Horse and Carriage

Maurice Williamson has said that he is “surprised the Greens haven’t advocated a return to horse and carriage as our main mode of transport” in response to the Greens call for the funding for Auckland’s motorways to be moved into public transport.

I am actually a fan of public transport, where population density and grography make it workable. Ironically the biggest enemy of public transport is the Greens (and yes I am serious) because they persist with the madness that public transport is an *alternative* to roads. They are not. They are complementary. By pushing it as an alternative to roads, they almost doom its chance of sucess.

Let’s use a local example. The Government is looking at five packages for Wellington. One of those packages is a $410 million investment into primarily public transport. Now guess how many less cars a day it is predicted this investment would lead to? 100!!! Yes that is right $410 million will only result in 100 less cars a day on Wellington roads. It would be cheaper to buy 100 motorists a helicopter each and tell them to fly to work.

Now this is not a case to never invest in public transport, but one has to be very clear about your thinking. If you think spending on public transport will make even a small small dent in traffic congestion, then you are wrong. It will make public transport more pleasant and useful for those who use it, but it will not lead to any significant reduction in traffic congestion.