Once the legislation \u2013 expected to pass next month \u2013 comes into force, the council will have six months to dismantle the transport agency. Responsibility and accountability for roads and planning decisions will then sit directly with councillors and local board members.<\/p>\n
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown wants standardised rules for roads.<\/p>\n
Brown said Aucklanders will hear him talking a lot more about \u201cstandardisation and optimisation\u201d when it comes to roading, with the council set to establish a dedicated roading division.<\/p>\n
He said he wants someone within the council who is responsible for every element of a road. <\/p>\n
As an engineer, Brown said the people who work for him understand a road is an integrated system, from footpaths, kerbs and centre lines to tarseal, compacted base layers, bus stops and even the occasional telegraph pole.<\/p>\n
He said AT employs a curve expert, a channel expert, a bus\u2011stop expert, a footpath expert<\/a> and a cycleway expert, then brings in a consultant, adding it doesn\u2019t have standardisation.<\/p>\n Brown said every intersection ends up being different and he had even come across one with 19 separate faults.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just don\u2019t do sensible stuff, and that\u2019s because of subject-matter experts. Too many cooks boiling the broth, too many consultants designing everything differently.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will get one intersection right, take a photo and say that\u2019s what you do everywhere. We don\u2019t have standard cycleways. We have expensive cycleways<\/a>. Everything gets cheaper if you standardise it.<\/p>\n \u201cDesign things which are standardised and sensible and cheap and allow for the movement of traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown accused AT of ignoring his letter instructing it to improve east\u2013west movement on Wellesley St and Victoria St, saying it had not done anything and argued that once he has control, it should finally become easier to cross the city, because, in his view, it certainly couldn\u2019t be any harder than it is now.<\/p>\n A spokesman for AT said it did not have any comment to make on the matters raised by the mayor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the committee was told that work on introducing congestion charging in Auckland could deliver a proposed scheme by early 2028.<\/p>\n Six current options are on the table for time-of-use charging, often called congestion charging, which encourages motorists to shift travel times or use alternative transport, reducing congestion and boosting productivity.<\/p>\n The options include the city centre, city centre and fringe areas, city centre and inner isthmus, core motorways, core motorways plus city centre, and targeted motorway hotspots.<\/p>\nThe mayor says Auckland doesn’t have standardised cycleways. Photo \/ RNZ, Tom Kitchin<\/p>\n
Auckland Council could come up with a congestion charge sceme by 2028. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n