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David Seymour
ACT Leader
The Benefit-Cost Ratio of Auckland’s cycle bridge is the equivalent of putting your money on the Share Market knowing you were going to lose 60c for every dollar invested .
In answer to Written Questions from the ACT Party, Transport Minister Michael Wood says the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of the cycle bridge is estimated at 0.4-0.6.
If a project’s BCR is less than 1.0, the project’s costs outweigh the benefits, and it should not be considered.
It means taxpayers will lose up to 60c for every dollar invested in this widely ridiculed project.
It’s no wonder the bridge will cost so much when only 2780 trips are expected to be taken on it each day.
We’d lose less if Michael Wood sent taxpayers money to a Nigerian Prince to keep safe until he can pay us back.
Wood said he expects the project to cost $685 million, but most transport projects have blown out over time, just look at the City Rail Link or Mill Road. The BCR will only get worse as time goes on.
Infrastructure should be prioritised based on need and a full cost-benefit analysis, not just the hope that other people might use it one day.
People in Auckland will be sitting in their cars in traffic, running late to work or late to get the kids from school feeling like the Government is mocking them.
It’s not practical for families and workers to cycle everywhere, the Government can’t just wish that to be true with a stupidly expensive bridge.
We know all the cycleways built by both National and Labour Governments were because it was the trendy thing to do and they haven’t attracted masses of new cyclists.
We should be building infrastructure based on sound cost-benefit analysis, not just because the lycra lobby says it’s a good idea.
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