BEFORE A BOARD OF INQUIRY EAST WEST LINK PROPOSAL Under the Resource Management Act 1991 In the matter of a Board of Inquiry appointed under s149J of the Resource Management Act 1991 to consider notices of requirement and applications for resource consent made by the New Zealand Transport Agency in relation to the East West Link roading proposal in Auckland Statement of Evidence in Chief of Anthony David Cross on behalf of Auckland Transport dated 10 May 2017 BARRISTERS AND SOLICITORS A J L BEATSON SOLICITOR FOR THE SUBMITTER AUCKLAND LEVEL 22, VERO CENTRE, 48 SHORTLAND STREET PO BOX 4199, AUCKLAND 1140, DX CP20509, NEW ZEALAND TEL 64 9 916 8800 FAX 64 9 916 8801 EMAIL [email protected] Introduction 1. My full name is Anthony David Cross. I currently hold the position of Network Development Manager in the AT Metro (public transport) division of Auckland Transport (AT). 2. I hold a Bachelor of Regional Planning degree from Massey University. 3. I have 31 years’ experience in public transport planning. I worked at Wellington Regional Council between 1986 and 2006, and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority between 2006 and 2010. I have held my current role since AT was established in 2010. 4. In this role, I am responsible for specifying the routes and service levels (timetables) for all of Auckland’s bus services. Since 2012, I have led the AT project known as the New Network, which by the end of 2018 will result in a completely restructured network of simple, connected and more frequent bus routes across all of Auckland. I discuss this in greater detail in my evidence. Code of Conduct 5. While I am an employee of Auckland Transport, I confirm that I have read the ‘Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses’ contained in the Environment Court Consolidated Practice Note 2014. I agree to comply with this Code of Conduct. In particular, unless I state otherwise, this evidence is within my sphere of expertise and I have not omitted to consider material facts known to me that might alter or detract from the opinions I express. Scope of Evidence 6. My evidence explains the relationship of AT’s public transport activities to the East West Link (EWL) project. 7. In particular, my evidence addresses: (a) Public transport in the strategic context of AT’s transport planning and investment; (b) The New Network currently being implemented by AT; 20869641_3 1 (c) The EWL in the context of AT’s New Network; (d) Managing disruption to the public transport network during EWL construction; and (e) The risk of disruption to train services posed by works near the Southdown Substation. 8. My evidence does not address the integration of the EWL with future Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) between the City Centre and the Airport via Onehunga and Mangere. This is addressed in the evidence of Mr Theunis van Schalkwyk’s for AT. 9. My evidence should be read in conjunction with the evidence of the other AT witnesses listed below. I defer to their expertise where necessary and relevant: (a) Mr Theunis van Schalkwyk (corporate); (b) Ms Kathryn King (walking and cycling); (c) Mr Michael Davies (operational and construction traffic effects); and (d) Mr Liam Winter (planning – conditions). Public transport in the strategic context of Auckland Transport’s transport planning and investment 10. AT is a Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) of the Auckland Council charged with contributing to an “effective, efficient and safe Auckland land transport system in the public interest”.1 A number of public transport related activities fall within this remit: (a) The planning, funding and regulation of public transport services; (b) The funding and development of public transport infrastructure; and (c) Promoting the use of public transport. 1 Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, section 39. 20869641_3 2 11. Public transport is a core component in Auckland’s transport policy direction which emphasises a multi-modal approach to transport planning and investment. It is now widely recognised that public transport: (a) Provides a viable alternative to the private car for a wide variety of trips; (b) Makes more spatially efficient use of existing transport assets; (c) Offers significant environmental benefits; and (d) Facilitates agglomeration of economic activity. 12. Two strategic planning and policy documents are particularly instructive in guiding AT’s public transport activities. The first is the Auckland Plan, which identifies a move to outstanding public transport as one of six transformational shifts. Targets in the plan include: (a) Doubling public transport from 70 million to 140 million trips annually by 2022; (b) Increasing the proportion of all trips made by public transport into the city centre during the morning peak from 47% to 70% by 2040; (c) Increasing the non-car mode share in the morning peak from 23% to 45% of all trips by 2040; and (d) Increasing the number of public transport trips per person from 44 to 100 by 2040. 13. The second is the Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP), which is a statutory document under the Land Transport Management Act 2003. The RPTP describes the public transport network that AT proposes for the region, identifies the services that are integral to that network over the next 10 years, and sets out the objectives, policies and procedures that apply to those services. The most recent iteration of the RPTP was approved in 2015 following a public consultation process. 20869641_3 3 14. The objectives, policies and actions identified in the RPTP have directly informed the development of the ‘New Network’ currently being implemented. I explain the New Network in the next part of my evidence. The New Network 15. The public transport network in Auckland previously was focused on providing a one seat ride network to the City Centre. There was no integration between the buses and trains, due to the poor level of train services. The result of this was a complex proliferation of lengthy, indirect and infrequent routes that are confusing and inconvenient to the consumer, and inefficient and ineffective for AT. 16. There has been significant investment in public transport infrastructure in recent years, including the opening of Britomart Station (2003), the Northern Busway (2008) and electrification of the rail network (2014). Concurrently, legislative changes have enhanced AT’s ability to better plan, fund and regulate Auckland’s public transport system. These changes collectively presented the opportunity to undertake a comprehensive review of the whole public transport system. The ‘New Network’ is our name for this review. Figure 1 17. The New Network is based on creating an integrated public transport network built around a core of Rapid and Frequent2 services supplemented by lower order services (see Figure 1). A significant increase in frequency and operating efficiency is enabled by reducing service duplication and utilising transfers between services instead of 2 Rapid and Frequent services are to deliver a minimum 15-minute service frequency from 7am-7pm, seven days a week with reduced frequency outside those hours. 20869641_3 4 running lengthy, circuitous one-seat rides. Figure 2 illustrates the change in approach – model 2 enables the same resources to be deployed three times as frequently as in model 1 by utilising a connection. These network design principles already work in many North American and European cities. Figure 2 18. The New Network is supported by an integrated fares system which removes the transfer penalty for customers and new infrastructure such as Otahuhu Station with its new bus facilities to enable bus to train transfers. 19. The New Network has thus far been implemented in Green Bay and Titirangi (since August 2014), the Hibiscus Coast (since October 2015), and the whole of South Auckland, Pukekohe and Waiuku (since October 2016). The patronage response to the New Network rollout has thus far been promising. 20. For instance, the year-on-year results3 in December 2016 for South Auckland show: (a) Bus patronage has increased by +25,000 (+7% year on year); (b) Train patronage has increased by +47,000 trips (+25% year on year); 3 AT Board Business Report, Feb 2017 – https://at.govt.nz/media/1972586/item-10- open-business-report-february-2017.pdf 20869641_3 5 (c) Bus and train combined have increased by +72,000 (+14%); and (d) Bus-bus transfers have increased by +24,000 (+136%), bus-train transfers have increased by +44,000 (+218%) and all transfers have increased by +68,000 (+216%). 21. The above results demonstrate that patronage growth is comfortably outstripping population growth. Particularly notable are the significant increases in transferring between services, which demonstrate that the principles underpinning the New Network explained above are fundamentally sound and are being realised in practice. The East West Link in the context of the New Network 22. The majority of the EWL project area falls within the New Network for the Central/Isthmus area (see Attachment A). Consultation has been completed for this area of the New Network and the changes are scheduled to occur in early 2018. The project area also impacts on services which were implemented in the Southern New Network (see Attachment B). 23. The New Network services in the project area include: (a) Services accessing Onehunga from the south via State Highway 20. These include routes 309, 313 and 3804 (all connector services); (b) Services utilising Great South Road. These include routes 321, 322, 723 and Crosstown 8 (all connector services); (c) ‘Crosstown’ services including Crosstown 7 (a Frequent service utilising Mt Smart Road), Crosstown 8 (a Connector service utilising Church Street and Great South Road), and Route 723 (a Connector service utilising Church Street); (d) Route 32, a Frequent route utilising Mt Wellington Highway running between Sylvia Park, Otahuhu and Mangere; 4 AT intention is to increase the 380 service from a Connector to a Frequent service and renumber it to 38 in the next few years.