The Government is stepping in to cut the number of kilometres Aucklanders drive by nearly a third to curb the city’s globally high transport emissions rate.
The planned cuts by 2035 stem from one of the targets in the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
But the proposal, which is scant in detail, has been criticised as adding to the bureaucratic process with “a never-ending merry-go-round of plans”and perceived as a “war on private vehicles”.
Transport Minister Michael Wood, who is also the new Minister for Auckland, said: “Once we have a clear target in place we can look at the investments required to get there.”
The Auckland Council, with three of its own plans to reduce transport emissions, has signed up to a convoluted process to develop an Urban Vehicle Kilometres Travelled Reduction Programme by December this year.
