Most Aucklanders know what is needed, a massive expansion of public transport, said Mr Locke, who is also party spokesperson on Auckland transport issues. Auckland local bodies are agreed on where we need to go. The Greens also favour innovative options to reduce car travel, such as home delivery, tele-working and carpooling. We also favour reclaiming local streets as safe spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. More children could then walk or cycle to school, reducing traffic jams around schools.
More money is the key to advancing public transport.
Some of the funding will come from Intrastructure Auckland. But to really break the log jam, Transfund must come to the party in a big way. Green MPs will be promoting a moratorium on motorway construction so that Transfund can divert the millions required into capital expenditure on public transport, particularly in Auckland, where the crisis is the greatest. The first major rapid transit system ready to be constructed, the North Shore Busway, is being held up because Transfund hasn t yet come up with enough money. Without urgent action on public transport, proper residential and commercial development of Auckland cannot occur.