Ummmm, let me get this straight, if there’s a fuel tax, you’ll stop driving in Auckland?

1. Good Martyn – then there will be less cars on the streets and log jams everywhere. Let them leave the city in droves, it will suit the rest of who can see the benefits of the tax in getting more public transport up and running. These people have obviously never been overseas and got used to the idea of public transport and using it on a daily basis – ignorance pure and simple.

   • Good ridance to bad rubbish is all I can say@@@@!!!!!!

     Where do all these petrolheads think they are going to?????

     If you live in Auckland it’s your fault the city is so congested now that two thirds of all the road funding goes direcrtly to Auckland and not the other provinces now so we suffer because of bad roads because of your excesses!!!!

     NZTA have told us in Napier that they have no money to fix our roads now that trucks are gridocked on the roads and see this that I wrote about the truck problem now.

     So as all our fuel taxes is sent to Auckland for your roads we suffer this;

     Trucks are ruining our roads, and costing us other users disproportionate costs than they do get charged so fuck off you truckies.

     You simply that want us public to keep subsidising you all while we go bankrupt so suck it up !!!

     If you want to gridlock our roads as your trucks pound them to ruin well you need to pay your fair share of cost.

     http://archive.gao.gov/f0302/109884.pdf

     US engineers (gao) studies show that one truck wears road surfaces almost equal to 9600 cars every time they pass over each km of road surface, butwe dont see trucks paying 9600 times the cast that we pay for one car do we?

     (Quote ) “The American A CLI sac-iation of State Highway and Transportation Officials reported that concentrating large amounts of weight on a single axle multiplies the impact of the weight exponentially,

     Although a five-axle tractortrailer loaded to the current 80,000-pound Federal weight limit weighs about the same as 20 automobiles, the impact of the tractortrailer is dramatically higher.

     Based on Association data, and confirmed by its officials, such a tractor-trailer has the same impact on an interstate highway as at least 9,600 automobiles. Increasing truck weight causes an ever increasing rate of pavement damage. (See p. 23.) ”

     Janet,

     We in Napier now have the most truck traffic through any suburban city limit than anywhere else in NZ now with an average of between 2400 and 2600 trucks each day, – every 24/7 each day seven days a week.
     When I returned to Napier to live from Florida in 1999 we had only 577 trucks each 24 hours then.

     18yrs later truck traffic has trebled!!!!!!!! Not sustainable for humans or roads.

     It has gotten so bad than those living near the HB Expressway (a single lane road) need now t sleep with a radio by their ears to block out the continual truck noise every minute around the clock, that is why we have been fighting to get our Napier/Gisborne rail back for over five years since the national stooge Steven Joyce stole the money off our rail maintenance and sent it to Auckland for commuter rail and they caused our rail to get washed out inn March 2012 and will not fix it at their cost yet!!!

     Labour/NZF have vowed to come and reopen our rail bless them.

     Michael Joseph Savage ur first labour Prime Minister began building the rail link from wairoa to Gisborne in 1937 and completed it in 1942 and we had just doubled our freight in March 2012 before national came and destroyed it, – so goodbye National & hello labour/NZF.

     Same on Highway 2 from HB/Gisborne to Tauranga,

     The roads break apart every week after they come and stuff the cracks and holes with QuickCrete bags and ut fine chip over the patches so now our 350km road looks like a quilt on a bed.

     I have had my steering bent four times in four months from these shoddy repair of the roads.

     It costs us $70 each time we get another wheel alignment now we should charge NZTA/Downers to pay for this cost at least..

     Anyway the roads are becoming dangerous to drive now. If they restore the rail and give us back passenger rail I will go on the train as I have had enough of these roads now.

2. I drive along Kelmarna Ave and am, more often that not, tail gated by grim reaper types in Big Black Shiny German 4×4’s. How about a Dick Head tax as well?

   • Unfortunately taxes can’t modify the behaviour of wankers. But it can make it easier to automate lowering the risks for the upfront costs of automation. Some really really really fucken tight peer reviewed procurement process are doing to have to be put in to all this. But I think once Aucklanders understand the benefits of light rail they’ll look back on there fears as loony.

   • I’m with you Countryboy.

3. Good riddance then – it will.all be electric soon.
   It’s gonna happen and happen fast – you watch.

   • Electric cars = zero fuel tax.
     How does that pay for better public transport?
     Transfer the tax to the ticket price of public transport?
     Has to come from somewhere but don’t think that would be popular.
     Tax South Island motorists perhaps.

     • Fuel tax less the upfront costs of doing sweet fuck all.

4. Seems The Herald will always have an excuse for doing half assed jobs.

5. “Gavin Logan of Avondale said: “No I will not be happy to pay this tax if it is introduced and will make sure that every time I am out of the Auckland Council area that I fill my car to the max to avoid as much of this tax as I can.”

   Whinging buggers! Most of them are probably self-entitled Nat/Act voters.

   Ok, so if the fuel tax is 10 cents a litre extra , they’ll leave Auckland? What if we double it to 20 cents, will they leave NZ??

6. Revolting motorists over a pissy fuel tax, Jacinda cursing the All Blacks, fuck the Herald is plumbing the depths!

   • “National voters are revolting!”

     Now there’s a headline.

7. I am not against this, but it will of course lead to market distortions. When spending some time in Europe, I learned how petrol and diesel prices differed between neighbouring countries, due to differing levels of tax and so.

   This leads to locals living near borders to make the short trip across the border, to a country, where the fuel is cheaper, to fill up and to then drive back home, to use their cars, and once the tank is near empty, they do another trip across the border to tank up.

   That is no problem in the EU, as there are no borders that stop people from traveling between member countries.

   If a fuel tax applies only to Auckland, then drivers will of course find ways to avoid the extra tax, by traveling out of Auckland, to fill their tanks.

   This may mean, another measure may be more appropriate, perhaps central government should take over a yet higher share of the costs of building infrastructure in Auckland, by increasing a tax on fuel nationally. That will annoy others not living in Auckland, so then there may be yet other steps, such as road user levies, or whatever.

   It is no easy solution, and may not quite work as anticipated.

   The simple fact is, Aucklanders, and even all New Zealanders, certainly city dwellers, need to wake up and start to accept, the luxury of driving an individual motor vehicle is unsustainable, is wasteful, and a change of lifestyles is needed.

   The sprawl and drive everywhere lifestyle has to be put to the grave, sooner or later, and that is why I also oppose Phil Twyford’s idea to abolish the Rural Urban Limit, or what it is now called, which Auckland Council created, to stop the sprawl of the city going on endlessly.

   More immigrants need to be attracted to the regions. With more investment and jobs going there, this should be possible. A two and a half million city of Auckland will become unsustainable, and need not happen. So stop that for a start, and build the infrastructure to replace cars, you cannot have both, dear Aucklanders.

   Yet most seem to want their cars, and nice trains and buses, which they only use on outings at night, into the city, or for commuting to and from work. They still want to drive to the malls, out of town and so forth, and cycling is only a leisure activity, where the bike is put on the roof or the back of the car, to drive to a park, or area outside of the city, to do some cycling.

   This all needs to change, I fear though, when asked for this, the majority of petrol heads will complain and rebel, and vote Nats in 2020. Catch 22 we have then.

8. All we will hear like before Sept 23rd and after is opposition to anything this government intends to do to try and resolve the crises the John Key- English National government are responsible for.

   The Herald is fucking irresponsible running this crap when a fuel tax has long been promoted to try and ease the congestion that it and other right wing media having been railing against for years.

   How do these idiots think the problem is going to be solved without some congestion charge and with this tax they will be getting a lower rates bill once it takes effect.

   If Key , English or Joyce had imposed this fuel tax it would have been sold as a national significant levy to get Auckland moving again and a sensible economic answer to Aucklands traffic problem and not one dissenting voice against it.

9. Can’t help thinking that those who complain about the tax are also those who complain about the traffic problems and think “the government/council should do something.” Public transport is the answer and it has to be paid for. It’s not going to get any cheaper the longer you leave it. Summer is coming: get out of the car, – take the train or the bus, walk, bike. While the Auckland centred petrol tax will contribute funds to the public transport infrastructure, it will probably have the consequence of people using public transport to save paying the tax. Win / win.

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