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Auckland Transport (AT) says electric ferry infrastructure will hang in the balance once the Regional Fuel Tax (RFT) goes.
When government repealed the tax it stipulated that the remaining $360 million of funding could only be spent on three directives, cutting electric ferry costs from the mix.
At council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee on March 7, AT’s chief executive Dean Kimpton explained that part of the problem with the RFT being removed was that there were already contracts signed with the tax in mind.
“The charging infrastructure for the electric ferries was previously funded by the RFT. It’s not provided for in the change legislation,” Kimpton said. “To stop it would mean that we would not be able to deliver a renewed ferry fleet. The existing ferry fleet has aged and needs replacing. We want to change the ferry operating model that allows us to own the fleet and contract the service provider.”
With the removal of the RFT, AT is proposing a complete reprioritisation of its capital budget. Kimpton said $20 million would need to be allocated from other projects to keep ferry charging infrastructure projects going.
