Congestion charges not near for city
Peak-traffic gridlock is worsening in Christchurch, but the city’s leaders are not keen to introduce congestion charges – at least not any time soon.
The Government earlier this week said it would introduce a bill giving councils limited power to introduce such charges.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the legislation would be a few years away from being rolled out and councils would need to get ultimate signoff from the Government.
Auckland Council has already signalled its intention to make use of the law, but Christchurch has yet to have a debate about it, despite congestion charging featuring in the city council’s draft transport plan.
Congestion charges are used in cities such as London, Singapore and Milan to reduce vehicles on the road and encourage people to use other modes of transport.
Auckland Council wants to introduce charges between $3.50 and $5 for cars driving on certain congested roads in the city centre.
Christchurch’s draft transport plan recommends council investigate options for road pricing, including congestion charging.
But the plan has been sitting in draft form since it was released in 2022. The council has to endorse a draft before it can go to public consultation. This was supposed to happen more than 12 months ago.
A council spokesperson said work on the transport plan was paused until after the council finalised its 10-year budget, the longterm plan, which happened at the end of June. Staff had also been waiting on the Government’s transport policy direction.
Councillors are due to be updated on a new time frame over the next month.
However, it appears there is little political will in the council to progress with congestion charges. This is despite data from global navigation company Tomtom showing for the second year running it takes longer to travel 10km in Christchurch during rush hour than New Zealand’s other main centres.
The Press sought the views of all 16 councillors and mayor Phil Mauger. Of the eight who responded only Cr Tyrone Fields was clearly in favour. However, he said the council would have to think how it would work for many Banks Peninsula residents who did not have the option of easily using other forms of transport to get into the city. “We’d have to put our thinking caps on about how it works, but as a general principle, I’m very supportive.”
Cr Andrei Moore said he was open to anything that could help shift the burden away from rates.
Councillor Sara Templeton, who holds the council’s climate change portfolio, said congestion charging was a “useful tool to have in the box”, but she did not think it would be needed for “quite some time”. “Having incentives to travel differently, like more frequent and accessible public transport, are better short to medium-term options here, I think.”
Cr James Gough said he was not overly supportive because he was concerned about imposing additional costs on motorists. “Christchurch is a city where many people rely on their cars, ... [It] could disproportionately affect those with limited alternatives.”
Cr Pauline Cotter, filling in for Mauger while he is in China, said she could not comment because Christchurch had not identified a need for a charge.
Cr Aaron Keown was “strongly against” it. “I think it would go down like a cup of cold sick in Christchurch. The type of people we have here would not be into it.” He believed the council was the main contributor to congestion because of how it sequenced traffic lights.
Cr Tim Scandrett said itneeded to be thoroughly investigated to see if the city needed it.
Cr Yani Johanson said he would be concerned charging would increase inequity in Christchurch.