Issue #942

by Alexa Forbes, Otago Regional Councillor

To get the focus of a document, you can count the mentions of key words. The coalition’s 43-page Draft Government Policy Statement Land Transport (GPS) is quickly understood this way: ‘Pothole’ 24 mentions, ‘Toll’ 23, ‘Roads of National Significance’ 22, ‘Bus’ 10, ‘Climate’ two. ‘Queenstown’ two, ‘Otago’ one. ‘Ashburton’ one.

This GPS comes from an ideological position that considers transport as key to underpinning economic growth. It expects road building to enable housing development, and leaves the so far failed (there’s promises to beef it up) Emissions Trading Scheme to deal with climate change. It supposes that more and better roads combined with congestion charging will relieve the issues of getting across our narrowest isthmus, over our high hills and along our great length. It assumes that private money will want to invest in these solutions and that nothing much is needed in the Southern motu (apart from a bridge in Ashburton – fair call, that need is desperate).

The direction has swung from moving people out of cars and climate responsiveness towards driving economic growth, value, maintenance and user pays. That will be comforting to some. It’s a familiar rhetoric. New roads, old ones to be repaired (all with fewer cones – ‘expenditure on temporary traffic management’ to be reduced), and we’ll apparently all be able to drive wherever we want whenever we want covering our emissions with a little more fuel tax.

This undermines six years of work at Otago Regional Council. It’s the road to nowhere for walkers, bikers and anyone who doesn’t drive. Aspirations of connectivity, inter-regional public transport and trails will not be supported by this GPS. The costs for local ratepayers, car drivers and bus users is heavy. No funding for new bus routes but there are ‘higher contributions’. That is, higher fares, rate hikes, new fuel taxes, higher rego fees, bigger fines and congestion charging and tolls.

Walking/cycling budgets are slashed. Highway funding will no longer include funds for a footpath or cycleway alongside. There will only be investment in walking and cycling where “there is clear benefit for increasing economic growth...” and lots of people are already using the route. Waka Kotahi has to do more while finding 7.5% in savings. Police have a list of new tasks. Strict budgeting is called for.

Opportunities? Maybe in the mention of dynamic lanes (great idea for buses), talk of ‘demand management’ and that Waka Kotahi must create a more efficient business case process (hallelujah!). And maybe the mysterious ‘Queenstown Package’?

There’s plenty of time travel, back to an old century and old solutions. It’s a draft, let them know your thoughts.