shut down an entire lane of traffic. It's crazy. It's so inefficient. K Rd has clearways between certain hours, which open up the traffic. When the clearways aren't in place, in order for a handful of cars to park, the entire road has a lane restricted and the traffic often snarls. At 2am on a Wednesday it's not an issue. But at busier times, it often means cars are bumper to bumper for the length of K Rd. It's madness. The convenience of a few is prioritised over the convenience of hundreds or thousands more.

Auckland Transport wants to remove parking spaces for more cycleways and bus lanes. Photo / File

I know how transport changes get people going. Auckland is proposing changes to on-street parking on some of its roads and from some of the initial feedback, you'd worry the world was ending. This is something all of our cities have to consider, but even though the changes concern a tiny minority of roads in Auckland, they're already facing stern opposition.

Smarter lane usage in busy areas is such an obvious, cheap solution to the challenges faced by growing cities in a warmer climate. As our population increases, congestion and productivity won't improve unless we move people more efficiently.

Maybe you can't ride a bike. Maybe you have cargo or kids and the bus is too awkward. Fine. They're not banning cars. They're not banning carpark buildings. You can still drive, find a spot, pay for the time, and walk a few minutes to your destination.

The irony of the transport debate is that the loudest critics of bus lanes, cycle paths, and reduced street parking, are those who will actually benefit the most from the changes. If you are absolutely determined to remain glued to your steering wheel for every journey in the coming decades, it's in the interests of councils and transport authorities to reduce congestion. Take it from the view on the 16th floor. Get with the times.

The full list of affected roads

NORTH AUCKLAND

• Hibiscus Coast Highway
• Matakana Rd (from Sandspit Rd to Green Rd)
• Glenvar Rd
• East Coast Rd (from Carlisle Rd to Glenvar Rd)
• Medallion Dr
• Rosedale Rd (from Bush Rd to Apollo Dr)
• Glenfield Rd (from Pupuke Rd to High Rd)
• Northcote Rd (from Takapuna Golf Club to The Avenue)
• Onewa Rd
• Esmonde Rd
• Lake Rd (from Esmonde Rd to Albert Rd)
• Bayswater Ave

CENTRAL AUCKLAND

• Beaumont St
• Fanshawe St
• Market Pl
• Customs St West
• Lower Hobson St
• Hobson St
• Nelson St
• Wellesley St West
• Wellesley St East
• The Strand
• Tamaki Dr (from The Strand to Ngapipi Rd)
• Symonds St
• Anzac Ave
• Vincent St
• Pitt St
• Grafton Bridge
• Park Rd
• Khyber Pass (from Park Rd to Broadway)
Broadway (from Khyber Pass to Alpers Ave)
• Manukau Rd (from Alpers Ave to Mount Albert Rd)
• College Hill
• Ponsonby Rd
• Great North Rd (from Ponsonby Rd to Crummer Rd)
• Surrey Cres
• Richmond Rd (from Surrey Cres to Parawai Cres)
• Old Mill Rd (from Surrey Cres to West View Rd)
• Garnet Rd (from Old Mill Rd to West End Rd)
• Meola Rd
• Point Chevalier Rd (from Meola Rd to Great North Rd)
• Carrington Rd
• New North Rd (from Morningside Rd to Symonds St)
• New North Rd (from Blockhouse Bay Rd to St Lukes Rd)
• St Lukes Rd (from New North Rd to Morningside Rd)
• New Windsor Rd (from Tiverton Rd to Maioro St)
• Maioro St
• Richardson Rd ( from Owairaka Ave to Maioro St)
• Stoddard Rd (from Maioro St to Sandringham Rd)
• Sandringham Rd
• Owairaka Ave
• Mt Albert Rd (from Owairaka Ave to Sandringham Rd)
• Mt Eden Rd
• Mt Albert Rd (from Mt Eden Rd to Royal Oak Intersection)
• Hillsborough Rd (from Dominion Rd Extension to Mt Albert Rd)

SOUTH/EAST AUCKLAND

• Coronation Rd (from Waterfront Rd to McIntyre Rd)
• Coronation Rd (from Taylor Rd to Walmsley Rd)
• McKenzie Rd
• Bader Dr (from McKenzie Rd to George Bolt Memorial Dr)
• Kirkbridge Rd (from McKenzie Rd to Ascott Rd)
• Jordan Rd
• Atkinson Ave (from Princes St to Great South Rd)
• Ellerslie-Panmure Highway
• Lagoon Drive
• Pakuranga Rd
• Ridge Rd
• Ti Rakau Drive
• Te Iriangi Drive
• Great South Rd (from Te Iriangi Drive to Ronwood Ave)
• Ronwood Ave
• Davies Ave (from Ronwood Ave to Putney Way)
• Murphys Rd ( from Stancombe Rd to Ormiston Rd)
• Redoubt Rd (from Hilltop Rd to Mill Rd)
• Mill Rd
• Cosgrave Rd
• East Tamaki Rd (from Spring Rd to Hills Rd)
• Preston Rd (from East Tamaki Rd to Ormiston Rd)
• Ormiston Rd (from Preston Rd to Jarvis Way)
• Allens Rd
• Smales Rd (from Allens Rd to Sir William Ave)
• Waiuku Rd

WEST AUCKLAND

• St Lukes Rd (from New North Rd to Morningside Rd)
• Great North Rd (from Rosebank Rd to St Jude St)
• St Jude St
• Rosebank Rd (from Mead St to Great North Rd)
• Ash St
• Rata St
• Clark St
• Wolverton St
• Tiverton Rd
• Lincoln Rd