Auckland's new Super City mayor is adamant his transport plans will succeed, despite needing more than $10 billion to make them a reality.
Len Brown's plan includes a CBD rail loop, a rail link between the North Shore and Auckland City, and rail to Auckland Airport.
The Auckland mayor-elect told Close Up last night that despite the cost he was confident he had the council to deliver his policy.
"I'm confident that the promises and commitment I've made to our community, and the policy that I rolled out and we debated this over 13 months, I'm confident with that policy. I'm confident I've got the council to deliver that policy and confident in particular in the mandate from the community for me to deliver that policy."
But new Auckland City councillor Cameron Brewer told ONE News it's going to be a tough ask to get the transport system Auckland needs without government assistance.
"We've got to build the infrastructure for Auckland because in 21 years' time we are going to be a region of two million people and by the middle of the century we will be three million people.
"But at the same time we need to weigh up the maths of it all and whether it's feasible and practical and doable, and in this economic climate it's going to be a struggle."
He said the council needs to assess what the government is prepared to offer.
"We really need to test the government and see if they are prepared to make a massive contribution to this. If they're not, because there's not much headroom in the economy, then we have a look at private public partnerships to see if the private sector are willing to invest."
ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner told Breakfast this morning that Brown's talk of borrowing money through infrastructure bonds was a "flash way of borrowing".
"He's been talking about this over quite some time and he's saying there will be a bigger economic benefits, which I'm sure there would be if you got Auckland moving a bit more swiftly. But John Key is putting that wallet fairly firmly in his pocket right now," Espiner said.
He said he couldn't see the government contributing much.
"Not from what I was hearing from John Key yesterday. They say they are putting billions in already ... that sort of support doesn't look terribly forthcoming from John Key," he said.
David Thornton, who founded NoMorerates.com doesn't believe Brown can succeed with his promise on transport, and cap rates rises at the same time.
"You can't go borrowing money to pay for big transport infrastructure and then have to pay it back some time, because the only way councils pay back money is from rates, that's the only way they can do it.
"You must find other ways. The rates inquiry of 2007 showed there were other ways of doing it. So the big challenge for Mayor Brown and his council is how do we fund these big projects."
He doesn't think approaching central government is a viable option.
"Because, in the way that councils rely on rates for their income, the government relies on tax for its income.
"So taxpayers would have to pay back the loans that the the government would have to raise to pay for this. So why should the taxpayers in the rest of the country have to subsidise Auckland's transport. There would be a huge outcry against that.
"The Prime Minister has said we may give you some but we are not going to give you all that much... so the big challenge to Len Brown is where do I go for the money."
Yesterday John Key said his government was prepared to work in partnership with the new Auckland council to improve the city's transport systems.
He said the government shared Brown's vision of getting Auckland moving.
"The Government will work in partnership with the new Auckland City Council on what comes next, and contribute its fair share to the continuing goal of improving transport," Key said.
"The next step for the new mayor is to meet his council and discuss priorities and work out how much ratepayers are prepared to contribute to accelerating new projects," he said.
The new Auckland City Council will be sworn in on November 1.
