At a Road Transport conference today, one suggestion was for motorway tolls. One person suggested a toll of $3 for cars at peak hours with maybe only $1 during off-peak hours. Trucks would have to pay more. This could bring in the $300 to $400m each year which the City Council needs to develop and maintain roads. Another suggestion was to introduce a congestion tax like the one in many other cities around the world. Drivers who choose to bring their cars into the city during working hours would pay this tax. A road toll or a congestion tax would encourage more people to use public transport or to car pool.
One truck driver said that trucks deliver – to shops, factories, construction sites and warehouses – the equivalent of 1 tonne of freight each day for every household in Auckland. This is 182,000,000 tonnes a year. However, trucks also transport goods through Auckland to other parts of New Zealand, and Auckland has to provide roads for these trucks. Truck drivers waste many hours sitting in traffic jams on congested roads.
One speaker said that Auckland has 35% of the country’s population and produces 35% of its GDP. It is therefore important to find a solution to the traffic problem.
Vocabulary
• peak hours – the busiest times e.g. 8am and 5pm (A peak is the top of a mountain)
• develop roads – make new roads
• maintain roads – keep them in good condition
• congestion (n), congested (adj) – traffic jams
• car pool – 3 or 4 people in one car
• GDP – Gross Domestic Product; one measure of a country’s economy
Note: While a car pool is a noun, to car pool is used here as a verb like to drive.
Questions
1. Are congested roads a problem in your country? What are some of the solutions?
2. Does Auckland have good alternative transport so that people do not have to drive everywhere?