Auckland Council prioritizes communication with commuters over ...

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The chairman of the Auckland Council’s Transport Committee says his priority this year will be to ensure commuters are given clear communication if city services are delayed or cancelled.

John Watson said without this, or the necessary replacements to make amends, people would be shoved back into their cars instead of using the city’s public transport system.

“People have all kinds of apps these days to track what’s going on, and the one consistent thing you hear from commuters is ‘we just want to know what’s happening, and we want to know with a reasonable lead time'”.

Last year, Auckland City Council had to deal with public transport issues across the city due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and an overworked and understaffed workforce.

Despite public transportation shortages and disruptions, the council had managed to address some of the city’s problems, Watson said.

The Council was looking for urgency, to make the most of existing infrastructure and to provide practical links to options that might otherwise not be there, he said.

“There is a lot to be said for making what already exists work better, there needs to be a lot more use made of our existing infrastructure,” he said.

Projects such as the City Rail Link and development of Auckland’s ports will continue in 2023.

Meanwhile, solutions are still being rolled out across the city for what Mayor Wayne Brown calls a “public transportation crisis.”

Brown has announced he would begin returning and developing council land used by Auckland’s ports for public use this year.