So Auckland needs a new bridge?
Really?
Where would you put such a bridge and what would it cost? The common answer seems to be a tunnel under the harbour. That is the where, so what about the cost? The Waterview tunnel cost around $1.5 Billion, so the new tunnel would be around that, and take about 10 years to make.
Such a scheme would produce enormous disruption.
At this point, anyone sensible is asking themselves the question: Are there any alternatives?
As it happens, there is. If you think of the shape of Auckland, it is a blob, with 3 connections, The Bridge, New Lynn/Western Motorway, and the Southern Motorway. Each of these is a pinch point. It is the sea that is the cause of all our problems.
It might be the answer as well.
The current crisis could be reduced by tucking away the rule book that says you have to be a qualified person to run a ferry. Immediately, any unemployed person with a launch now becomes a transport provider.
In the future, it may be a lot cheaper to run way more ferries than there are currently. If these were battery powered it would be a clean, green way to go.
We already have a company in New Zealand, Wellington Electric Boat Builders Ltd,
see their site here:
There is the added advantage that these ferries could be built in New Zealand.
Years ago, around the 1960's they had a fast ferry, using hydrofoils. Maybe this idea needs revisiting, as it would be a way of making trips at such a speed that only silly people would take a car.
