Transport reform for Auckland
Last week Parliament gave the final approval for transport reform for Auckland, probably the most radical change for Auckland since the formation of the super city in 2010.
This new legislation transfers almost all the powers and functions of Auckland Transport (including strategy, policy and planning) to Auckland Council, leaving only the operation of public transport with the much smaller CCO.
The Act also establishes a new Auckland Regional Transport Committee (ARTC), which will prepare a 30-year Transport Plan for Auckland and the Regional Land Transport Plan for Auckland. This creates a new joint council-government mechanism for long-term transport planning with the intent to improve alignment between Auckland Council and central government on strategic priorities, sequencing and investment.
The Act allocates specific roles and responsibilities for local boards (new schedule 4). The Minister describes this as “new powers to ensure local accountability and that local communities have a say. They’ll make decisions on local and collector roads including setting speed limits, closing roads for events, managing parking and creating cycleways.” The definition of local and collector roads is being defined under a new roading classification framework, which (as drafted) will mean about 2/3 of roads in Auckland will sit with local boards.
Under the new law, Auckland has six months to make the transition. Given the size and scale of AT (nearly a third of Auckland Council’s budget) this is no small task. Work to support these changes is already well underway, with more details to come.
Personally I have mixed feelings about this change - while I strongly support the opportunity for increased accountability and democratic decision making, I do have concerns about the impact on workload and expertise and how this may impact the success of the reform.
For all its faults, Auckland Transport managed decisions across the city - instead of one body being responsible for transport, it will now be shared across the Governing Body (Mayor and Councillors) and 21 local boards. Local Board members are only part time (other than the Chairperson) and our workshops are already packed with issues like crumbling community facilities, serious environmental issues, and limited funding. To make good transport decisions for our communities, we need quality advice and the funding to implement it – how this will work is not yet clear.
See the full amendment bill here: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2025/201/en/latest/#d17391645e9
See the press release from the Ministers here: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/auckland-transport-reforms-pass-third-reading
See more information on the draft roading classification framework here: https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/Meeting/12498/89110?type=1&docId=28587