I was dismayed (but not surprised) to see that Auckland Transport has yet again under delivered, despite record taxes on residents. The Regional Fuel Tax was forced upon us with the promise of significant investment but after collecting over a billion dollars, they've held onto $268million. I agree with Councillor Daniel Newman that this is dishonest.
We're paying more than ever, yet we continue to battle with unsafe footpaths, congested roads and overpriced public transport.
The silver lining is that they didn't waste it all on consultants and vanity projects, but there's real issues that need to be addressed with urgency. One of many local examples is the long promised pedestrian bridge on Flatbush School Road, where students from Te Uho o te Nikau Primary School are left to dodge trucks while Auckland Transport sits on millions of dollars of public money.
In the Howick Local Board area, nearly half of the $5.4m available for local transport projects in the last electoral term was unspent. Will our newly elected Local Board be able to get Auckland Transport to deliver for us? I hope so, for the sake of us all.