ARTA Pushes For $22bn Transport Spend-Up
March 12th, 2009
Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) has announced a $22bn wish list for Auckland transport projects over the next 20 years to cope with the city’s burgeoning population which is expected to top 2m by 2036. The public transport and roading spending plans are detailed in the draft Auckland Transport Plan (ATP). It includes some previously proposed schemes such a second Auckland harbour crossing and an underground rail loop in the central business district. Crucially though, no mechanisms to fund the spending plans have been identified.
Rail and busway expansion. Dream schemes in ATP include a rail link between Auckland, Manukau and the international airport and an “inland port” at Waimauku, north of Auckland, where containers can be processed for export. It also repeats a call for an underground rail loop through the central business district while a number of new links – rail or busway – are proposed between Henderson and Albany and Botany Downs to Manukau City. In addition, it identifies the need for for an extension of the Northern Busway to Orewa and a third all-freight rail line from Westfield to Papakura.
Business growth driving transport demand. The report notes more than $33bn worth of goods are carried annually on roads within the Auckland region, with freight movements by road expected to double in number over the next 25 years. It sees the region’s economy growing faster than any other in the country over the next 20 years and this is a driving factor behind the need for the city’s transport infrastructure to have such a massive expansion and overhaul. ARTA says this growth means Auckland needs “a world-class transport system.”
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