An article in today’s Sunday Star Times looks at the possible repercussions of NZTA’s decision (forced upon them by the upcoming government policy statement) to cut the funding assistance rate for public transport around the country. The results are potentially pretty ugly:
The government will cut up to $17 million from its public transport budget for the 2011-12 financial year.
Further costings compiled by Green Party transport spokesman Gareth Hughes estimate that figure could balloon up to $87m over the next decade.
Hughes said the big losers would be the growing number of public transport users, warning that local councils would have to either hike up prices, or cut the number of services they offered.
“The burden is squarely being placed on the shoulders of rate-payers and public transport users.
“The government is reducing the financial assistance rates to councils. This means that regional councils will have to find more money to run the same bus and train services.
Further detail on the funding shortfall was provided in the agenda to Auckland Council’s Transport Committee meeting earlier this month. The main changes are outlined in the table below:
The big ones are the first two – the reduction in funding assistance for PT operations and infrastructure funding. In terms of the operations side, at least the GPS is proposing a general increase for this sector over the next 10 years (although that’s largely gobbled up by KiwiRail increasing its track-access fees enormously). For PT infrastructure, the proposed GPS proposes a horrific cut, from spending over $100 million in the 2009/2010 year to a spending range of between $20m and $60m for the next three years. It seems that NZTA have decided that the best way to manage the reduced funding levels is to ‘spread around the money’ to a greater number of projects by offering a reduced percentage of subsidy. This means that regional councils and PT users will need to pick up the slack if they want to continue funding public transport at the same level as now – let alone respond to increasing patronage by further improving the infrastructure and service provision levels.
What’s perhaps most frustrating is that PT infrastructure (and other things cut like transport planning and road safety community programmes) are a relatively small part of NZTA’s funding pool. In other words, huge cuts to them won’t actually free up much money at all for other areas – like building more motorways. This is a point picked up by Cameron Pitches of the Campaign for Better Transport, who is quoted further on in the article:
Campaign for Better Transport convener Cameron Pitches backed Hughes’ comments.
“We hope the government isn’t going to be too severe on the public transport spend. But we know they are cutting back on the infrastructure spend. At the moment, the national road transport fund, which is a petrol tax and road-user charges, is $2.8 billion a year.
“Of that, 1.8% is spent on public transport infrastructure. But the government is seeking to cut that back to 0.7%. What the government says is, with public transport, the ratepayers are going to have to pay it [almost] entirely themselves.”
Oh how I wish a politician would ask Steven Joyce in parliament what the logic is behind cutting PT funding and massively expanding state highways funding when PT use is booming and state highway traffic growth is static. I suppose it makes sense if you don’t like this trend and want it reversed – by choking off funding, forcing fares up and forcing service cuts.
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Perhaps its time for the regional councils to all get together and start putting posters trains and buses and trains have messages like, “Sorry we can’t improve this service as the government is continually cutting funding for PT so they can build for new motorways in the middle of nowhere”
yeah… I think that the drop in vehicle traffic is pretty much Cabinet’s rationale for the motorway building. It goes something like this: “Motorways equal more people driving + jobs in construction which equals economic growth. Right now not many people are driving because of our poor economic growth. But more motorways mean more people driving. Therefore we must build more motorways and the economy will (magically) grow.”
It’s obviously a pretty flawed rationale but I think it’s how they think… I dunno? Maybe they don’t think at all. Or maybe it’s just a cynical attempt to win more election funding from their wealthy backers? Who knows…what is for sure is that the councils will either have to cut back their PT projects or raise fares or raise rates.
I especially love the cut to planning and research: That sure is punishment for the wrong news. Joyce ain’t listening to what he doesn’t believe and sure doesn’t want anyone else to hear it either…. Sad dinosaur, will be surprised one day when his crazy world view is sent packing….
Carrot and stick the government! Councils cut back on local roads and use this money to make up the short fall in PT – the carrot. When Joe petrol head goes ape over the the pot holes disrupting his smooth drive, direct him to the minister of trucking, as his petrol taxes pay for his habit – the stick!
Simple!
See how Juice spins this.
Auckland council and all the other local councils must stand up to the government and make their point clear. This is totally unacceptable, why cut public transport so the government can waste billionares of dollars of our good money on buillding new motorways that don’t go anywhere. Like Holiday Highway for example. This may be important to Stephen Joyce, but its the people who will suffer at the end of the day to make matters worse, the motorway extention is likely to only touch Warkworth, this will cost a billion dollars alone, and it doesn’t even touch Northland the main population centre, even if they found a way to extend the motorway through Dome Valley up to Wellsford, at a huge cost, the motorway will still stop short of Northland.
So NZTA think that they can cut the amount of money allocated for public transport, so it can waste it on pointless projects that generate little economic growth. This is outragious!!!. To make matters worse the government is proposing to allocate even more money to State Highway contruction, even though the volumes are less and carry less traffic than some local roads do in Auckland, according to a good friend of mine.
The Auckland Council seriously needs to get together and do something about it and tell the government how it is that they are not happy about it and have no confidence in their ability to run this country. Not everyone will agree with us transport geeks, but I do believe the majority of people want to see public transport improved. Its not the fact that Aucklanders and us Kiwi’s like our cars so much its the fact that we have no choice and if public transport was to the same standard as they have in Europe or Austrlaia people would think differently.
Only Auckland Council has the power to reduce funding on local roads in favour for public transport moves. This would not be such a politically wise move for local government to take. I also cannot see the likes of Gisborne or Tasman District Councils cutting back on local road funding to create more room in the budget for PT. Territoral Authorities are not going to give up their rate payers money to fund regional transport, especially in this economic climate. Political pressure will be the best way of making a difference. National has to get the message that the RTF is not the only voice dictating transport policy.
Auckland Council unfortunately has several dinosaurs on board and especially on the Transport Committee. Like George Wood who seems to believe that the Holiday Highway provides a vital link to Northland, even though it will only reach half way to Whangarei even when it’s built to Wellsford (if that ever happens). Also on the committee is Pennylink Webster, former Mayor of Rodney, whose view of the Holiday Highway is that it will cure all the ills of Rodney and Northland. Mrs Webster is rapidly being found out. Having promised faithfully the Warkworth Business Assoc. that she alone could deliver new local roads around Warkworth like the Western Collector, the Matakana link and the Warkworth by-pass, she has been exposed by the government cut-back on spending for local roads and NZTA’s budget redistribution towards the RoNS, which she has been been pushing for anyway. The sooner these backward looking dinosaurs are consigned to the scrapheap the better.
Joyce is also calling the bluff of local government: his message to them is, “if you and your voters value public transport as much as you say you do, then pay for it yourself”. The Holiday Highway and other blunders may not survive the next Treasury public expenditure purge, but that would not by itself reelase money for the CRL.
*shakes his head, having seen too much of this sort of thing over the years*