Auckland city council is considering placing a road tax on some of its busier streets, reportedly in the hope of reducing congestion.

It makes sense additionally that Auckland Super City with all its booming infrastructure, thriving industry, swanky hospitality and its ever-increasing population should learn to take care of its own roads, and placing a tax of around 3 cents per kilometre, given that the number of automobiles driving upon those Auckland city streets appears to somehow be increasing with even greater rapidity than the population therein…

Here was me thinking that it only came around with every public holiday but it now seems there might actually be a constant road toll in Auckland.

…”It sounds like a great way to make money,” was the sarcastic comment from one such Auckland citizen, whose flippant laughter seemed to overshadow her lack of comprehension of the issue at hand; understanding that yes, indeed young lady, money does need to be made, because roadways require constant maintenance, so without somebody’s money, your beloved city and its already terribly congested roading network would collapse under the weight of so many latte-drinking commuters on their way to office jobs that they and the person in the car next to them could no doubt reach faster via an adult game of leap-frog, but perhaps more to the point…

Melbourne city have been doing it for years – using a simple system where an electronic device fastened to car windscreens registers the car’s presence at particular points along a road and charges the car owner accordingly – so we know the system works and it has obviously yielded some degree of success.

…More to the point Canterbury and in fact the entire bloody rest of New Zealand is goddamned sick to death of paying excess bloody road tax to fund your bloody Auckland roading.

Therefore, yes, to conclude, this potential Auckland road toll can only be a good thing for all involved.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by Roe Dang

Photography by Toll Ryder