In the short-term, technology changes are likely to make real-time travel information more readily available.
This will help us plan our travel more easily, help avoid the worst impacts of congestion, and help deliver improved and real-time solutions, including:
- real-time occupancy information for buses
- dynamic traffic light sequencing
- faster responses to incidents
- different allocations of street space at different times.
In the medium to longer-term, developing technologies like connected and autonomous vehicles (including public transport), especially when combined with ride-sharing, have the potential to fundamentally reshape the way transport is provided and used, blurring the boundaries between private and public transport.
These developments could create a number of benefits, including:
- increasing the number of vehicles that can travel on a road at the same time (particularly on motorways), lowering congestion and reducing the need for road widening
- reducing deaths and serious injuries from traffic incidents
- more efficient provision of public transport services
- new travel choices for everyone, regardless of age and ability, and to parts of Auckland difficult to efficiently serve with traditional public transport (e.g. rural areas).
There is also a risk that these technology advances could create negative effects, particularly if they lead to large-scale growth in vehicle travel or poorer-quality street environments. Ongoing monitoring and regulation may be required to minimise these risks.
While rapid technological progress is anticipated, it's hard to know which developments will be successful or when we will be able to use them.
Realising benefits from technology will require us to focus on:
- trials
- safety
- enabling regulations
- supporting infrastructure.
Technology also needs to be used to address our key transport issues (such as emissions and inequity) instead of allowing it to create new problems or magnifying existing ones.
How this can be done
Efforts to maximise the benefits of transport technologies must:
- focus on supporting the key transport and access priorities for Auckland, such as reducing emissions, increasing safety and enabling equitable access
- boost the use of big data and open data to improve travel information for Aucklanders, support better network management decisions, and provide effective demand management tools
- encourage innovation and the uptake of new technologies such as more intelligent network management, innovative micro-mobility devices and vehicle sharing. Find out more about the Auckland Transport Technology Strategy.
Related information
