Steven Joyce and Auckland rail projects – a case of ‘Pot Calling the kettle black’?

While it is understandable the Transport Minister Steven Joyce wants to puncture some of the more overblown ‘rail everywhere’ rhetoric of Super Mayor hopefuls, he could give some thought to applying the same sort restraint to himself.

Especially as it becomes increasingly clear his own pet $2 billion Puhoi to Wellsford, ‘holiday highway’ cannot be justified by any of the conventional business case assessments used for these sorts of projects. The all important BCR (benefit to cost ratio) measurement for the Holiday Highway is less than 1 – at best 0.8.  And even this is based on traffic projections that assume the road will not be tolled. A toll road means fewer vehicles which in turn means lower benefits.

The BCR is also based on a claimed current average speed between Puhoi and Wellsford of only 60 kph. Really? Even taking into account the congestion sometimes experienced (usually on long weekends and at holiday times) that seems very low.  If current speed was calculated even a little higher the benefits of the project would accordingly be reduced.As for wider economic benefits these were dismissed as relatively minor in a 2008 study of transport options between Puhoi and Wellsford – yet a year later another study finds them to be a significant part of the argument for this project.

 It makes it difficult to take the Minister’s anti-rail lecture to the Super Mayor candidates completely seriously, given that he won’t apply the same restraints when it comes to his own pet projects.  

The Minister’s position is especially untenable when it becomes clear that problems faced by the Puhoi-Wellsford section of SH1 (choke points and accident danger spots) could largely be fixed at a fraction of the cost. This could be done by upgrading State Highway 1 – along the lines presented to the ARC Transport and Urban Development Committee  by the Campaign for Better Transport last Wednesday – much more cheaply and much more quickly than the Minister’s proposed 38 kilometre long tolled motorway, that won’t even be finished for another 12 years.We have a double-standard here.  While its quite OK for the Minister to push his own Mega Bucks ‘hobby horse’ project – it’s ‘tut tut’ to anyone else especially when it comes to Auckland rail projects. 

Mike Lee with Cr Christine Rose at opening of Morningside Station

In regard to the Auckland rail Mr Joyce doesn’t seem to appreciate that Auckland’s rail network as it stands (apart from doubling the western line) is still essentially the same configuration as it was in 1929 when Auckland ’s population was less than 200,000. While it reassuring that at least Steven Joyce is not rejecting out of hand the 3.5 km CBD Loop  tunnel, he is clearly yet to understand the potential huge benefits in extending  rail 9 km from Onehunga to service Auckland International Airport .   

 Auckland  International Airport is the gateway to the country with over 13 million passenger trips per year, with the airport predicting these numbers to nearly double over the next 15 years.  Also some 12,000 people commute to work at the airport and its immediate surrounds. Finally, let’s not forget the improvements such a line would offer to Mangere commuters.

 The recently opened additional Mangere crossing has already been future-proofed for rail (thanks to pressure from myself and fellow ARC members).

 A study undertaken by Beca for ARTA in 2008 recommended that the preferred rapid transit connection to the airport was a rail loop connecting the airport to the Onehunga Line in the north and the Main Trunk Line in the southeast. The only reason to hesitate in regard to rail to the airport is that we must ensure the CBD Loop is first approved and underway – and that there is funding available.  That won’t be easy – but then again funding doesn’t seem to be an obstacle for the Ministers’ favourite provincial ‘Roads of National Significance’.  

If the Minister could be persuaded to ditch the Holiday Highway and instead pursue the accelerated upgrade of SH1 – there would be a spare billion available for rail projects in the Auckland Region. After all this is where one third of the country lives and Auckland International Airport is the gateway not only to Auckland – but New Zealand.

However I do think the Minister is right about one thing – Mayoral candidates talking big about rail to the North Shore.  As we have just opened the Northshore busway, it would be much more sensible for Super Mayor candidates to focus on meeting present busway customer demands - by expanding the provision of park and ride space available at the bus stations.  That could be done in a matter of months and really improve the convenience for bus lane commuters.