Auckland could benefit from congestion charges, if done well, but a lot could go wrong if realistic alternatives to driving to work are not available, an expert says.
By Torika Tokalau of Local Democracy Reporting
The Land Transport Management (Time-of-Use-Charging) amendment bill to bring in congestion charges passed its final reading in Parliament last November.
The Government has already signalled Auckland Council will be the first local authority likely to have the charge, although the council said it was still investigating and there would be public engagement before anything was introduced.
Aimed at tackling congestion, and improving travel times on New Zealand’s busiest roads, the scheme could charge drivers a toll at busy times to enter a downtown area, or just target busy roads and corridors.
Quantitative geographer expert and University of Auckland lecturer Dr Hyesop Shin believes if done well, congestion charges could encourage more people to take public transport, scooter or walk to work.
Shin, who is conducting an independent study on the potential impacts of different charging schemes, said the new legislation had the potential to reduce vehicle use, traffic jams, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
“However, congestion charges could increase emissions, if people take detours and end up driving longer distances to avoid toll points,” he said.
“To avoid this, better public transport and active transport pathways need to be available, so people have realistic alternatives to driving.”
His team completed a study of Auckland’s traffic, and how it might change under a charging option, using a cordon around the central business district.
Computer modelling suggests if the cordon around the city centre is imposed, some drivers will take longer routes to avoid paying.
“It could create new bottlenecks, increase noise and emissions in local neighbourhoods, and push traffic onto roads that haven’t been designed for heavy traffic.
“The council will need to monitor areas near toll points to make sure diversion hotspots aren’t having harmful impacts on people’s health, through air pollution and noise in residential areas or near schools.”
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown wants a peak hour payment of up to $5 on two choked stretches of city motorway (Source: Breakfast)
The study found travel to the Auckland city centre took 50% longer at peak times on Tuesday to Thursday mornings and evenings, with Monday and Friday’s showing fewer cars on roads.
More vehicles were hitting the roads on rainy winter days, adding to traffic jams.
Most morning peak traffic came from suburbs immediately surrounding the city centre, like Grey Lynn, Mount Eden and Remuera.
Shin said residents in these neighbourhoods travel a fairly short distance into the city centre, but create severe traffic jams some mornings.
High numbers of vehicles travel from south Auckland into downtown were shown on Tuesdays to Thursdays; and while state highways from the west and north were also busy, traffic intensity was lower than from the inner-city suburbs.
In the next phase of their research, Shin said they planned to map out how charging scenarios may shift traffic patterns and affect transport accessibility in socio-economically disadvantaged areas.
Auckland Transport’s programme director of infrastructure and place, Graeme Gunthorpe, said it welcomed research on possible solutions to the region’s traffic congestion.
“Auckland commuters lose an average of 66 hours each year stuck in traffic at peak times – and as Auckland continues to grow, our congestion problem is only projected to get worse,” he said.
Council were presented with six options of locations at a meeting last year, where time-of-use charging programme may work in Auckland – including alternative routes so that drivers would have a choice.
They included the city centre, city centre and fringe areas, city centre and inner isthmus, core motorways, core motorways plus city centre, as well as targeted motorway hotspots.
“They are very early indications of time-of-use systems that could work for Auckland and they consider the wider policy and operational settings required to implement a successful programme.
“To be clear, they are technical documents and not actual plans from Auckland Council or Auckland Transport.”
He said since 2024, council have studied time-of-use charging as a potential tool to reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of Auckland’s transport network.
“It's important to say that no decisions on options have been made by Auckland Council, and there would be a period of substantial engagement with Aucklanders ahead of any time-of-use charging system being introduced.”
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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