Vance on transport
Andrea Vance sums up the state of our transport systems:
- Commuter services (buses, trains and ferries) in our towns and cities are under huge strain, making life a misery for anyone trying to get to work or children to school.
- The road network is collapsing.
- At the minor end of the scale, the country’s road surfaces are in desperate shape. No need for the Government to officially lower speed limits, the potholes are bone-shakingly effective judder bars.
- More scary is that arterial routes are regularly compromised by slips and subsidence in severe weather.
- The problems don’t exist just on land. The Cook Strait ferry mayday had terrifying echoes of the Wahine disaster. As the Kaitaki drifted, powerless towards rocks in heavy swells, it underlined that the fleet is ageing and raised questions about the capability of Wellington’s tugs.
- The aviation network is also under-performing. Delays, disruption and cancellations are now common place. Aviation Security is under-resourced, leading to long lines, and allowing a convicted rapist to bypass screening.
- The scenes of Auckland Airport, a critical piece of national infrastructure overwhelmed with floodwater, with passengers trapped upstairs were shocking.
- Likewise, the stories of passengers stranded overseas worried about no option to return for days or even weeks.
Vance also points out:
Waka Kotahi, the land transport agency for which Wood is responsible, is currently one of the Government’s most problematic departments.
It is under fire because the road network is in a mess, and it can’t seem to deliver major projects on time or on budget. Even the ones it finishes have to be redone.
The agency also has a deserved reputation for being wasteful. From the $51 million squandered on the abandoned cycling and walking bridge project across Auckland’s Waitematā harbour, to the $70m-plus spent on the doomed light rail project.
Let’s Get Wellington Moving (which WK oversees with the local authorities) has spent $83 million – $47m on consultants – and delivered only a pedestrian crossing. In EIGHT YEARS. And the walkway cost an eye-watering $2.4m.
Yep eight years and $83 million to deliver a $2.4 million pedestrian crossing!
And what has happened to the Minister in charge? He has been promoted to the front bench!