For Aucklanders, sitting in traffic can feel like an unavoidable part of life.
But what if you had to pay to do it?
Auckland Council is considering congestion charging, with three options on the table that could charge drivers between $2 and $7.
If approved, charges could be in place by 2030-2031.
The first option, a city centre cordon, would cost drivers $3-$4 to enter the city during morning peak and $2-$3 to leave in the afternoon. It would save an estimated four minutes of travel time.
The second would charge drivers entering a city fringe cordon, including Newmarket, Newton and possibly Parnell and Ponsonby, during peak times. They’d pay $5-$6 in the morning and $2-$3 in the afternoon.
The third would target core motorways and the city centre with charges from about $5-$7. This option includes the Harbour Bridge, Pt Chevalier and Mt Wellington. Modelling suggests up to 12 minutes could be saved per trip.
The options will be taken to the public in November, after the general election.
Supporters say it could get traffic moving and raise money for improvements – but critics are asking whether enough alternatives are available to make it work.
University of Auckland senior lecturer in urban planning Dr Timothy Welch told The Front Page that the biggest question mark is whether it’s fair.
“There are questions around whether people have alternatives. Can they take a bus or train instead of driving?
“How do tradies get affected that have to drive in, and their work is in a van or a ute?
“You have to consider what is an average commute. A lot of work commutes in Auckland generally are around 30 minutes in and 30 minutes back out.
“If you look at the amount of time people spend already in congestion, it’s about 66 hours for the average Aucklander per year. That’s a massive amount,” he said.
When considering congestion charging, overseas examples are often called upon for their learned experience: London, Stockholm, and New York City.
A major difference between Auckland and those international behemoths, however, is a reliable and well-funded public transport network.
Welch said those cities invested heavily in buses, rail, walking and cycling before launching congestion charging.
“If you look at something like London, they’re talking about 500 or 600 additional bus services leading up to the congestion charge, and big investments in the Tube.
“In New York, $15 billion [spent] in public transport, walking and cycling, and alternatives to parking, all sorts of things well in advance to really bulk up the alternatives,” he said.
The consequence of not investing heavily in Auckland’s public transport network before introducing a charge, Welch said, will be public backlash.
“People are going to see the same public transport system, the same alternatives or lack of alternatives, and then see an additional charge, and it’s gonna feel punitive.
“It’s gonna feel like a punishment for driving, and that’s really not the idea behind congestion charging. It’s not meant to be a punishment for anybody who wants or has to drive,” he said.
Besides efficiency, Auckland could do a lot to make public transport a more attractive option.
“We could reduce the cost of public transport. That’s a big one. There are people who really struggle to pay for the fares.
“Auckland is often ranked as one of the highest public transport fare costs in the world. We’re anywhere from number seven in the world to number three, depending on how you look at it.
“So reducing that beyond just expanding service, beyond just more frequency, making it more affordable, especially for the people who are struggling to pay those fares to begin with, would be a huge benefit,” he said.
According to the latest Deutsche Bank Research Institute report Mapping the World’s Prices 2026, Auckland joins London, Sydney, New York and Melbourne as having the most expensive public transport costs in the world.
Luxembourg remains the cheapest – most public transport continues to be free, a policy “that has helped anchor its 1st quality-of-life ranking”.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Exemptions
- What are peak times?
- Where would the money go?
- Benefits and trade-offs.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald , available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio , Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
