Friday 6 September 2024

Auckland Transport (AT) has delivered on 18 of 19 Statement of Intent (SOI) targets agreed by Auckland Council for the 2023/2024 year. These targets include maintaining travel times, improving public transport reliability, road safety and AT’s carbon emissions.

This is a key highlight of our 2023/2024 Annual Report, which is released today.

After six months in the role of AT Board Chair, Richard Leggat says that over the past year there has been a huge amount of change in the organisation and the political landscape.

“Reading the Annual Report reinforced to me just how much AT has delivered in the face of wider social and economic changes and challenges,” he says.

The one target AT did not meet this year was that AT listens and responds to Aucklanders. Mr Leggat says this is a work in progress and a big focus for AT.

“AT is focused on getting the basics right and regaining the trust and confidence of Aucklanders by making simple, practical changes.”

AT has introduced some significant cost-saving measures this year, Mr Leggat says. This has included an organisational redesign to better serve the needs of Aucklanders and the removal of 2,600 redundant road cones, signs and sandbags from the network at savings of approximately $1.3 million.

Over a billion dollars was invested into making progress on practical things that make a difference for Aucklanders. Delivery highlights for the year include:

• Resurfacing 407kms of sealed roads.
• Constructing 46kms of new roads.
• AT has now repaired 564 of the 821 significantly flood-damaged sites.
• AT delivered their biggest capital programme ever, with $1.043 billion of direct capital budget invested.

2023/24 was also a year of public transport patronage returning towards pre-covid levels.

“Public transport trips in Auckland increased by 22%, from 71 million trips last year to 87 million trips this year”, says Mr Leggat.

This comes after AT:

• Recruited 578 bus drivers by August 2023, ending Auckland’s bus driver shortage and improving reliability for customers.
• Launched the Western Express bus service, which has already had over 500,000 passenger trips.
• Added 90 new electric buses to the existing fleet, meaning Auckland now has the most electric buses in Australasia.
• Reached 40 frequent public transport routes, compared to just nine in 2016.
• Fitted 30 new intersections with bus booster technology, enabling late-running buses to get green lights.

Aucklanders have told AT and Auckland Council their priorities are public transport and reducing congestion.

“We understand that and are committed to making it easier to move around Auckland,” says Mr Leggat.

Over the next financial year, AT plans to:

• Continue eliminating redundant road cones
• Make better use of road space
• Give Aucklanders more ways to pay with contactless payments
• Fix more potholes and reseal more roads
• Bring in 20 new electric trains
• Prepare for City Rail Link by testing new trains and train lines
• Continue progress on the Eastern Busway
• Listen and respond to what Aucklanders are saying

Auckland Transport’s full annual report for 2023/2024 can be viewed here.

About Auckland Transport (AT):

AT’s mission is to care for, enable and deliver an effective, efficient and safe transport system that contributes to a more thriving and sustainable Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and unlocks our potential as a city.

We do this by listening and responding to needs of our customers and communities, bringing players together to take a whole of system view and putting people and places at the heart of how we design and deliver our transport system.

Auckland Transport works to the direction of Auckland Council and central Government through a number of policies and long-term plans to guide the way the transport system is developed. This helps keep us on track and determines our funding priorities.

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