Yet the Prime Minister insists that rail patronage must double before the Government commits to funding the City Rail Link, a concept that does not apply to the multi-billion dollar Roads of National Significance.

Construction of the CRL and three new inner city stations will result in far more demand for rail travel than currently. For instance, a trip from New Lynn to the new mid-town Aotea Station will take just 23 minutes at peak time – faster than a car journey and much faster than the current journey via public transport, which takes around 45 minutes. Across the entire network, capacity and frequency will at least double, benefiting all rail users and not just those employed in the CBD.

Delaying the CRL until 2020 acts as a handbrake to Auckland’s growing economy, and will be more expensive than making a start now. No other option offers better value for money. It is time for the Government to accept this and be part of the solution.

In opening a fourth motorway lane between Newmarket and Greenlane, the New Zealand Transport Agency claims benefits of over a million dollars week to the Auckland economy, brought about by peak hour journey time savings of up to five minutes.

It is difficult to understand how this claimed economic benefit is calculated. No commuter using this section of motorway at peak times is likely to arrive at work any earlier or leave work any later – workers travel on their own time, not their employers. For a while they may enjoy an extra five minutes in bed or an extra bowl of cornflakes, but this is unlikely to add up to a million a week for Auckland’s economy.

Courier and freight companies that utilise this section of road more frequently at peak times may enjoy some cost savings, but these would hardly add up to $1m a week either.

The NZTA’s reasoning appears seriously flawed, which is a concern given the billions currently being allocated by central Government to motorway projects, while petrol prices soar to record levels.

On the otherhand, if NZTA want to use this type of economic evaluation, then the CBD rail tunnel must be worth tens of millions a week, since a single railway line can carry 10x more than a single motorway lane in an hour at peak. The CBD rail tunnel will also save more than 5 minutes at peak for Western Line passengers, who can also be productive on their mobile phones at the same time, checking emails and texts.

A new analysis of commuting patterns, published yesterday by Statistics NZ, shows that the proportion taking the car to work in the Auckland region rose from 78.4 per cent in 1996 to 78.6 per cent in 2001 and 78.8 per cent in the last Census, in 2006.

Public transport’s share rose in the same period from 6.1 per cent to 6.3 per cent and then 6.4 per cent.

There were slight reductions in the numbers riding bikes and motorbikes, and the number walking to work fell and then rose slightly to end the decade slightly below where they started.

Auckland’s public transport share was puny compared with 13.4 per cent in Wellington, although still slightly better than Christchurch’s 4 per cent.

Well, so what do we really have here? Some three year old statistics that someone at Stats NZ has randomly decided to release to the media gets thrown in as  something new. Of course, this kind of data is pretty depressing from the perspective of a public transport advocate, although it’s not really surprising as Auckland’s public transport rennaisance has been particularly significant in the three years since 2006.

Maybe the Herald could undertake some research to see if things have change since 2006? ARTA public transport patronage data certainly suggests there has been a significant change – with public transport ridership  at its highest level in decades. Meanwhile, NZTA data suggests that the number of people driving along our state highways has been significantly declining in recent years too. I guess that would be too much work though, it’s easier to write up an article from a media release based on statistics that are three years out of date.

Fortunately, the article actually does go on to provide us with some meaningful information – about the important relationship between employment density and public transport use. The general rule is that the more your employment is centralised (either in the CBD or in various activity nodes) the easier it is for people to use public transport.  This is further detailed:

Transport consultant Barry Mein said the dominance of the car reflected a continued dispersal of Auckland’s new jobs. The traditional central business district (CBD) still accounts for a big and growing share of all jobs in the Wellington region, up from 35 per cent in 1996 to 36.5 per cent a decade later.

“Areas with good public transport do have strong CBDs internationally, because traditionally the transport systems were centred on their CBDs.”

In Christchurch the CBD’s share fell from 25.3 per cent to 22 per cent, but remained strong.

But in Auckland, even in 1996, only 12.6 per cent of the region’s jobs were in the CBD, defined as the area between the central motorway loop and the harbour. By 2006, that proportion was down to 11.7 per cent.

“The number of employees in the CBD was about 50,000 in the 1950s and it’s still only about 70,000 now. For a number of years it didn’t grow much at all, whereas the total regional employment was growing substantially,” Mr Mein said.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying “oh well Auckland’s employment is decentralised, public transport will never work here (which seems to be what the general tone of the article is hinting at). However, I interpret this as actually meaning that there is a very strong link between land-use policy and public transport outcomes – so if we want to get more people using public transport then our land-use policies need to focus on concentrating employment into the CBD and other ‘hubs’ around the city. There are many identified employment hubs around Auckland: the CBD, North Harbour/Albany, East Tamaki, Mt Wellington/Penrose, Manukau City/Wiri, Newmarket/Grafton and Takapuna/Westlake. However, two-thirds of the jobs in the Auckland region are not located in any of these employment hubs – a quite incredible figure!

Clearly, if Auckland is to move away from its severe auto-dependency then we will need to focus employment around hubs that can be easily accessed by public transport – in particular the CBD. Fortunately, the regional council is heading in the right direction on that front.

But they scorn the efforts of the GetAcross campaign.

The “Getacross Campaign” is planning to mark the anniversary with an unauthorised march and cycle crossing of the bridge on Sunday, May 24. It believes that a big turnout will help its case for walking and cycle ways to be added to the bridge’s flanks. It would prove nothing of the kind.

And John Roughan must have written it:

The organisers say they will not be celebrating the bridge’s presence as they see it as a barrier to reducing Aucklanders’ reliance on cars. Buses, of course, have been using the bridge for as long as cars.The amenity cannot be blamed for the fact that most people plainly prefer the convenience and independence of personal transport.

Actually most people don’t have any choice but to use their car.  The protest march is about promoting choice – the freedom to walk or bike around Auckland should be a basic right.  Get on your boots!  See you there, Sunday 24th May, 9:00am at Pt Erin.