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Abstract
Two recent articles have described an ‘Americanisation’ of transport policy in Auckland, New Zealand, characterised by the successful advocacy of motorways at the expense of rail. Arrested development of rail transit in Auckland presents a striking contrast to Wellington, New Zealand, where suburban rail is as well developed relative to population as in Perth (WA). Wellington's suburban rail was installed as part of a state-led development planning programme. By the late 1940s this template was intended for extension to Christchurch and to Auckland, then undergoing rapid growth. Following a change of government in 1949 development planning ceased and a state highway fund was established to fund urban motorways instead. The principal conclusion is that state support for development planning along transit corridors may be a prerequisite for successful urban transit development.
Notes
1 When used without qualification, proper city names refer to the respective metropolitan regions in this article. The same is true of the word ‘city’ when used without capitalisation. The word ‘government’ or ‘Government’ similarly refers to the New Zealand Government. The word ‘transit’ is used to mean public transport, except when referring to Transit New Zealand, the New Zealand state highway construction agency.
2 The section of Bush (Citation1971) that runs from pp. 419 to 428 is a most valuable resource.
3 The latest official statistics, reflecting recent growth in patronage on both systems from 1990s nadirs. Older statistics are available in Bachels et al., (Citation1999) and are also cited in Dodson and Mees (Citation2003).
4 See bus/rail route maps on URL: http://www.wrc.govt.nz/rt/pickroute.cfm.
5 Hillary Court, Naenae; Hutt City archive photograph 5013.
6 Schrader (Citation1996) criticises a lack of public transport leading to housewives being stuck at home. The commuter rail service began from Naenae in 1946, but on the other hand the local buses that now loop between stations and shopping centres might well have taken much longer to establish. See also Sarnitz (2004).
7 Strangely enough this Australian expression seems never to be used in New Zealand.
8 Betterment is often narrowly associated with zoning for more intensive use; this is the formal, cadastral acknowledgement of the land's strategic location relative to the rest of the city or a nearby public infrastructure.
9 For instance, the architect Sven Markelius was responsible both for folkhem housing designs and for Stockholm's historic 1944 General Plan for transit (CitationDavidson, 1994; CitationCervero, 1999).
10 The other important historical factor in the USA being race, compounding fragmentation (CitationWeiher, 1991).
11 See URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz for all the figures named.
12 A very recent Local Government Act 2002 also allows collection of contributions for more general ‘network infrastructure’ potentially including regional transit, although this is as yet untried.
13 Retired New Zealand Herald transport reporter Graham Stewart recalls Transport Minister Goosman stating as early as July 1953, at the opening of Auckland's first section of motorway, that “My boy, the future of Auckland is with the motor car” (Stewart, Citation2002, p. 140).
14 This ‘critical mass’ argument is supported by present-day differences in rail subsidy between Auckland and Wellington. Comparison is complicated by lack of a common accounting convention; but the subsidy per rail passenger seems at least two and a half times higher in Auckland than in Wellington.
15 Later replaced by diesels.
16 The tied-up figure is “definitely” Luxford (CitationBush, 2004, pers. comm.). See also ‘Luxford, John Hector’ on http://www.dnzb.govt.nz.
17 There is no bus- or carpool priority lane either.
18 Detailed density diagram can be found in Cullum (1969).
19 See, for instance, ‘Tomorrow's Manukau’ on URL: http://www.manukau.govt.nz.
20 URLs: http://www.vicurban.com.au, http://www.landcorp.com.au; http://www.urcs-online.co.uk.