New Zealand Light Rail Association Says Traffic Relief Not Main Justification for Light Rail

In an article in the New Zealand Herald dated 24 March, Light Rail Transit Association Auckland officer Graham Bush criticized and analysis of light rail by Wendell Cox Consultancy, incidating that "Condeming lighr rail for failing to curb congestion is erecting a straw man, for such has never been its main justification."

In response, principal Wendell Cox indicated that virtually all light rail proposals in the United States have had as their primary justification the reduction of traffic congestion. He further indicated that "it is reassuring to see that the Light Rail Transit Association recognizes the miniscule role that light rail plays in urban traffic congestion" and that "American light rail proponents should follow the realistic and refreshing example of the New Zealand Light Rail Association with respect to light rail's irrelevence to traffic congestion relief."