A first step for trams?

The ARC’s Transport and Urban Development Committee this week made a potentially crucial first step towards bringing trams back to Auckland. In February (after an excellent presentation by the Campaign for Better Transport) the committee had requested the preparation of a scoping report into the possibility of having light-rail (trams) as the primary public transport option for getting people from Britomart to the Tank Farm area that is currently in the very first stages of redevelopment. That scoping report has now been completed, and had the following executive summary.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) is looking into the feasibility of a light rail system along the waterfront to service planned waterfront developments and provide transport links to Britomart and the integrated transport services Britomart provides. A light rail facility for the waterfront development could fulfil one of the following roles:

• A loop linking the development area, Quay Street and Britomart.
• A facility which forms part of a wider public transport solution for the city.

Modern light rail systems are being used as part of strategic transport networks throughout the world to deliver high capacity, high frequency services largely to serve peak hour commuting trips. There are also examples of light rail systems which are limited to short loops, for example, in Christchurch. These are used predominantly by heritage vehicles and often lie wholly within city centres.

Current planning for transport enhancements in the region and along the waterfront do not anticipate using light rail. However, it is proposed to undertake a feasibility study which will examine the potential demand for and role of light rail along the waterfront, review how light rail has been used in comparable waterfront cities and examine the potential options, implications and costings of such a system in Auckland.

Probably the most interesting parts of this is the mention that the facility could form part of a wider transport solution for the city (I detailed what I think could be good first steps in a recent post) and also some recognition that modern light rail systems are being used throughout the world to deliver high capacity, high frequency services. In fact, I would hazard a guess that light-rail is one of the real growth areas for public transport around the world at the moment.

If we look at this proposal, the basic idea of linking Britomart and Tank Farm isn’t particularly amazing – and would only involve a couple of kilometres of track. However, it is an important start and could very well be extended to other parts of the city – most obviously either along Tamaki Drive or up Queen Street and along Dominion Road. The route below seems to be what is being proposed:

Looking forward, it’s tricky to work out where things will go next. On the bright side, the ARC have asked for a proper feasibility study be undertaken for the proposal. This will be reported back to the Transport and Urban Design Committee in November this year. But on the down side, Auckland City Council have postponed their plans to build a permanent bridge across the mouth of viaduct harbour (the $50 million price tag for a bridge with some architectural merit freaked them out I think) until 2016. All we’re going to get before then is a cheap $2 million temporary pedestrian pontoon bridge – which I can’t imagine will have anywhere near the strength required to let a tram across it. So even if the proposal gets the backing of the ARC, and they manage to find some money for it – we’re still looking at another seven years before anything happens.

Of course, by then Auckland’s local government structure will be completely reorganised. So who knows what might happen. It’s just nice having trams back on the agenda!

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