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# Why Are JAG and Wood Still Pushing the Bike Bridge When It Has a Crap BCR?
- URL: https://goodoil.news/why-are-jag-wood-still-pushing-the-bike-bridge-when-it-has-a-crap-bcr/
- Published: 2021-06-19T19:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2024-07-17T16:58:37.000Z
- Author: Cam Slater
- Tags: Featured, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:54

Julie Anne Genter loves using the term BCR, especially when talking about why roads shouldn’t be built. Here’s an example:

She genuinely thinks, and I happen to agree with her, that a project with a BCR of less than 1 is a waste of money. Except Julie Anne Genter doesn’t actually believe that, especially if the project is a massive and expensive bike bridge for boomers…then a BCR of less than 1 is cool:

> A planned standalone cycle and walkway bridge next to the Auckland Harbour Bridge has come under fire for its cost, and a newly released figure shows the cost of it could far outweigh the benefits.  
>  
> Transport Minister Michael Wood did not provide **the benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) when he announced the new $785m project earlier this month – but has now revealed the initial assessment by Waka Kotahi is only 0.4 to 0.6.**  
>  
> That meant **for every dollar spent on the bridge, there would effectively be a 40 to 60 cent loss.**  
>  
> New Zealand

And here is Julie Anne Genter supporting that appalling BCR, on the basis that other projects are even worse at wasting money!

On top of that, she was [also on *The Nation* defending the bridge](https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/cycling-bridge-opponents-would-be-angry-if-lane-on-existing-bridge-was-used-instead-green-mp-julie-anne-genter.html?ref=goodoil.news):

> Appearing on Newshub Nation before Genter, she **defended the project’s poor BCR.**  
>  
> “You’re not asking me that about any of the roading projects which often have similar BCRs,” he told host Tova O’Brien, who suggested giving cyclists a lane on the existing bridge instead.   
>  
> “I suspect if we did that, we’d be sitting in this interview and you’d be telling me how outraged motor vehicle users are. There are always trade-offs and choices.”   
>  
> Genter said either way, we need more cycling and pedestrian options, especially linked up.   
>  
> “The cost of the bridge is not the cost of walking and cycling – it’s the cost of keeping all eight lanes on the existing bridge for cars. **If that’s what people want, they should be prepared to pay for it**,” she said.  
>  
> “The people complaining about the cost of the bridge would also probably oppose opening a lane for active transport.”   
>  
> Newshub

> What a great idea…if cyclists want an expensive bike bridge, they should be prepared to pay for it! I bet we won’t hear Julie Anne Genter utter those words, will we?

And while she was on *The Nation* [she issued veiled threats about ute taxes:](https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/gaz-guzzling-vehicle-fees-could-be-20-times-higher-green-mp-julie-anne-genter.html?ref=goodoil.news)

> “We’ve designed the scheme to fiscally neutral – so effectively the fees fund the discounts,” Transport Minister Michael Wood told Newshub Nation on Saturday, saying that “in theory” the fees on high-emissions vehicles could go up to help pay for bigger discounts.   
>  
> “We’ve said at the moment we don’t intend to up the fees. We’ve set the maximum level of those… we’ll keep to that.”   
>  
> If former Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter had her way, they might be tougher.   
>  
> “When people are acting really outraged about a $3000 fee on a \[Ford\] Ranger, that’s a pretty small percentage – it’s less than a third of the GST. If it’s a work vehicle, that is tax deductible. So I think we need to put it in perspective.”   
>  
> In some other countries, the levies on high-emissions vehicles are far beyond that – in France they’re as high as €30,000 ($60,000). That might be needed if we want to give buyers of low-emissions vehicles more discounts, she told Newshub Nation.  
>  
> “**In order for them to be higher, we would have to accept higher fees,” she said – noting France has fees 20 times higher than we will.**   
>  
> “**Maybe we should be making the case for that over time. Yeah, definitely.**“  
>  
> Newshub

These people are **economic saboteurs** who contort themselves into astonishing backflips when their rhetoric against roads is turned on their pet projects. They are hypocrites and **economic vandals** with no real grasp of reality.

I really hope these fools do push their hostility towards the productive sector hard, proposing their massive tax hikes, then they’ll see just how fickle the green-tinged tradie’s missus is when their livelihood is threatened by these fools.

**Please share this article so that others can discover *The BFD***