ARTA Annual Report 2009 - Auckland Transport

Finding out what stakeholders think of our plans
The draft 2009 Auckland Transport Plan (ATP) was released for public consultation in March 2009. This plan
is the flagship 10-year planning document for putting into action an integrated and sustainable transport
system for the region. It unites the strategies, plans, projects and packages developed by ARTA, local
authorities, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and KiwiRail into a single transport plan. The 2009 ATP builds
on the 2007 ATP in establishing a multi-modal, multi-agency transport implementation plan, which outlines
the priorities of land transport packages and projects over the next decade, within a long-term context.
All but 23 of the 554 submission received were in support of Rodney District Council’s Penlink project, which
links the Whangaparaoa peninsula with Stillwater, East Coast Road and SH1. Accepted from other submissions
were the inclusion of specific and more detailed reference to matters such as transport and energy use,
climate change, peak oil, public health and environmental impacts of transport, and an assurance that the
plan would not be limited by an outdated Regional Land Transport Strategy from 2005, but would rather
build on the strategic direction of the draft 2010 ARLTS. The final plan was released at the end of June.
The draft Regional Land Transport Programme for 2009-2012 (RLTP) was also released for public
consultation. There were 34 submissions. A number of these submissions were made to both the
ATP and RLTP. Many submitters agreed with the broad direction of the transport challenges.
However, a number expressed concern that too much funding is still directed towards roading-based solutions.
One submitter did wish to see the acceleration of major State highway projects and linked these to economic
efficiency of the port and region. There were several requests to extend and improve the frequency of
rail services and bus services and to fast-track progress of public transport and travel demand initiatives.
Hearings were held in May and the final plan also released in June.
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Planning for a world-class city