9 Mar 2011

Auckland councillors 'infrequent' public transport users

7:46 am on 9 March 2011

As Auckland's mayor pushes for a doubling of public transport patronage, a survey has found his own councillors use it sparingly.

Only three of 13 Auckland councillors say they use public transport for more than 10% of their commuting, and even fewer for official trips.

Radio New Zealand News asked councillors, the council and its major agencies to gauge their commitment to giving up cars.

Auckland Transport's chief executive is a regular rail commuter but among his senior management only 10% of commuting is on public transport.

Mayor Len Brown says the new organisations will develop internal policies to encourage public transport use, but he does not favour this to be compulsory.

In the mayor's office, only a third of its 20 staff commute by car, but the Auckland Council itself could not answer questions about the level of use among senior managers or whether it had guidelines.