In light of Auckland Transport’s announcement regarding removing of kerbside parking, it’s probably worth highlighting Auckland Transport’s (AT’s) current ethos has effectively been to discourage car use in favour of alternative transport modes in order to achieve their various visions and goals, including…

• To make better use of existing road space in favour of higher occupancy vehicles, which at least on the surface sound like a laudable goal. However question the current ambition to retrofit these changes at high cost and high disruption to existing neighbourhoods as opposed to working with Auckland Council to implement and promote high density development along with high capacity transit corridors to new greenfield sites such as Mill Road, Flat Bush, Papakura, Karaka, Ramarama.

• ‘Vision Zero’ – being that… “no deaths are acceptable”, “People make mistakes (behind the wheel)”, “Public Transport is the safest option”. We’re now seeing this in the form of enforcement and the forceful dropping of speed limits to what many may feel are ridiculously low speed limits. Auckland Transport’s ‘‘marketing’ material can be found here however question whether any possible outcome would ever be as rosy as they paint it.

• Climate change – With their parent organisation, Auckland Council, having followed other government departments to declare a “climate emergency” – encouraging a gradual move to carbon-free transport modes by way of promoting Public Transport, Cycling and Walking.

While I am certainly and staunchly in favour of developing and rolling out accessible alternative transport options in Auckland, particularly in areas currently beset with high levels of car dependency, it appears from all intents and purposes in order to achieve the aims as listed in the bullet points above, Auckland Transport have declared all out war against the private motor car and the motoring public. While I can see where AT are trying to head, they’re choosing to run roughshod over people’s current living arrangement and applying the ‘stick’ in the hope of encouraging modal shift by way of making private motor vehicle use such a hassle so much so that Auckland commuters will hopefully shift to other modes such as walking, cycling and public transport.

In effect, we see this in their current and apparent inflexible and dogmatic application of “the law” over car users in the form of liberally handing out bus lanes fines, parking infringements, registrations fines, towing vehicles out from the entrance’s of people’s own driveways, among other punitive action for various offences with swathes of otherwise law abiding people being caught out. It also looks like they are using this heavy handed enforcement approach as both tolling by stealth and stick (encouragement) by stealth since regional tolling had been seen as a politically unpopular idea in light of much of Auckland’s lack of access to viable alternative transport modes.

Regardless, combined with the aforementioned and current paucity of transport options to cater to various household transportation needs, “the stick” as it’s being applied is clearly causing people additional stress in their lives and subsequently causing them to actually turn against Auckland Transport. We are now at a stage where instead of people seeing Auckland Transport as an ally out to improve the lives of Aucklanders, they are (rightly or wrongly) now seen as an overbearing, out of control, and out of touch adversary out to make people’s lives miserable and out to wreck livelihoods.

Within my immediate circle of colleagues, pairs and friends, Auckland Transport’s reputation is already very low and would not be surprised if this same attitude happens to be shared with much of the Auckland public. The only supporters of Auckland Transport’s approach appears to be the likes of Greater Auckland (formerly Transport Blog) who believe such heavy handedness on the part of AT is ultimately for the “greater good” (or at least their so called version of).

We are also seeing more and more people taking their anger out on AT staff so much so that Auckland Transport have had to form a marketing campaign around it, however this is certainly not to say this abusive behaviour from certain members of the public is anyway acceptable.

Perhaps the current public indignation against AT is not assisted by the fact that many people currently do not see alternative transport modes being anwhere in a state to be meeting their family’s transportation needs anytime soon in terms of speed, cost and relative convenience. Auckland Transport, given the disruption they appear intent on causing to people’s livelihoods in order to push through their ideology would do best to properly communicate to the Auckland Public how they plan to address the issue of access to effective and efficient alternative travel choices in order to arrest further decline of their already damaged public image and consequently stop the public from increasingly turning against their vision.

Sure, AT are pitching to affected residents the promise of increased public transport frequency to those newly freed lanes as recompense to the loss of parking outside their homes, but what about public transport access to the rest of Auckland? When will they likely see Public Transport to most parts of Auckland be as convenient, timely, dependable, time efficient as their private vehicle, particularly if going out on family outings? Would there be a family and friends pass to make the use of public transport be as cost competitive to if you had a family group of 4-5 people in a single car?

I would also like to take the opportunity to raise my view surrounding the increasing use of strict liability offenses and suggest that the issuance of infringements should be used as a tool to aid compliance only after adequate public education, advisory and guidance has been rendered and never as a form of steady revenue in which to rely on in addressing any funding shortfall. Governmental departments need to exercise restraint in getting too carried way about “widening the net” as it were and increasing the fine base as excessive deployment of a vast array of infringements means otherwise well meaning people who try to do the right thing are no longer able to go about their lives without the added stress and anxiety of the state coming down on them for an innocent mistake. I refer to an example where Wellington City Council after 18 months pulled their parking enforcement spy car due to becoming corrosive to the council’s reputation and their relationship to the rate paying public.

I am also not in agreement of the current process of trying to retrofit larger new transport initiatives in already established neighbourhoods at this current stage of the cycle and would strongly suggest that Auckland Transport will have more success working with their parent, Auckland Council to roll out High Capacity Transit, Cycling and walking infrastructure in new high density neighbourhoods in the new greenfield sites of the Southern Corridor encompassing Flat Bush, Ormiston, Takanini (Mill Road area) down to Drury, Karaka, and Ramarama as a transitionary step to ending sprawl. Only once those new greenfield areas have been established with high density neighbourhoods and supporting transit systems, then consider gradually working inwards to existing neighbourhoods along high capacity transit corridors to “build up” and gradually draw to an end to our continued sprawl over productive farm land.

The current ambition to rather forcefully change existing neighbourhoods from the onset I feel is backwards and is going to be met with immense resistance as people’s current set living arrangements and livelihoods will be severely impacted not to mention the many unknowns that such retrofits bring up during the course of construction – We’ve seen this with the likes of the City Rail Link where many businesses surrounding the project have gone to the wall financially even prior to COVID-19 hitting as delivery of such projects continue to be delayed.

To close, I would like to caution Auckland Transport on their current approach of strong arming the public to submit (relent) to their vision, particularly in already established neighbourhoods. While I’ve never received any sort of infringement notice from AT personally for anything I’ve done, many of the infringement notices I’ve seen incurred from those within my circle are bordering upon pedantic + dogmatic if not outright ludicrous and will go on to firmly state that with the current situation clearly netting a lot of otherwise law abiding people, something clearly needs to change. This is a sure fire way to get otherwise law abiding people angry fostering an ‘us’ (public) vs ‘them’ (government) image which is totally counter productive in a utilitarian sense. I would implore that Auckland Transport please stop waging war with the general motoring public, Auckland Transport needs the public on their side if they have any hope of seeing their vision progress.