Covid-19, drought, the harbour bridge: Auckland's crises generate plenty of lessons
Friday, 25 September 2020
OPINION: Crises can generate swift and innovative responses, and Auckland has had more than its share in 2020 of unexpected setbacks.
Covid-19, the drought, and the impairment of its harbour bridge are just a few of 2020’s curveballs.
Just a handful of the rapid responses include things that have been in the too-hard basket for years.
Those include boarding buses through the back door rather than only the front, making more room for pedestrians on Queen St, and ending A-grade drinking water as a construction material.
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**
Not all are ideas that will change the world, but there are plenty of good examples of what can be done when decision-makers move into must-do mode.
When a wind blast tipped a truck into a strut on the harbour bridge, its eight lanes suddenly became four, creating traffic havoc.
Among the solutions to keep moving people over the bridge was to turn a feeder road into bus-only access.
Auckland’s sluggishly-growing ferry patronage doubled within days as commuters sought congestion-free travel.
Among Covid-19 precautions on public transport, boarding and alighting from buses is allowed only via the rear door – where boarding was previously banned due to fears of fare-dodging.
It seems a small thing, but nothing slows a bus journey more than those wanting to board having to wait for alighting passengers to step out through the front door.
The acceleration, during lockdown, of widening footpaths, reducing general traffic lanes and on-street parking on Queen St has certainly helped that long-debated shift – even if acclaim is not universal.
And when drought and supply restrictions suddenly forced Watercare to look closely at how we used Auckland’s A-grade drinking water, some obvious changes occurred overnight.
Construction firms were no longer allowed to hook tankers up to fire hydrants and take drinking water to use for building, while non-potable sources such as Western Springs lake were tapped into.
Working from home, using video conference links to stay connected, has been what might become one of the more enduring trends sparked by Covid-19.
How much of that will remain long term is unknown, but its potential to reduce commuting and associated congestion and pollution could be significant, as well as improving work-life balance.
Overnight, Auckland Transport whipped up a bus priority lane on Customs St West as part of measures during the bridge restrictions, to improve bus priority for North Shore-bound services.
In “normal” times, even the removal of a single on-street parking space can require a consultation period.
None of these things would have happened as quickly in “normal” times without the pressure of urgency to react and adapt.
It is something Auckland’s politicians and decision-makers should reflect on, especially in times when budgets are tight and the way to tackle something might be a cheap and simple fix.
None of the ideas discussed here have been expensive, complicated, or irreversible in the event that they turn out not to work.
It is always an easy option to call for another report, defer a decision until next year, or wait for something else to happen that could change a possible direction.
Auckland and Aucklanders have had a lot to deal with this year and the responses and adaptation have been impressive.
The new-found ability to think laterally, move quickly, and find cheap, pragmatic and low-risk solutions are lessons from 2020 that should be kept front of mind, even when “normal” returns.