Auckland Council has voted to implement congestion charges for the city's most gridlocked areas by the end of 2025, following a meeting on Thursday.
Councillors voted 18-2 in favour of a "time-of-use charging indicative work programme", and to create a joint "progress team" between Auckland Transport (AT) and the council.
Mayor Wayne Brown wants to implement the charges as soon as possible, with potential discounts for certain groups.
The plan is to introduce charges, during peak times, for parts of the motorway network near the city centre. The design and prices haven't been finalised but it's expected to be operational by December 2025.
Why is the council introducing congestion charges?
Put simply, it's to reduce traffic and travel times, to get more passengers on public transport and reinvest the revenue into upgrading the transport network across Tāmaki Makaurau.
Brown said congestion is estimated to cost the city between $0.9 billion and $1.3 billion a year.
"We can't just build our way out of the problem; we need to make better use of our roads. We know where and when traffic jams occur and this will fix them."
He said a lot of work on time-of-use charging has been done already
"And we know from overseas examples that this works."
Brown said he'll contact the incoming Transport Minister when the new Government is formed.
Meanwhile, Tracey Berkahn, services and performance general manager at AT, said peak-time congestion is "worse than it was before COVID-19".
Daily caps and concessions could be on the cards too, she added.
Work still needs to be done on how the charges will be implemented.
Michael Roth, lead transport advisor at Auckland Council, told councillors on Thursday "it is a fee to use parts of the road network" which would help "maintain free flow traffic conditions on critical motorways".
The changes were about using existing roads more efficiently, Roth said.
"If you build more roads, you encourage more people into cars."
The NZ Initiative, NZ Infrastructure Commission and Te Waihanga/NZ Infrastructure Commission all support congestion charging if designed well.
Wellington and Tauranga also want to have time-of-use charging but it depends on the incoming Government to change transport law, Roth added.
Ongoing transport improvements
Other improvements to public transport across Tāmaki Makaurau includes the City Rail Link, plus the Eastern and Northwestern Busways.
National said earlier this year if elected to Government it would scrap Auckland's regional fuel tax (RFT).
But last month, Brown told AM that could leave a $2 billion hole in the council's budget.
"We've allowed that to fund things like the Eastern Busway, things which are needed and which people want," he said.
National's transport spokesperson Simeon Brown told Newshub in October his party was "committed" to the "critical project".
Auckland Council has been considering congestion charging for seven years.
Since 2016, the ATAP (Auckland Transport Alignment Project) has recommended implementing them in several reports.
One report said charging drivers at peak times could reduce congestion by 8 to 12 percent.
What did councillors say?
Many councillors raised concerns about the proposal but the majority supported progressing it further.
Councillor Maurice Williamson told AM on Wednesday morning the goal is to reduce traffic volumes in key areas.
"The whole purpose of it is to get people to change their behaviour, staying out of those really crowded [areas] at peak time."
Councillor Wayne Walker, who voted against the plan, said the proposal had "fundamental flaws".
The other councillor who voted against it, Ken Turner, said only charging drivers using motorways "will push people onto city roads". The other 18 councillors all voted in favour.
Councillor Alf Filipaina did however raise concerns about south and west Auckland communities.
"Some of the people in the areas mentioned don't have a choice what time they start or finish work," he said.
Councillor Richard Hills said Auckland's past urban planning had "set people up for sitting, wasting money out of their tailpipe, wasting time without their families sitting in congestion."
"If we leave this another 10 years, we're just leaving everyone stuck in traffic," he added.
Councillor Mike Lee warned "ordinary working people" will pay "for the bulk of this".
Meanwhile, councillor Angela Dalton said "we must support provision of choice" by improving public transport in areas less-well served.
The council aims to carry out consultation first, before beginning procurement and implementation in early 2025.
Council staff will report back with updates in the coming months.
