Phil
GOFF

Auckland Issues Spokeserson
23 January 2015 MEDIA STATEMENT

Light rail proposal must be taken seriously

Auckland Transport is right to raise Light Rail as part of the solution to Auckland’s traffic congestion and the proposal needs to be taken seriously, says Labour’s Auckland Issues spokesperson, Phil Goff.

“Unless radical changes are made, Auckland faces traffic gridlock with its population estimated to grow by another quarter of a million in the next 10 years”, Phil Goff says.

“Our motorways are already locked up during peak hours. The Ministry of Transport reported in its briefing to the new Minister in December that, ‘congestion was forecast to increase significantly and increasingly spread throughout the working day affecting the majority of trips taken on the network’.

“The City Rail Link and upgraded services are critical to an effective transport system in Auckland. However these will not help those areas especially in the Central Isthmus not served by heavy rail.

“Ironically the situation is a back-to-the-future proposal, restoring light rail on many of the old tram routes short-sightedly destroyed in 1956.

“Light rail can carry two to three times more people per hour than buses and at faster speeds. It causes significantly less pollution.

“Intensification of population within Auckland must be preceded by new infrastructure capable of coping with the pressure growth will put on services. Across from my electorate office, for example, the development of the Three Kings Quarry site will add 3000 new residents in just a small area putting an additional 2000 cars on the road”, Phil Goff said.

“The real question is not the need for light rail but rather its as yet unidentified cost and how this cost would be met. We need information on that urgently for a coherent debate on the proposal to take place.

“What we already know is that Auckland City’s vision of becoming the world’s most liveable city cannot be achieved without a radically improved public transport system. That relies on increasing investment in transport infrastructure, not cutting it back”, Phil Goff said.

© Scoop Media