RAM community advisory 21.1.07

ARTA chief executive agrees to receive
RAM letter calling for free buses trial

The chief executive of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, Fergus Gammie, has agreed to receive RAM's Open Letter calling for a large-scale free buses trial as a positive alternative to recent fare hikes on buses and trains in Greater Auckland.

Mr Gammie will meet the RAM gathering outside the authority's office (corner Pitt and Hopetoun Sts, central Auckland) at 4pm this coming Tuesday, 23 January. In addition to passing over the letter, RAM will invite the ARTA chief executive to address the crowd.

Afterwards, the RAM team will march downtown to the Britomart to hand out petitions and leaflets advocating free and frequent public transport to bus and train travellers.

A copy of RAM's Open Letter to ARTA appears below.

Grant Morgan
Organiser of RAM - Residents Action Movement

RAM's Open Letter to Auckland Regional Transport Authority

A positive alternative to fare hikes
on public transit in Greater Auckland

Despite recent falls in oil prices, bus and train fares have again gone up across Auckland. The average rise for bus fares was 7.8%, while for trains it was 15%. Even before the latest rise, bus fares in our region were some of the highest in the world. Private bus operators are creaming off massive public subsidies as well as imposing internationally uncompetitive ticket prices.

Many citizens are saying it's crazy for public transit fares to rise when we're facing chronic car congestion across the region, And many citizens realise that climate chaos will hit the world unless there's a huge cut in greenhouse gas emissions, one of the worst being carbon dioxide from vehicle exhausts.

TRANSPORT SHAMBLES

Greater Auckland is suffering from a transport shambles. For instance:

 Our highways are hopelessly clogged for much of the time, and congestion just gets worse the more motorways that are built.

 Over the next decade, billions are earmarked for building motorways which state road builder Transit NZ admits will "quickly" become just as clogged unless modest income motorists are priced off them by high tolls.

 Despite the government's new rhetoric about creating a "carbon neutral" country, public transit receives only a fraction of what is spent on road building in Greater Auckland.

 Buses carry the vast bulk of public transit commuters, yet bus fares are ridiculously over-priced while the service is lousy at many times and in many areas.

 The provision of new bus lanes and expressways is proceeding at a snail's pace, while the government still hasn't agreed to fund rail electrification.

 There is no integrated timetabling or ticketing between different bus firms and trains and ferries because each company is putting its private profit ahead of public service.

 The government will not guarantee to change its law that prohibits a council from owning and operating its own subsidised bus service for the public good, rather than as a profit-driven commercial entity. (In effect, the law says a council can subsidise the profits of a private firm, but not its own bus operation for the good of its community.)

These sorts of factors add up to an unsustainable transportation network in Greater Auckland. We cannot go on this way.

RAM'S PLAN

We need a far more serious push for public transit in Greater Auckland. To make this happen, RAM (Residents Action Movement) advocates:

 The introduction of free and frequent public transport across the region's built-up areas.

 Auckland Regional Council to buy and operate 3,000 low-emission buses as a public service.

 A fast-track programme to create bus lanes and expressways through all built-up areas.

 Electrified commuter rail to be extended to as many areas as possible.

 Financing to mostly come from a major diversion of funds from motorway building in Greater Auckland to public transit.

 Top-up financing to come from taxes on hotel beds and airport arrivals so tourists offset their carbon emissions getting here.

Obviously such robust policy changes will require central government agreement on legislative reforms and funding arrangements. But the impetus for change will first have to come from citizen groups and local bodies in Greater Auckland.

FREE BUSES TRIAL

To help get things moving, RAM proposes a large-scale free buses trial to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.

Manukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis has offered three city suburbs in which to hold a free buses trial. This has the backing of the Auckland Tramways Union, who cover most bus drivers. And the Auckland Regional Council has resolved to support a feasibility study into a free buses trial.

RAM believes the relatively small amount of funding required for a free buses trial can be found without too much effort, so long as the institutional will is there to do so. RAM would like to be involved in the implementation and analysis of such a trial.

We invite the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to discuss with RAM how best to progress a free buses trial.

ENDS

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