Deliberative forum on transport for Auckland

The current transport system is not meeting the needs of our growing population and economy and is failing to respond to the challenges of climate change. But the problems are complex, and the solutions are not easy.

Changes in the transport system will impact current and future generations of Aucklanders. To make the right decisions, it is important to understand what people want for the future, and what they think is a fair approach to achieve those goals.

Koi Tū has worked with Auckland Council to run a deliberative forum – an innovative form of citizen engagement that follows the principles of deliberative democracy.

A diverse group of 100 Aucklanders were selected to participate via a randomised ‘civic lottery’ process.

The question that was put to the participants was:
What changes do you think are needed to ensure that everyone can get around Auckland efficiently, affordably, safely and sustainably, well into the future?

The process involved an initial opinion poll, two full-day workshops and two online evening sessions. After the deliberation and learning, participants completed the opinion poll again.

We’ve produced two videos – a four minute summary and a longer explainer video which details the process more in depth.

Watch the full explainer

What did the deliberative forum tell us?

Koi Tū produced a report on the deliberative forum that concluded September 2023.

Read the report: https://www.complexconversations.nz/auckland-transport-forum

The primary measure of the impact of the deliberative process was the change in survey responses
obtained before and after the deliberation, regarding participants’ perspectives on the existing
transport system and its impacts, and their level of support for various possible changes. The survey
asked how much they agreed or disagreed with a set of statements, using a Likert rating scale from 0
(strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). The difference in responses between the two surveys
revealed shifts in views after learning and deliberation. Qualitative data on participants views during
deliberation was also collected and analysed.

At the start of the forum there was already support for some (but not all) changes and interventions
that would help to reduce the negative impacts of transport. After deliberation, support for all such
interventions increased, as indicated by the mean level of support across all participants. From the
start, the participants understood that building more road lanes was not a particularly effective way to
alleviate congestion and other problems, with low support in the first survey reducing further after
learning and deliberation.

The data indicate that the most favoured changes are:

Upgrade Auckland’s rail network so that trains run faster and more frequently
Make it safer, easier and more comfortable for everybody to walk around their local area
Provide more bus services so that buses turn up frequently at all times of the day
Provide a safe and connected bike path network across the Auckland region, including
removing car parking spaces where required
Build more homes closer to the city centre, public transport stations and main bus routes.