The country’s first city deal names Botany to Airport a transport priority for east Auckland
East Auckland’s two biggest transport projects both appear in the country’s first city deal, signed by the prime minister and the mayor in April.
Botany to Airport public transport is named in the Auckland Deal as an initial priority for the region’s rapid transit network, alongside the North-West Busway.
Those priorities are to be reflected in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2027, which sets the direction for national transport funding.
The Deal does not attach a dollar figure or a delivery date to the Botany to Airport link.
The Eastern Busway appears in the Deal as work already funded rather than as a new commitment.
Funding for its final stretch was confirmed on 12 February, when the NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Council approved $101 million for the Botany link route at Guys Reserve, completing the funding for the $1.4 billion project.
Construction on that final section began in March and the busway is due to open in 2027.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Mayor Wayne Brown signed the Deal on 10 April.
“Auckland is New Zealand’s economic engine room,” Luxon said.
“This Deal is about getting that engine room firing on all cylinders so that we can lift incomes, create more jobs and make Auckland, and therefore New Zealand, more prosperous.”
Brown said the arrangement changed how the two levels of government worked together.
“This is a new way of working that establishes shared accountability, recognising the size and significance of Auckland,” Brown said.
“We are more like an Australian state than any other local authority in New Zealand.”
He said the Deal better reflected Auckland’s contribution to the national economy.
“It’s clear, when Auckland does well, New Zealand does well,” Brown said.
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop listed the Eastern Busway among projects now under way or funded, alongside the Central Interceptor, the third main rail line, Pukekohe electrification and the City Rail Link.
“Funding has been confirmed to complete the Eastern Busway,” Bishop said.
Bishop said the government and the Council would also work with Auckland Airport on improving surface access to the airport.
The Deal further commits both parties to work together on time-of-use charging, the additional Waitemata Harbour crossing and network management.
Auckland Council is working towards a decision on a congestion charging scheme in early 2028, with ministerial approval to follow.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ in May that infrastructure planning in Auckland needed cross-party agreement to survive changes of government.
“We’ve got to get people in a room together, central government, local government, business,” Hipkins said.
“It’s got to be bi-partisan.”
He said each party putting out a different list of projects at each election was not how anything would get built in Auckland.
The Deal is the first of its kind and is intended as a model for others, with a Western Bay of Plenty deal signed on 14 May.
