It is all very well for Basil Sharp (NZ Herald, March 10) to compare New Zealand to other countries as far as car use is concerned. Yes, we can make car ownership expensive but first we have to put a transport system in place that actually works.
In Singapore, the transport system is second to none. It is cheap and efficient. If you miss one underground train, the next will be there in less than five minutes. Of course, population plays its part in this.
New Zealand has a very different, low-density housing system and this makes public transport more difficult.
We do already pay to use the road, that's why petrol is so expensive.
Geoffrey Slack, One Tree Hill.
Paid in full
We are taxed heavily on every litre of fuel we buy and recent increases targeted specifically at Auckland motorists are supposed to promote and provide alternative modes of transport. Not exactly free.
The network has always been provided by and paid for the motoring public. If diesel road user charges is not a targeted tax - what is?
The problem is that this revenue has been collected for decades and has not been used for the purposes intended. The Auckland motorist has paid for another harbour crossing, bike lanes and the like for years but the money has been siphoned off for other projects.
Rather than berating Auckland motorists for using the infrastructure that they have (and continue) paying for and the pollution their choices create, I suggest that an alternative view would be to look at the policies of the Auckland Council represented by Auckland Transport. This organisation actively restricts and hinders the movement of road traffic throughout Auckland, particularly within the CBD.
If there is real concern regarding air pollution a policy of keeping traffic moving efficiently should be their first priority; clearly it isn't. As a consequence fuel and time is wasted every day by commuters who often don't have other practical options.
Quentin Miller, Te Atatū South.
Federation of sails
The lessons coming out of Taiwan and Japan, with much bigger populations than New Zealand, is that their cities were more efficient at putting bubbles around clusters thus avoiding lockdowns and mass testing, with very little disruption to businesses.
Auckland, more than any other, has suffered from not instigating such bubbles, with all clusters only appearing on the south side of the Harbour Bridge - the Papatoetoe cluster being the prime example.
This - and, on many occasions, housing and roading being others - would indicate decisions being made in Wellington by politicians predominantly who don't live in Auckland don't understand the regional differences and associated problems that go with them.
More than ever, it is further proof that Auckland needs to have its own federal government in which crucial decisions on housing, pandemics, tsunamis, health and transport are made for Aucklanders and by Aucklanders.
Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Unfinished business
Contributor P. Monk (NZ Herald, March 11th) suggests social disparity prevails due to, "Rogernomics which is unfortunately alive and kicking today".
We should instead reflect, when Labour secured the treasury benches in 1984, New Zealand was "broke", the culmination of the Muldoon era, a country resembling a failed command economy from the Soviet era.
The necessary deregulation proved our salvation and is not pertinent to the social issues prevailing today. It has been recognised that social reforms of the Lange administration were never completed, a matter still unattended to this day.
P. J. Edmondson, Tauranga.
Spoken fore
Occasional letters criticising the accuracy of subtitles on television strike me as unwarranted, uninformed and unkind.
Some people expect subtitlers to be experts in a wide range of subjects and to work with pinpoint accuracy even when they are transcribing fast speech above background noise on live broadcasts.
In the late 1990s when I did subtitles for TVNZ live events were rarely subtitled. How lucky we are today. As I now need subtitles to "hear" television, I got a bit weepy with joy when they appeared on Breakfast and transformed my weekday mornings.
Armchair critics who are speedy typists might like to have a go at, say, subtitling an America's Cup race. Turn off the subtitles, turn up the volume and go for it on your laptop. You'll find it harder than you expected. The hearing impaired are blessed to have this excellent service.
Rae Roadley, Maungaturoto.
Under arrest
The Police Commissioner pushes back and defends his Force's current kinder-gentler policies for managing crime, (NZ Herald, March 11). His views must be tested and the only way to see if he is right, is to commission two independent and professionally designed surveys.
One survey should be of the population at large, the other of his work force, who - it is reported - are very divided on his current softly-softly policing strategies.
It must not just be assumed that his political masters and their soft on crime posture has the public's support.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Snail rail
Your correspondent Rhys Morgan (NZ Herald, March 10) makes noteworthy observations about the southern line train service.
Unlike the other suburban trains, those providing the Papakura-Pukekohe shuttle are diesel.
Their acceleration feels sluggish compared with the electric trains.
Chris Kiwi, Mt Albert.
Tsunami recalled
Jane Weir (NZ Herald, March 11) says she does not recall a tsunami hitting New Zealand in the past 75 years.
I recall one which hit the upper east coast of the North Island in 1960, when I was 8 years old, caused by an earthquake in Chile. A statement by a Mr Parsons as to what happened in Whitianga was attached to a government report.
He said that the tide surged into Mercury Bay in the middle of the night. The Whitianga Wharf was covered by a metre or so of water, as was a car and water surged around the streets of Whitianga. The tide receded very quickly only for the cycle to repeat.
Water must've completely receded from Mercury Bay because the wreck of HMS Buffalo, a coastal trader sunk in the 1840s, was exposed.
Parsons' statement confirms that a local character Alf Simpson hopped on his bulldozer and drove out to the wreck.
Alf hooked up the wreck to his bulldozer and he dragged a big part of it back to town before the water returned. What he recovered is now, or was, exhibited in the Whitianga museum. They don't breed them like that nowadays.
Geoff Jenkin, Remuera.
Short & sweet
On te reo
There are three New Zealand-recognised languages - Te Reo, English and sign language. I suggest Radio NZ use sign language. That'll make everybody happy. J Spencer, Pukekohe.
On Erebus
What's wrong with the Erebus memorial at Waikumete Cemetery? It could be extended to include all people who lost their lives in the tragedy, rather than just those victims not able to be identified. L Harvey, Titirangi.
On royals
We should be careful not to confuse the Royal Family with The Royal Household. It seemed to me the problems lie mostly with the royal aides and advisers who comprise the Royal Household. Alan Milton, Cambridge.
Millionaire tells billionaire she no longer likes her in-laws. Samantha Cunningham, Henderson.
Just when the world had hopefully rid itself of Donald Trump, another pesky American pops up with an insatiable appetite for notoriety and headlines. Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
Best of British to the Duke of Stockholm syndrome and his captor. Mike Wagg, Freemans Bay.
On anthem
Could we just possibly can the national anthem for a wee time and use Thunderclap Newman's Something in the Air? Perfecto. Justine Adams, Ōhope Beach.
On work
There are 314,000 working-age people on the dole and we can't get apple pickers. Unbelievable. Peter Reekie, Whangamatā.
