The Congestion Question Te Urupounamu mō Te Pokenga o Ngā Rori

To understand the public’s view about congestion pricing, the Transport and Infrastructure Committee is holding an inquiry into whether congestion pricing should be introduced in Auckland.

To read more about the Select Committee inquiry and make a submission, visit Parliament’s website here(external link)

The closing date for submissions is 20 May 2021.

The Select Committee Inquiry will inform next steps on congestion pricing in Auckland. The timeframe for final recommendations from the Inquiry is yet to be confirmed.

The Ministry (in conjunction with partner agencies Waka Kotahi, Auckland Transport, Auckland Council, Treasury and the Public Service Commission) has released a technical investigation report into Auckland congestion pricing.

The report explores a number of different congestion pricing systems used overseas to reduce congestion and improve travel times. It found a congestion pricing system could reduce congestion in Auckland by around 8-12% when fully implemented, like travel experienced during the school holidays.

Officials have found that a larger strategic corridors scheme would be the most beneficial option for congestion pricing in Auckland, and could be phased in. Initially starting in the city centre, it could be expanded to align with planned public transport improvements.

Next steps

Any decision to implement congestion pricing would be made as a joint decision between local and central government and would require:

• Public engagement before any decision to implement could be made.
• Additional design work to decide how a scheme would operate and the infrastructure required to support its operation.
• Identifying ways to manage the impacts of congestion charging on vulnerable groups including exemptions, rebates or discounts.
• Amending the Land Management Transport Act before congestion pricing could be implemented in Auckland or elsewhere.
• Identifying how to manage the funds and spend gathered by a congestion pricing scheme.

The second phase of The Congestion Question focuses on understanding the social and network impacts of various congestion pricing scheme options, and their technical requirements. This research will inform advice to the Government and Auckland Council on whether to introduce congestion pricing in Auckland.

To help assess pricing schemes, we are:

• preparing a social impact assessment and developing options to mitigate negative social impacts
• doing persona research
• assessing environmental impacts
• investigating the technology requirements, and
• undertaking transport modelling.

Social impacts

If congestion pricing is implemented, there will be social impacts, particularly on vulnerable communities. We are assessing how to mitigate these impacts — for example, we have interviewed people who may be affected.

Environmental impacts

Congestion pricing could improve the environment by reducing the number of vehicle trips. We are investigating how great the reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants might be.

Technology requirements

We are investigating how a scheme could be configured. Congestion pricing will require new technology, systems and support, so we are assessing these requirements.

At this stage, there is no confirmed timeframe for completing this work.

The first phase of The Congestion Question project focused on establishing baseline data and background information to provide a foundation for the rest of the project. The Congestion Question: Phase One Report was completed in November 2017.

After the project’s Terms of Reference were agreed in April 2017, we undertook work that culminated in a report to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport and the Auckland Mayor recommending we progress our investigation into congestion pricing for Auckland.

Information in the report

For the report, we updated the baseline data on the existing transport situation in Auckland and projected what the future situation would be like in the absence of congestion pricing.

We undertook research into international experiences of congestion pricing to find out what lessons could be applied to Auckland. This looked at schemes that have been introduced in London, Stockholm, Singapore and other cities, as well as places where congestion pricing had been attempted but was not successful.

We also reviewed previous investigations and research into congestion pricing for Auckland.

Our conclusions

Our overall finding from the first phase of the project was that congestion pricing shows real promise as a means to help address Auckland’s congestion. We learnt valuable lessons from international experiences of congestion pricing about the importance of public engagement and the need to take a staged approach.  

The Government and Auckland Council accepted the report’s recommendation to proceed to the second phase of the project.

The Congestion Question was established as a result of testing and evaluation carried out in the first phase of ATAP.

Through ATAP, the Government and Auckland Council worked together in 2016 to develop a clear direction for Auckland’s transport system over the next 30 years.

Auckland Transport Alignment Project

ATAP found that, to achieve a significant improvement in Auckland’s transport system by 2045, major capital investment in infrastructure is required, alongside demand management interventions like congestion pricing.

The research confirmed that congestion pricing had significant potential to influence travel demand and reduce congestion in Auckland. In response to ATAP’s findings, the Government and Auckland Council established The Congestion Question project. A terms of reference was agreed, with the overall goal being to, ‘undertake a thorough investigation sufficient to support a decision on whether or not to proceed with introducing pricing for demand management purposes in Auckland’.

In March 2004, Cabinet asked us to investigate the feasibility and desirability of road pricing and parking levies in Auckland.

The request resulted in the Auckland Road Pricing Evaluation Study 2006, which explored the economic and social impacts of several alternative schemes. A further phase of the work, the Auckland Road Pricing Study 2008, evaluated 2 specific road-pricing schemes and used feedback from a submissions process in Auckland to assess the public’s response to road pricing in their region.

As well as investigating several alternative schemes, the reports examined road pricing as a means of reducing congestion and raising revenue for investment in land transport. The reports did not make recommendations about whether road pricing should be introduced in Auckland — their function was to present information and data for politicians, members of the public and stakeholders to consider. The schemes were developed to provide enough information to help the Government decide if it should do any further work on road pricing.