I am totally amazed that Auckland is spending $100 million on getting universal tickets for public transport. Where is the common sense? All the hype about the lack of houses in Auckland could be solved by using the same system, as most of the other countries of the world, and that is rail.
If we had a good rail system like Britain we could have people commuting from areas outside Auckland; and thereby reduce the pressure on housing. It would also benefit the other areas.
I think we must be one of the few countries in the world where tourists have hire their own transport because we do not have a rail system. ‘Why not?' you may well ask, ‘when Auckland City spends $100 million on bus and ferry tickets?'
The answer is that the Government makes too much revenue from the petrol tax and car tax to want to fund public rail travel. When you look into how much a kilometre of roading costs and compare that to the cost of a rail line, taking into consideration the cost effectiveness of the lack of road congestion, pollution and road accidents, it is obvious that the answer is rail. But the Prime Minister would rather see people on bikes on defunct railway tracks, than locomotives.

Trish Coates, Waihi Beach.