Bob Atkinson
Aug 8, 2017 · 1 min read

“” Generally the maximum time people will invest in travelling to work is about one hour one way.””

Assume 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 2 hours meals and various ablutions: that leaves just 6 hours for living and dedicating a third of them to commuting to work is unreasonable. That was the reason I left the London suburbs in 1984 and worked abroad.

Only tolerable if you have no choice and that means either low wage jobs (forced by poverty) or family. As the standard family with 2 parents and 2.4 kids declines there is less and less motivation for typical middle class workers to commute into a city centre however wonderful the theatres, restaurants, etc. Is this why Auckland is losing its middle class to smaller cities (Hamilton etc) and leaving only the low paid jobs? And that might explain why Auckland’s average earnings are much lower than would be expected for a metropolitan area?

Totally agree about a sophisticated congestion charge — it could be adjusted second by second if necessary giving far more control than has ever been possible before — a perfect user pays solution. As you say “ as a means of managing the network” not a revenue raiser for big projects.