Sunday, March 19, 2006
Auckland CBD not worth $6. Or $10.
Congestion charging in Auckland is a truly crap idea, not least of all because in the absence of a ring road, one needs to travel through the CBD to access other parts of the urban area. You can't go from North to South, or West to East, for example, without heading through the CBD.
If you live in Takapuna and are heading to the airport, your only real choice is to go through downtown Auckland. In theory, I guess, you could take the Greenhithe Bridge, then hit the NW motorway, then go up Mt Albert Rd, etc. etc. until you reach Mangere Bridge, but that would take about 5 hours and cost more in petrol than you'd save by not paying the congestion charge.
Speaking of which, remind me again why we pay so much tax on petrol? I thought it was to pay for roads and public transport.
BUT, and here's the crucial point for me, it would still be cheaper for me to drive into the city at $6 a shot than to catch a bloody bus. Subsidised? Yeah right. We live 12km from downtown and it's $5 each way on the bus, or about $1.50 petrol each way. $5 each way ... that's not public transport, it's highway robbery.
So ...
Bus: $10 + a decent walk from the bus stop to work.
Car: $3 petrol + $6 congestion charge + a decent walk + a dollar in my pocket.
They actually would have to introduce a $10 parking charge just to make it worth my while ... but then where would that $10 go I wonder? Just how many more hundreds of millions do roading projects in this country really need? Especially in light of our national incompetence when it comes to undertaking construction projects in a timely manner.
If you live in Takapuna and are heading to the airport, your only real choice is to go through downtown Auckland. In theory, I guess, you could take the Greenhithe Bridge, then hit the NW motorway, then go up Mt Albert Rd, etc. etc. until you reach Mangere Bridge, but that would take about 5 hours and cost more in petrol than you'd save by not paying the congestion charge.
Speaking of which, remind me again why we pay so much tax on petrol? I thought it was to pay for roads and public transport.
BUT, and here's the crucial point for me, it would still be cheaper for me to drive into the city at $6 a shot than to catch a bloody bus. Subsidised? Yeah right. We live 12km from downtown and it's $5 each way on the bus, or about $1.50 petrol each way. $5 each way ... that's not public transport, it's highway robbery.
So ...
Bus: $10 + a decent walk from the bus stop to work.
Car: $3 petrol + $6 congestion charge + a decent walk + a dollar in my pocket.
They actually would have to introduce a $10 parking charge just to make it worth my while ... but then where would that $10 go I wonder? Just how many more hundreds of millions do roading projects in this country really need? Especially in light of our national incompetence when it comes to undertaking construction projects in a timely manner.
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