By Dr Maria Armoudian, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau. Image used is Entering Auckland by Joe Ross, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.
Government’s proposal to hike public transport fares will threaten a triple whammy – compromising our health, planet and economy, writes Maria Armoudian.
New Zealand Transport Agency – Waka Kotahi – recently released a discussion document on government plans to increase “private share” funding of public transport. This plan drives us closer to a planetary dead end – and is the opposite of what government is designed for. Providing goods and services that advance and protect public and planetary well-being is the point of government. This is why we hand over chunks of our hard-earned money through taxes and rates.
This proposal would do the opposite, instead harming public and planetary health. The transportation modes we use directly affect our health, and higher transport fares create incentives for people to use private vehicles and take to the roads, which damage our health and well-being. Emissions from vehicle tailpipes contaminate the air with toxic compounds, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, tiny particulate matter and volatile organic compounds that can cause heart and lung disease and cancer. The tiny particles, called PM 2.5 and PM 10 for their small sizes, lodge in our lungs or blood stream, where they can wreak havoc on our bodies.
Private vehicles also keep us sitting down and alone, further shortening our lives, while taking public transport, or walking and biking promotes health, both through movement and connectivity. In addition to toxic pollutants from tailpipe emissions, vehicle tyres and brake pads release microplastics into the air, water and ocean. Humans and other animals breathe, drink, eat and swim in these contaminated environments, inhaling and swallowing tiny bits of plastic. Now, even in the most pristine parts of the world, the air and water are full of microplastics. As a result, microplastics have been found in human lungs, blood, brain tissue, reproductive organs, breast milk and placenta.
Increasing the numbers of cars on the road also worsens climate change, which is bringing additional diseases—both physical and mental illnesses—including increasing numbers of cancers and viruses. That includes viruses that historically would have never come to our shores but are poised to arrive as our climate warms and becomes more hospitable for them, if we keep kicking the can down the road. We already know heating the planet wreaks havoc with more devastating storms, floods, drought and wildfires. New Zealand still hasn’t recovered from the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle in February last year, and hardships resulting from climate change are faced in many regions of the globe.
Transportation can either be part of the problem or part of the solution, depending on which system we choose. Right now, it contributes between 17 and 20 percent of our heat trapping emissions. But if we invest in New Zealand and New Zealanders, we can solve many of these problems, especially those that directly affect our health. Mass transportation that’s fast, free, effective, and easy to use brings us together, while reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Affordable public transport helps protect our air, water, earth, and bodies from the assaults of chemical emissions, microplastics, and other particulate matter. Other, forward-thinking governments are smartly making public transport free and are moving away from building bigger roads for endlessly increasing traffic. But New Zealand has it backwards.
The government’s Roads of National Significance programme is set to cost at least $22 billion. And instead of supporting health-promoting transport, funding for many cycling and rail projects has been axed. And now public transport looks set to face government funding cuts. Some might argue that passengers should pay their own way for using public transport. But roads cost the government far more – and drivers are not expected to foot that bill in its entirety. So what are we getting for our hard-earned tax dollars? If this plan becomes reality, it looks like we will be getting worsened health, less money in our banks, and a hotter planet that’s less able to sustain human life.
The opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the author, and are not necessarily the views of The Big Q.
