Auckland's democratic quotient

The figures are not unreasonable. 1.2m into 109 gives us a councillor to population ratio of 1 : 11,000. Since most communities (if not all) have the ward councillors on the board as well we get 1.2m into 254 giving us a community board member to population ratio of 1 : 4,700. It would be a real hit for local democratic representation if these ratios were substantially increased.

The big councils seem unresponsive and unable to manage projects consistently - increasing the ratio puts more pressure on the remaining representatives and their contact with the population - which may make the situation worse. But that's probably just something that the current crop of local body politicians care about - their own jobs. More of a tangle is going to be ironing out the wrinkled blanket of the city's public transport. Or maybe that should be patchwork quilt:

Transport

A number of entities are involved in transport infrastructure in Auckland (road, rail, public transport). Central government agencies involved in planning and funding road and rail infrastructure include the Ministry of Transport (transport policy), Land Transport New Zealand (funding and safety management), Transit New Zealand (management and development of State highways), and ONTRACK (management and development of the rail network). Land Transport New Zealand and Transit will be replaced by the New Zealand Transport Agency from 1 July 2008. Regional entities involved in transport planning and public transport include the ARC, the Regional Land Transport Committee, and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority. In addition local councils own, build, and manage local roads (all roads that are not State highways).

Auckland needs a unified authority to handle public transport. It doesn't help that these agencies and companies and so on are in an almost constant state of flux. We've had the ATB, AHBA, ARA, ARC, ARTA etc. and still no electrified rail or no new lines since the depression - to anyone south of the Bombays it must all sound a bit ROTFLMAO.