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Auckland Transport is coming to grips with the reality of trying to cut its budget, while also trying to retain its ambitious emissions reduction target.
At the Transport and Infrastructure committee on April 20, councillors were concerned that the Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway (TERP) was taking a back seat at Auckland Transport (AT).
The TERP sets a target of reducing Auckland’s transport emissions by 64 per cent by 2030, against a 2016 baseline. Concurrently, Mayor Wayne Brown wants AT to find $25 million in savings as a part of the 2023/2024 annual budget.
In his first appearance at a committee meeting, AT’s new chief executive Dean Kimpton said there was a desire to get back-to-basics.
“I recognise the tension between back-to-basics and adopting a long-term view,” Kimpton said.
“Whatever we do now has to be designed to make the boat go faster in that strategic direction.”
Cr Angela Dalton wanted to see the TERP used to inform all Auckland Transport policy.
“You talked about making the boat go faster. The wake does not make the boat go faster and for some of us, the wake is the basics,” Dalton said.
“I want assurance that [the TERP] is going to be used as the formal direction.”
Kimpton said the TERP was a strong foundation for moving forward but AT would need to come back to council with an implementation plan
“That is one of the areas I am focused on, but I don’t think we yet fully understand what we need to do to achieve those targets.”
AT’s acting chair Wayne Donnelly said the TERP was still alive, but AT had paused to make sure they were doing things right.
Donnelly said Auckland’s targets were significantly ahead of government targets for transport emissions reductions.
“That can be a little bit of a problem and I would actually like the council’s permission to align with the government [targets],” he said.
However, Cr Richard Hills was concerned by any suggestion to pull back Auckland’s target.
“The whole point of the stretched target is because the government’s target relies on us, as a big city, to do far more to pick up the slack,” Hills said. “The whole point of us having stronger targets than the government is because that’s how the maths works.”
Donnelly said the board was aware and board members had repeatedly reminded each other that AT endorsed the TERP.
“Can I just ask that you cut us a little bit of slack here? We have had an election result that has prompted a fundamental review how the organisation does its work,” Donnelly said.
He said that AT was being asked to reduce costs, while trying to be future focused, and with a new chief executive officer at the helm.
“Once we get through the more mechanical shifts to get on budget, we very definitely are going to address how to do things differently so it does not increase emissions and actually reduces emissions.”
The emissions target was adopted by both Auckland Council and AT in August last year. It is based on less dependence on cars, and more emphasis on walking, cycling and public transport; better uptake of electric vehicles; and the need to avoid and shorten trips wherever possible.
