Road pricing "fairer" way to pay for transport plans, Auckland mayor tells press

Road pricing is seen as key to plugging a funding gap for infrastructure in plans for Auckland's transport network over the next 30 years released by the New Zealand Government and the city's mayor, according to local reports.

The Mayor Len Brown was reported as saying that tolls or taxes are "a fairer means of funding transport than over-reliance on property rates" as the $20bn plans to upgrade roads including to the airport and for new busways and trains. The Auckland Transport Alignment Project's recommended strategic approach says that drivers would pay to travel some roads and pay more at peak times.

"To reduce congestion, Aucklanders need to make different choices about how to travel and at what time of day," the Mayor was quoted as saying, stressing "any revenue raised must go to improvements into the transport system". The proposals would need to be approved by city politicians, and a newspaper pointed out that "with fresh elections over the next weeks, candidates have their own designs on what it will take to get Auckland moving".