The government has decided to add 3 cents a litre in October this year and another 3 cents next year to the cost of petrol. This 6 cents will be used for more roads and mostly in Auckland.
Last year, the Labour government allowed regions to add a tax to petrol. Each region then could spend the money the way they wanted to. Some regions said they wanted to spend more money on public transport and some regions did not want to add a tax to petrol at all. Auckland was planning to add 14 cents to the cost of petrol but this has now changed. This tax was partly to pay for improving the trains and bus services in Auckland. The plan was to have one ticket for trains, buses and ferries but this will probably not happen now.
The Green Party is not happy about the government’s decision to build more roads instead of improving public transport. More roads means more cars and more carbon in the atmosphere. In Auckland, the North Shore bus expressway has been very successful but the government does not plan to build more of these bus expressways.
However, there is a plan to make the trains in Auckland and Wellington electric instead of diesel. The government says that these trains will be part of Kiwi Rail which will pay for them instead of the local region.