3 AUGUST 2016

Proceed with caution on congestion charging – AA Members

Auckland AA Members open to the idea of congestion charging, but they are not yet ready to sign up to it.

That’s the main finding of a new survey of Auckland AA Members, released following recent calls by the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) for a form of congestion charging to be considered in Auckland at some stage in the future.

Close to two-thirds of the survey’s 1300 respondents said that they were open to congestion charging – encouraging changes to commuting habits by charging people extra to drive on congested roads – either now or in the future.

AA spokesman Barney Irvine says that, once explained, people get the principles behind congestion charging.

“AA Members recognise that dealing with Auckland’s congestion problems will take some pretty bold approaches, and some collective changes to how people use transport.”

But that is counter-balanced by concerns about fairness.

“Our Members are also really worried about the impact that any congestion charges would have on poorer households, and on people who have no choice about when, how and where they travel.”

He says that there is still strong resistance to the idea of paying tolls on existing roads, even though these would be a necessary feature of any congestion charging scheme.

This scepticism shows just how complex and controversial congestion charging is, says Mr Irvine, and the AA supports the incremental approach put forward by ATAP.

“Where congestion charging – and any form of road pricing – has worked around the world, there’s typically been a long process to develop public awareness and understanding first,” he says. “Until we have that here, it’s too early to introduce any actual new charging schemes.”

Mr Irvine says that much more work will need to be done to show the Auckland public whether and how congestion charging could work in the real world, and a big part of that would be demonstrating clear benefits.

“That means improved driving times for people who pay new charges,” he says. “Paying more to sit in the same traffic jams is no one’s idea of a liveable city.”

Motorists would also need to see big improvements in public transport before accepting a new charging scheme, he says.

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