Auckland Transport Ends Award-winning Road Safety Programme Ahead Of Road Safety Week
Key points:
Auckland Transport's latest Statement of Intent (SOI) abandons safety as a key focus area.
AT's Safe Speeds programme is on the chopping block under the new Speed Rule, affecting around 1,400 streets across the region. It was awarded a prestigious international award for the programme in December.
The gaps in the SOI fly in the face of both Auckland Transport and Auckland Council's obligations and commitments, including the Auckland Plan, Vision Zero, Auckland's C40 city status, Auckland Transport's statutory requirements, and Auckland's Climate Plan, including the TERP.
The draft SOI comes ahead of Road Safety Week (12-18 May 2025). The theme is 'Be a Road Safety Hero'.
This week Bike Auckland's Chief Biking Officer Fiáin d'Leafy quizzed members of Auckland Council about the latest Auckland Transport Statement of Intent (SOI) at the Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee Meeting. Speaking on behalf of many concerned Aucklanders, d'Leafy asked how the Mayor and Councillors will meet their obligations, in particular around safety.
'You have a responsibility as a Council to make sure that Auckland Transport has a plan to achieve your commitments. It is not enough to water down next year's targets. There needs to be a plan to ensure you meet your long term targets and safety improvements.'
Those obligations are significant, both locally and internationally.
Auckland Transport has a statutory requirement to make our land transport system effective, efficient and safe. The Auckland Plan 2050 vision includes a safe transport network free from death and serious injury.
Moreover, internationally, Auckland Transport stands to lose credibility if it reneges on its commitments as a Vision Zero organisation. First implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, Vision Zero is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries, widely and effectively used across Europe. Vision Zero is not mentioned in Auckland Transport's latest draft SOI, suggesting that they have quietly abandoned this programme without informing the public.
As recently as December 2024, Auckland Transport was awarded a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award, recognising the outstanding achievements of its Safe Speeds Programme.
D'Leafy says it's vital for Auckland to hold onto these achievements. Speaking after the committee meeting they referenced the theme of this year's Road Safety Week, which is 'Be a Road Safety Hero':
'In recent years Auckland Transport has been a road safety hero, showing leadership in reducing our high road harm numbers. Is it now choosing to become a road safety villain?'
This abandonment of safety forms the backdrop to the hot-potato issue of imminent speed limit increases across vast tracts of suburban Auckland. Other city councils have succeeded in maintaining the majority of their potentially affected 30 km/h zones, via a markedly different application of the Speed Rule.
By compulsorily raising speed limits whether or not communities agree, the Speed Rule is estimated to cause an additional 55 deaths and serious injuries in Auckland over the next two years, a toll that road safety experts are calling unconscionable, and unnecessary.
D'Leafy believes Auckland Council and Auckland Transport are failing to achieve the outcome that Aucklanders want and deserve:
'Auckland Council needs to be bolder in directing Auckland Transport to find a common-sense solution to the Speed Rule. Like other cities across Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland must be allowed to retain its highly supported safe speed streets. Other cities have shown us that leadership is about doing what is right, not what is easy. Now it's time for our Auckland leaders to show their backbone.'
In their presentation to the Mayor and Councillors, d'Leafy also elaborated how the SOI misses the mark on Auckland's climate obligations.
Since 2015, Auckland has been a member of the C40 alliance: a 'global network of mayors of the world's leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis.' There are just under 100 cities in C40, and with this SOI, Auckland isn't on track to meet its membership obligations. These include having zero emissions from city centre streets by 2030.
The Auckland Climate Plan sets a target of a 64% reduction in transport emissions by 2030. The Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway, unanimously adopted by Auckland Councillors in 2022, lays out the steps needed to meet this target. A key strategy is to 'supercharge walking and cycling'.
As well as reducing emissions, walking and cycling contribute to Auckland's goals by reducing noise and waterway pollution, improving independence for those who can't or don't want to drive, including disabled people, and improved health outcomes for Aucklanders.
'This SOI has two massive holes: road safety and emissions reduction,' says d'Leafy. 'These are obviously key roles for Auckland Transport. To fix the SOI, the TERP and Vision Zero need to be back in the plan.'
At the same time, d'Leafy urges Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to take advantage of cycling and micro-mobility as an affordable, fast way of achieving its aims.
'Cycling and micro-mobility projects can be fast and affordable to deliver, aligned with roading renewals to minimise disruption. They extend the value of the public transport network by providing first and last mile connectivity.
'There are many cycling infrastructure projects ready to go - but they require funding from Auckland Council. Walking and cycling is vastly underfunded at less than 1% of the transport budget. Even with this minimal investment, one in twenty trips into the city centre is by bike. Imagine how our cycling rates would leap up if Auckland Council invested the 20% of the transport budget that the UN's Environment Programme recommends.'
Auckland needs urgent action on emissions reduction. Aucklanders need a safe transport system that offers people choice for how they get around. To ensure Auckland meets its commitments these must be reflected in high level documents like the SOI.
Bike Auckland urges Auckland Council to be a Road Safety Hero and provide the leadership we so urgently need.
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