Our progress towards a better environment Our progress towards a better environment
Auckland Transport (AT) is committed to improving Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland's environment. We are proud to introduce our first environment scorecard (in English and te reo Māori), which shows Aucklanders what we are doing to protect and restore the environment and the progress we are making.
Our plan and targets
Auckland Transport (AT) together with mana whenua has developed 'Hīkina Te Wero: Environment Action Plan' (PDF 919KB) to ensure our transport network protects and restores the environment. The plan was approved by the AT Board in Dec 2021 and combines our environmental work into a single framework.
The plan sets targets for five outcomes over 10 years:
- greening our network
- water conservation
- fish passage and biodiversity
- minimising waste
- managing our discharges.
The environment scorecard shows our progress
We want to let Aucklanders know how much progress is being made. The scorecard went to the Board committee in August 2022 and tracks our 5 targets over the previous year. We have made great progress on some of the targets, with big room for improvement on others. We will release a scorecard each year in English and te reo Māori to show how we are tracking.
Environment scorecard
Environment scorecard in te reo Māori
The 5 targets in more detail
Greening our network
Many parts of Auckland have amazing street trees. On top of looking great and providing shade, street trees provide oxygen that we need to breathe, they reduce the amount of stormwater runoff and in turn reduce flooding and clean our stormwater, and they provide a home for much of our precious wildlife.
We are aiming to increase the number of street trees and planting in areas where they are lacking, a particular focus area is South Auckland. Street trees are really important for providing shade and reducing the heat for pedestrians in summer, helping our communities be resilient to climate change.
Target
Increase tree cover along Auckland streets to an average of 12% and help our streets become 10% more spongy to reduce stormwater runoff and to replenish our ground water. We do this through things like planting trees, rain gardens, and green roofs.
How we measure this
We will record and track the areas of green infrastructure and spongy surfaces on the street. In collaboration with Auckland Council, we will regularly measure the canopy cover and street trees, particularly in south Auckland.
What progress we've made
This year we planted 610 new street trees and we trialled living shelters at two of our bus stops. The living shelters included green roofs and green walls and we are monitoring these to see how the plants survive in summer before rolling these out across Auckland.
Water conservation
This is about not wasting drinking water by using it to keep the dust down during construction. Auckland has experienced a water shortage in recent years and drinking water is precious, let’s not waste it for construction.
Targets
All AT capital/maintenance projects over $5 million will establish rainwater supplies for activities that do not need drinking-water quality water. And AT will reduce the use of drinkable water by 5% annually at our bus, train, and ferry stations.
How we measure this
The use of rainwater for construction, maintenance and operational needs will be tracked and reported by our contractors and staff. AT also tracks the use of water at our bus, train, and ferry stations.
What progress we've made
Most of our major contractors now have rainwater tanks installed at their depots for construction and maintenance work. Our stations saved 18% of water in the last year, partly due to COVID-19.
Fish passage and biodiversity
Fish sometimes need to travel through our drainpipes to reach habitats and breeding grounds, and sometimes this access is blocked. Fish contribute to the biodiversity of New Zealand and are an important part of supporting our native bird species. A healthy and thriving ecosystem is part of creating a healthy city.
Target
Fish passage will be provided for 20% of the rural drainpipes (culverts) located on streams where fish live.
How we measure this
We will check the condition of the drainpipes to make sure fish can pass through when they need to and fix those where needed.
What progress we've made
Last year we checked many rural drain-pipes and fixed one very important drain-pipe where fish couldn’t get through.
Minimising waste
Minimising waste helps us manage our natural resources wisely: we spend less money buying new materials, there are fewer vehicles trucking material to landfill, reducing the demand for landfill space, energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Target
Waste volumes sent to landfill is reduced by 50% across construction, maintenance, and operation of the transport network. Another way of saying this is that we want to divert 75% of our waste away from landfill.
How we measure this
The volume of materials sent to and diverted from landfill will be recorded and tracked through our contracts. We are encouraging our contractors to use recycled materials instead of new material.
What progress we've made
Last year our maintenance contracts managed to divert 68% of their waste and our construction contracts diverted 76% of their waste, these are great results.
Managing our discharges
Our streets attract all sorts of litter, oils, glass, dust, microplastics and more. Managing road runoff is about providing a filter between what ends up on our streets and what ends up in our stormwater system and harbours. These filters include things like raingardens where we use vegetation and mulch to clean the stormwater before it reaches our harbours.
Target
Runoff from 30% of our busiest roads will be treated by 2030.
How we measure this
Our progress is tracked through measuring how much of the road runoff along our busiest roads is treated by treatment devices and will be used to help prioritise the location of these devices.
What progress we've made
This year we were unable to install any new treatment devices on our busiest roads due to COVID-19 related delays. However 519 treatment devices were installed in smaller residential streets.