Auckland Transport Alignment Project Te Whakakotahi i ngā Kaupapa Waka o Tāmaki

The ATAP cross-agency project team developed Better Travel Choices, a plan to help enable a “mode shift” from private vehicles to walking, cycling and public transport over the next five years.

It identified the following key priorities subject to funding:

• Shaping a supportive urban form.
• Making shared and active modes more attractive.
• Influencing travel demand and transport choices.

The ATAP indicative package for 2018-2028 period was updated to reflect the Government’s and Auckland Council’s shared transport priorities. Around $28 billion of transport funding was likely to be available for investment in Auckland over the next decade.

The update put greater weight on:

• accelerating the development of Auckland’s rapid transit network, particularly to unlock housing and urban development opportunities.
• encouraging walking and cycling and making these active modes safer for Aucklanders.
• delivering improvements in health, safety, the environment and access, including disability access.
• ensuring the indicative package delivers the best possible value for money, including broader non-monetary costs and benefits.

The ATAP cross-agencies updated and agreed to the indicative package to reflect higher population growth projections and updated revenue and expenditure expenses.

This report informed funding decisions and the development of Auckland’s Regional Land Transport Plan.

The strategic approach report built on the foundation and interim reports. It set out an agreed strategic approach for the development of Auckland’s transport system over the next 30 years, including an indicative $24 billion investment package for 2018-2028. 

The recommended approach focused on three components:

• Making better use of existing networks.
• Targeting investments to the most significant challenges.
• Maximising new opportunities to influence travel demand.

The interim report is the second of three reports that make up the Auckland Transport Alignment Project.

It outlined:

• preliminary findings and conclusions from the work undertaken to date
• an emerging strategic approach to developing Auckland’s transport system
• the focus for the next stage of work.

The foundation report is the first of three project deliverables. 

It included:

• An overview of the strategic context for the project and the current transport situation in Auckland.
• An outline of future trends and agreed assumptions for the project.
• The evaluation framework used to test how different options support the project objectives.
• An assessment of future transport challenges.

On 27 August 2015, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport, the Mayor of Auckland and an Auckland Councillor signed the ATAP Terms of Reference. This set out a structure under which officials would work together to undertake the project.

The Government and Council recognised that Auckland needs significant investment in its transport system in the coming decades to provide for its forecast growth. Through this agreement, they committed to ensuring Auckland’s transport system is able to meet the region’s needs. They also sought to ensure that investment in the system addresses the region’s transport challenges and provides value for money.

Beehive Release: Terms of Reference agreed for Auckland(external link)

The first work in the project was to release 3 reports aimed at achieving an agreed strategic approach for developing Auckland’s transport system over the next 30 years.