Working with Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, Auckland Council has supported the development of a deliberative forum on the future of the transport system, based on the principles of deliberative democracy. The aim was to understand the viewpoints of a diverse cross-section of citizens before and after their exposure to expert knowledge, interactions with fellow participants, and examination of the trade-offs associated with various choices through structured exercises.

A group of nearly 100 Aucklanders was selected and the question that was put to the participants was:
What changes do you think are needed to ensure that everyone can get around Auckland efficiently, affordably, safely and sustainably, well into the future?

Extract from the Executive summary

Auckland's transport network faces significant challenges. Planning that has prioritized private car travel over public transport has created car dependency, compounding emissions and congestion problems. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has asked Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to develop a plan for reducing private vehicle travel, as an important part of the effort to reach its emissions reduction goal. This reduction may require substantial shifts in transport systems and behaviour. Therefore, it is crucial to gain insight into public opinion regarding potential changes to ensure that they will be supported and effective.

Working with Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures at the University of Auckland, the Council has supported the development of a deliberative forum on the future of the transport system, based on the principles of deliberative democracy. The aim was to understand the viewpoints of a diverse cross-section of citizens before and after their exposure to expert knowledge, interactions with fellow participants, and examination of the trade-offs associated with various choices through structured exercises. The group of nearly 100 Aucklanders was selected using two-step randomised civic lottery process known as sortition.

The question that was put to the participants was:

What changes do you think are needed to ensure that everyone can get around Auckland efficiently, affordably, safely and sustainably, well into the future?

The primary measure of the impact of the deliberative process was the change in survey responses obtained before and after the deliberation, regarding participants' perspectives on the existing transport system and its impacts, and their level of support for various possible changes. The survey asked how much they agreed or disagreed with a set of statements, using a Likert rating scale from 0 (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). The difference in responses between the two surveys revealed shifts in views after learning and deliberation. Qualitative data on participants views during deliberation was also collected and analysed.

What did the deliberative forum tell us?

Results of the pre- and post-deliberation surveys are summarised in the table.

At the start of the forum there was already support for some (but not all) changes and interventions that would help to reduce the negative impacts of transport. After deliberation, support for all such interventions increased, as indicated by the mean level of support across all participants. From the start, the participants understood that building more road lanes was not a particularly effective way to alleviate congestion and other problems, with low support in the first survey reducing further after learning and deliberation.

The data indicate that the most favoured changes are:

• Upgrade Auckland’s rail network so that trains run faster and more frequently
• Make it safer, easier and more comfortable for everybody to walk around their local area
• Provide more bus services so that buses turn up frequently at all times of the day
• Provide a safe and connected bike path network across the Auckland region, including removing car parking spaces where required
• Build more homes closer to the city centre, public transport stations and main bus routes ...

Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, November 2023

See also

Auckland Council website

Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway, TERP