Greens find any excuse to oppose roads

The Herald reports:

Fewer teenagers are learning to drive with more people aged over 75 on the road than people aged under 20.

The Statistics NZ figures show young Kiwis are “falling out of love” with the car, the Greens say.

And separate data from the Ministry of Transport shows the number of licences being issued each year increased until 2010, before dropping back to levels of a decade ago.

About 3.5 million people in New Zealand held a driver’s licence in 2012, but by June last year, that figure had dropped by about 100,000.

The Greens say the drop in young people with licences is a good reason for the Government to rethink its motorway expansion projects.

Transport spokeswoman, Julie Anne Genter, said the data suggests the Government should be investing less on roads.

The Greens look for any excuse to oppose roads. Julie Anne used to say that the Government had miscalculated the benefits of roads as oil prices were going to double and treble. And then the price of oil dropped by half. But the Greens still maintain nyet to all roads.

A sensible transport strategy includes spending on both roads and rail. But the Greens never ever support a new road or motorway.

The drop in licences is interesting but may be as simple as people are waiting longer to get a licence.  What is the more useful data is actual road usage.