New Zealanders have a very high car ownership rate. Even in cities like Wellington and Auckland, where there is a greater convenience of public transportation than the rest of the nation, citizens choose to drive to work. According to Metlink, only 17% of Wellingtonians and 7% of Aucklanders use public transportation as opposed to other cosmopolitan cities with upwards of 50% usage of public transportation. Even third world countries have better transportation systems than New Zealand.
Traffic in Wellington
Joining the Rest of the World
It is time for cities in New Zealand to join the rest of the developed urban metropolises (and even the not-so developed-ones) with the amount commuting we do in public transport. Cities like New York, Seoul, Mexico City, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, and heaps of other cities have massive public transport systems. And there are many other cities which are currently building their own public transport systems. For example, Bangkok, Thailand has been notorious for having traffic jams all over the city. Only when Bangkok recently built its own transit system have conditions greatly improved.
Auckland, which houses about one third of the entire population of New Zealand and has upwards of one million people, only has two and half train lines and only a few buses. These provide less service than public transit systems of many other global cities. There can only be so many roads built to provide for the hoards of traffic which travel in and out of the city. Environmental issues and traffic jams are major problems for such a small nation. New Zealand has a great environment and wonderful scenic views. Why must we destroy it with private vehicles?
Highway towards Auckland
I really don’t mean to put New Zealand down. I love this nation from Wellington to Waitomo, but I wish we can improve the layout of traffic in cities. Our metropolises have a great potential of improving the flow of traffic in and around them, which will enhance the look and feel of our urban environments.
Start Slowly
If public transportation scares you, why not start with using public transport once a week. You will then find that the bus and train system is not as daunting as it might seem and you will start to use public transportation always when going to work, school, or doctors appointments. Me personally being in Wellington for a short amount of time, it seems so much easier to avoid bringing the car into the city centre from the outer-laying suburbs due to the hassle of parking and traffic. Wellington, being so small, is much better to navigate on foot rather than by car.
Budget in Transportation
In terms of budgeting, public transportation is very predictable when it comes to how much you spend a month. You only have to give a certain fixed amount of your income to provide for public transport, whereas a private vehicle leaves you with much more unpredictable costs. Your private car can break down at any time, petrol fees are always swinging up and down, and traffic on the roadways can always build up when least expected (changing the required amount of petrol).
Keep in mind that you can avoid having to pay for petrol and other maintenance costs if you can avoid using a car. And I’m sure most of you can agree that parking in the city can put a hefty weight on your wallet as well. If more people start using public transportation to travel in and out of the city centre, and to navigate the city itself, the entire system will inevitably improve as buses and trains will to have keep up with increasing ridership and will start to run more frequently.
If you start to use public transport more often (which is what we all should be hoping for), definitely buy a monthly bus or train pass or a card that will speed up boarding and exiting (such as the Snapper here in Wellington) as those will save you money from buying the full fare every time.
Greater New Zealand
If enough New Zealanders start taking public transportation to work and school, at least in our larger cities, the infrastructure of the city will improve as this will do improve gridlock. Not only is this better for your budget, but it will also improve the air quality of cities. Not to mention the emission of green house gases into the atmosphere. It will decrease our dependence on foreign oil and imported goods (Japanese and American vehicles) which is better for our economy. All in a day’s work to improve New Zealand.
Buses in Wellington, part of GO Wellington
By Wahid Hussaini
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