Meet Roger Kirk

It’s odd that I should introduce Roger to you like this, because I don’t know him personally, but I have met him in his dream time. And, what a dream!

Over the years, many of you will have flown with him, literally put your lives in his hands. He is an Air New Zealand 777 pilot and he has flown to many of the world’s major destinations. He has seen what communities with a shared vision for their cities can achieve.

Last week’s issue of The Aucklander featured Roger’s dream, a dream that incorporated for Auckland’s new Super City, in one package, all he has learnt from his travels to the World’s major cities; their solving of their public transport problems. Five years in formulation, Roger dreams of a rapid rail route that takes passengers out to the eastern suburbs beyond the Tamaki estuary, weaving though Pakuranga and Botany Downs to Howick, as he goes, painting a picture of how the route could be enhanced with elevated tracks and conveniently placed stations along the way. It is the one major area of the super city that lacks a rail service, or a plan for one.

Now here is a curious thing. John Banks, in an earlier incarnation as Mayor of Auckland, proposed a six lane highway to run alongside the southern rail tracks across Judges Bay, sweeping through Glen Innes and Panmure thence via a new bridge to Pakuranga, and beyond. His rationalization was that Auckland needed more highways to draw the increasing numbers of road users into the CBD and beyond. He was concerned to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population of Auckland’s fast growing suburbs.

I believe Banks’ grandiose idea for the east’s transport needs cost him the mayoralty; there was widespread opposition to the idea of removing so many houses to make way for his six-lane highway nightmare. By the time he had served out a one term in the wilderness, John Banks was re-elected in 2007, chastened and, he says, softened. He no longer was advocating six lane highways.

But, if traffic in 2004 justified, as he claimed, increased roading capacity, how much more is 2010 traffic flows demanding a response? How can we move this burgeoning population, without fueling gridlock on the community roading network? The answer, of course, is rail.

On the campaign trail, this year’s candidates for the super city mayoralty are now happy to discuss the merits of a new rail link to the North Shore, necessarily demanding additional harbour crossings, by bridge or tunneling, to facilitate that objective. That matter is unavoidable, and the sooner the decision is made, the less it will cost Auckland and the country.

Auckland aspires to be one of the major cities of the Pacific. It cannot afford to be seen as second class city with an inefficient public transport system. Our current reliance on road transport, especially buses as the main resource, is not sustainable in the future.

The rail service to Howick and beyond, cannot be avoided. Who is the mayoral candidate brave enough to put it on the agenda?

For the full article by Roger Kirk, see www.theaucklander.co.nz