New public transport plan falls well short of Auckland’s climate goals

• A new plan to increase journeys on public transport in Auckland aims for 150 million boardings by 2031.
• This is less than one-third of the 550 million boardings target identified by the council’s Transport Emission Reduction Pathway for 2030.
• TERP aims to cut the city’s transport emissions by 64% in the next seven years, but questions remain over whether it will be implemented.

Auckland’s new public transport plan seeks to increase patronage by 50% in the next eight years, with more low-carbon travel, but falls far short of what the city’s own emissions reduction plan requires.

The Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) has a goal of 150 million boardings by 2031, but the council’s Transport Emission Reduction Pathway (TERP) says a target of 550 million will be needed by 2030.

The RPTP is a statutory plan required to be agreed between the council and transports co-funder the government, and the latest draft iteration from 2023-31 will reignite debate on planning for change that don’t deliver climate action goals.

It concentrates on what is proposed to be funded through known transport sources, and Auckland Transport (AT) is open about it falling well short of TERP – the implementation of which remains uncertain.

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AT said 2000 Aucklanders had aired views considered in creating the draft RPTP which now goes out for formal consultation.

In addition to an overall patronage goal, the draft plan proposes expanding the frequency and reach of services, for example in socially deprived areas lifting proximity to frequent services from 45% to 57%.

The plan has short, medium and long-term goals and includes a fare initiative in which a weekly fare cap would reduce costs for regular users.

It includes most of the known developments such as creating a fleet of electric or hybrid ferries, and for 75% of the bus fleet to be electric by 2031.

Specific changes include ending the existing Gulf Harbour ferry service – the city’s longest, most expensive and least reliable – and replacing it with express bus services around 2028 when the Penlink bypass connects to the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and a new bus station is built.

It also embraces changes that will be needed when major new projects are completed, such as the City Rail Link, around 2026, and the Eastern Busway.

The draft makes no bones about the uncertainty of delivering even its targets, let alone those needed under TERP to cut transport emissions by 64% by 2030.

“Beyond 2024, we don’t have certainty that the government will provide the funding we need to continue operating the system, let alone to deliver all of the improvements required to significantly increase PT use,” it said.

While Auckland Transport is required by statute to finalise RPTP, the bigger debate still to be had is whether or how TERP will be implemented, with AT moving more slowly than councillors had asked.

TERP said in order to meet the 64% emission reduction from transport, changes needed included halving the distances driven, and a steep increase in the share of trips made on bikes or by walking.