Generation Zero Got a Mention

And

The Roads are Staying

I caught on Twitter that Mayor Len Brown was doing an interview with Radio Live over the lunch break. It is a very long interview covering an array of topics but the one that caught my attention the most was on transport.

We know three things:

1. 2015-2025 Integrated Transport Program comes out for submissions later this year
2. We have a current $15 billion funding gap for the 2012-2022 ITP owing to the massive road-fest in that program
3. Generation Zero along with Transport Blog are strongly advocating for the Congestion Free Network which as they claim costs less than the current ITP and actually gets Auckland moving (the current ITP won’t)

Cue this piece from Radio Live today (http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Audio.aspx) which made think “oh boy.” To get the piece go to that Radio Live audio link, select Monday 20th January, then select the 12:30pm line on the scrolling menu, wait until 4:04 mark where the Mayor talks about Generation Zero and the ITP.

It would appear from that snippet that Generation Zero and Transport Blog are going to be facing an interesting debate when it comes to the 2015-2025 Integrated Transport Program. The Mayor does support some aspects of what Generation Zero and Transport Blog are pushing like the City Rail Link. But when it comes to the motorways and roading side of the ITP (subsequently leading to the funding issue) this is where sparks could fly. In short the Mayor has said the roading projects remain and (this was a stretch) that Generation Zero had taken any new roading project off the table. The Mayor went on further saying this was not tenable and effectively even with all the public and active transport investment, that mode usage would only move from 10% current to approximately 15% – leaving 85% by car. Also remember the population is growing to volume also on both modes increases as well.

The Radio Live portal:

It seems rather underwhelming what the Mayor said when it came to transport investment. I wonder if the Councillors have other ideas and could force a change of tact with the ITP? Will have to wait and see I suppose, but least we know what we are up against.