Public transport lobby group Campaign for Better Transport is calling for all uncommitted motorway projects to be put on hold indefinitely if the price of oil reaches $US150 a barrel. It wants the funds diverted to increasing the capacity of transport modes which aren’t reliant on cheap oil. The group says a number of motorway widening projects are being built on the assumptions of future demand growth, and petrol prices will not increase further. “Petrol prices are already reaching levels where people are driving less and switching to alternative forms of transport. We don’t need extra motorway capacity - we need to fund alternatives like electric rail and networks which support bicycles, scooters and low power vehicles, as well as pedestrians.” says Campaign for Better Transport spokesman, Cameron Pitches.

Future-Proofing Ignored. Motorway expansion projects like the $250m second Manukau Harbour Crossing and the $2bn Waterview extension in Auckland were conceived when transport planners relied on a long term oil price of $35 a barrel, points out Pitches. “Now oil is $100 a barrel more than predicted, I think it is time to reassess transport projects predicated on cheap oil.” He says present funding priorities to road projects does nothing to help offset the future impact of any further increases in the price of oil. “We know oil exports from producer nations dropped by a million barrels a day in 2007. We know reputable firms like Goldman Sachs are picking $200 a barrel within 24 months,” says Pitches.

QUOTABLE: “Billions of dollars of motorways, which are totally dependent on cheap oil to be viable, are guaranteed funding until 2011. This is totally nuts.” - Cameron Pitches

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