Road charges creep closer for congestion-cursed Aucklanders
Wayne Brown is a fan of congestion pricing and National is too. So when will Auckland drivers start paying to use the city's busiest roads?
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, November 17, by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Deal is ‘close’, says Seymour; Many businesses not passing on card surcharge savings, says Consumer NZ; MFAT criticised for removing te reo from documents for incoming minister. But first, would you pay $10 a day to drive to and from central Auckland?
Photo of Auckland’s SH16 by Cate Owen/supplied.
Wayne Brown goes to war against congestion
Of all the things Aucklanders didn’t have on their 2023 bingo cards, mayor Wayne Brown becoming a hero to leftie-urbanist Twitter is likely way up there. But that’s where we’re at with Brown’s vocal support for congestion pricing – or “time of use” charges, as he prefers to call them – on some of Auckland’s roads. He wants to see charges of $3.50 and $5 a trip for peak-time travel on SH1 between Penrose and Greenlane and SH16 between Lincoln Road and Te Atatū Road, and on Thursday the council’s transport committee voted to proceed. The removal of the regional fuel tax, a National election campaign policy which the mayor says would leave a close to $2 billion hole in the council’s budget makes congestion pricing a pressing concern, he says. When asked by Heather du Plessis Allan about the financial impact on parents, Brown replied that “it isn’t the law you have to get to school in a BMW”, later adding that there was no point building new roads when the existing ones were “empty most of the time”. It was all music to the ears of many on Twitter. Said one: “To the anon person in the ear of Wayne Brown on urbanist policies: I see you and honour you for your great work.”
Equity a key issue
The problems of BMW-driving parents aside, introducing time-of-use charges would bring with them significant equity challenges. Issues raised by councillors yesterday included the effects on disabled people and those on lower-paid jobs without the ability to negotiate time of work or to work from home. Brown says low-income earners, Gold Card holders and motorcycles could be considered for exemptions or discounts. A Helen Clark Foundation report on the fair implementation of congestion pricing – which encompasses both “always on” and time-of-use charges – last year voiced support for its introduction in the Auckland CBD but warned that “a charge outside the CBD is unlikely to be justified due to the lack of public and active transport alternatives”.
An idea with bipartisan support
One of the more surprising aspects of congestion charging is the extent of its bipartisan appeal. National is broadly supportive, though transport spokesperson Simeon Brown has said it could take two to three years to introduce congestion charging through an act of parliament – a much longer timeframe than Mayor Brown is proposing. Northern Infrastructure Forum chair Simon Bridges is a big fan (paywalled) and even Kiwiblog’s David Farrar says they’re a fairer form of user pays than a broad-base road user charge. “It is the peak time congestion that requires additional roads and lanes, so motorists should pay more for using a road at peak times.” Despite the bipartisan support, the Labour government chose not to proceed with the legislation, Oliver Lewis reports Businessdesk (paywalled). The draft legislation could have been introduced into the house by April 2023, according to a timeline released to Lewis under an OIA, but both Michael Wood and his successor David Parker decided against it.
Tauranga also considering congestion pricing
Auckland is not the only city grappling with the congestion charging question. Tauranga council is considering them as a replacement for current toll roads around the city, in a scheme that could see motorists pay $3 for a peak-hour 6km trip from Mount Maunganui to the city centre. In one potential scenario being considered, commuting between the CBD and Pāpāmoa in peak hours five days a week could cost more than $2400 a year. The Herald’s Kiri Gillespie notes that residents of some outer Tauranga suburbs do not have a local supermarket and would have no non-priced route to one in town. For all their drawbacks, road charges are absolutely necessary, a Waka Kotahi staff member told city commissioners this week. Without them, future Tauranga residents would experience “economic catastrophe and terrible wellbeing”, he said.
The Spinoff and Boring Oat Milk with support from Coffee Supreme proudly present Boring Breakfast, season 2.
Join us at The Spinoff's Morningside space for the return of Boring Breakfast, where host Sophie Gilmour will welcome guests Henry Onesemo (Tala) and Benjamin Eyres (Beabea's Bakery) to talk about their personal kai journeys, their buzzy new openings, the lessons they've learned from the past few years in hospo, and what they're excited about in the sector's near future.
RSVP to commercial@thespinoff.co.nz by the 17th November.
Deal is ‘close’, says Seymour
Coalition talks are entering a second day at the Cordis Hotel in Auckland, and a deal now appears to be close – although what “close” means in this context could be mere hours or many more days. What we do know is that Chris Luxon, David Seymour, Winston Peters and their respective teams are going through proposals line by line. Seymour says the role of deputy PM role is now being discussed, but Peters says discussions of the make-up of Cabinet and other ministerial positions would have to wait until the remaining policy differences were resolved. While Peters denied that he’d forced the other two leaders to race after him to Auckland as a power play, “it’s understood Peters was underwhelmed with what National produced last week” and has delivered a detailed response in return, The Post’s Thomas Manch reports (paywalled). Meanwhile a Talbot Mills poll has found that 60% of New Zealanders think it is taking too long to form the next government.
Many businesses not passing on card surcharge savings
Too many New Zealanders are paying extortionate credit and contactless debit card surcharges, despite a law change a year ago aimed at bringing them down, according to Consumer NZ. The law is on track to save businesses $105 million a year and should have meant lower surcharges for customers too, RNZ reports, yet many consumers are still paying fees higher than the expected limit of 1% for contactless or 2.5% for credit cards. Consumer says many businesses are failing to pass on the full saving post law change, but Ticketek is an apparent repeat offender, with customers being hit with 3.5% credit card processing fees. Consumer says some parking apps are also reportedly charging in excess of 8%.
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The state of the economy in Aotearoa with Steve Jurkovich
With cost of living forefront on people’s minds, what are banks doing to alleviate pressure on the consumer? In this week’s When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey sits down with Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich to discuss how the economy is travelling, the pressures consumers are dealing with, and the regulatory adjustments he hopes to see in 2024.
Click and Collect
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade under fire for removing te reo from some briefing papers received by the incoming minister, who is yet to be named.
Supie owed $2.1m to more than 4000 creditors at the time of its collapse.
Director James Cameron is becoming a New Zealand citizen.
Congratulations to Newsroom on its smart new look.
Joel MacManus ranks 13 of Wellington’s laneways, from worst to best. Shanti Mathias examines the promise of convenience made by new rapid delivery company Milkrun – and its costs. Hera Lindsay Bird advises someone who feels under-valued by friends who never reach out. Briefs Factory is more than burlesque, creator Fez Faanana tells Sam Brooks. Alice Neville remembers when New Zealand lost its collective shit over chocolate milk.
Sporting snippets
It’s Australia vs India in the Cricket World Cup final after the Aussies beat South Africa by three wickets.
The Breakers have defeated the Tasmania JackJumpers 97-92 in their first away victory of the ANBL season.
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