Is Tourism a Driver for Public Transport Investment?

Modern society is structured around the desire for high mobility; the consequence has seen cities primarily planned around the needs of the automobile. Car dominant transport planning has underpinned the growth of cities and has created vast, sprawling and highly inefficient urban areas. Increasingly, public transportation is seen as the cure for reducing automobile externalities. However, the traditional funding mechanisms and infrastructural appraisals that dictate transportation investment fail to take into consideration external and environmental effects; ensuring that public transport investment is perceived to be less cost effective. This thesis has taken a different approach to this recognised funding problem; the research identified the interdisciplinary need for sustainable transportation solutions within the tourism industry. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of public transport in the desire to grow Auckland’s visitor economy and to identify whether these benefits could be used as leverage for increased public transport investment. International literature provided the basis of knowledge; this shaped the key informant interviews that were conducted with tourism and planning professionals. Two international case study cities were used to provide good practice examples and to help shape recommendations. The results have shown a distinct connection between urban tourism development and public transportation provision. Public transport investment would facilitate growth in the Auckland visitor economy, helping attract tourists and keeping them in the region for extended periods of time. The underlying need was for enhanced investment; however, this research did identify specific, short-term, cost effective, practical solutions that could enhance visitor viability on Auckland’s public transport network. This research has differed from any other known research in New Zealand. In that sense, this thesis has been completely explorative in ascertaining the connection between tourism and public transport. By attempting to understand the need for public transport from a tourism perspective, a distinctly different approach has been taken to identify further reasoning and requirement for public transport investment in the Auckland region