There has been considerable investment and improvement in the Taranaki transport network in recent years – largely in response to New Plymouth’s residential and industrial growth and an increasing dependence on roading infrastructure by commercial transport, tourism and a growing local population. Safety has been a particular priority in this investment.
| Taranaki region | New Zealand | Region as % of NZ |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 107,700 | 4,268,500 | 3 |
| Land area (km2) | 7300 | 275,400 | 3 |
| Imports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 4 million | 79.2 million | 5 |
| Exports (gross tonne)1, 2 | 5.9 million | 73.4 million | 8 |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) ($) | 3400 million | 155,400 million | 3 |
| Passenger transport - bus - boardings | 345,900 | 92,777,200 | 0 |
| Passenger transport - rail - boardings | - | 18,346,600 | - |
| Passenger transport - ferry - boardings | - | 4,695,000 | - |
| Vehicle kilometres travelled | 1000 million | 40,200 million | 2 |
| Fatalities3 | 12 | 366 | 3 |
| Serious injuries3 | 54 | 2553 | 3 |
| Local roads - urban all (km) | 489 | 17,298 | 3 |
| Local roads - urban sealed (km) | 486 | 16,956 | 3 |
| Local roads - rural all (km) | 2996 | 65,601 | 5 |
| Local roads - rural sealed (km) | 2308 | 33,698 | 7 |
| State highways - all (km) | 391 | 10,906 | 4 |
| State highways - sealed (km) | 374 | 10,850 | 3 |
| State highways - motorway (km) | - | 172 | - |
Notes:
| Taranaki | 2009/12 | % of total |
|---|---|---|
| Walking and cycling | 1.3 | 0.9% |
| Transport planning | 0.8 | 0.6% |
| Public transport improvements | - | 0.0% |
| New & improved infrastructure for state highways | 52.2 | 37.4% |
| New & improved infrastructure for local roads | 3.7 | 2.7% |
| Public transport services | 3.5 | 2.5% |
| Maintenance of state highways | 17.2 | 12.3% |
| Renewal of state highways | 16.4 | 11.7% |
| Maintenance of local roads | 20.0 | 14.3% |
| Renewal of local roads | 23.5 | 16.8% |
| Demand management & community programmes | 1.0 | 0.7% |
| 139.6 | 100% |
Note: includes R funds of $23m
About $33.6 million of the forecast 2009-2012 NLTP expenditure in Taranaki will go into operating and maintaining the region's state highway network. In addition to preserving the highway network and undertaking maintenance and improvements to meet future service levels, the NZTA will:
This NLTP allocates $52.2 million for improvements to Taranaki's state highways. Major projects programmed for 2009-2012 include:
The NZTA has identified a number of activities to improve the safety and efficiency of sections of SH3 for progress in the next five years, including road realignments and intersection improvements. Further work on managing or removing roadside hazards will continue.
The Taranaki and Waikato regions will continue to work together to retain the reliability, security and safety of the strategic route between the two regions.
Local road maintenance funding of $43.1 million will provide local roads in the Taranaki region with better route security, enhanced safety and the ability to meet growing traffic demands. Funding for the next three years will maintain service levels.
The NZTA expects organisations to manage their operations, maintenance and renewal activities including any changes in costs within their three-year approved allocation.
The NLTP allocates $3.7 million for local road improvements during 2009-2012. It is proposed to continue work to on bridge and culvert replacements on Centennial Drive and Toii, Waiwakaiho, Mataro, Okau and Derby Roads, to improve safety in the New Plymouth District.
The NZTA's priorities for investment of the limited funds available for public transport focus on urban areas with severe congestion with the aim of significantly improving peak-time public transport patronage and optimising the efficiency of existing services and infrastructure.
In this NLTP, funding for existing passenger transport services for Taranaki will ensure that all existing bus and total mobility services continue.
Like maintenance funding, the NZTA expects that every regional authority will manage their public transport programmes efficiently and effectively within the funding allocations provided to ensure that these are delivering value for money. A challenge is to improve the effectiveness of public transport networks by extracting the maximum value from past and current investments. The NZTA is developing a national framework for a fare box policy that will assist regional authorities as part of this process.
The block funding approach to public transport programmes will provide regional authorities with the flexibility to reassign funding to cover variability in the delivery of programme activities, provided the total expenditure stays within the overall allocation.
As part of the $630 million total allocation for public transport services across the country, a provision of $18 million has been included in the NLTP for new services in key areas where it can be demonstrated that further investment in a network is warranted. The Taranaki Regional Council is reviewing passenger transport service needs in its urban communities and has applied for funding for improvements to its existing services.
Opportunity for this funding has been included in this NLTP but only as a reserve project in Category 2 . As such a strong case will need to be demonstrated to show how its proposals to improve its services align with the NZTA's priorities for investment.
The $1.3 million allocated in this NLTP to walking and cycling projects in Taranaki will provide opportunity to progress projects such as the New Plymouth's Eastern Cycleway Route.
NLTP funding of $1.0 million will enable South Taranaki District Council and New Plymouth District Council to deliver local transport safety and sustainability activities throughout the region.
The NZTA's primary investment focus for 2009/10 is on programmes that deliver on a relevant road safety strategy and achieve a change in travel behaviour that will reduce severe congestion in major urban areas.
The NZTA Board has requested a review of this activity class to provide evidence of the benefits and value for money that its programmes deliver.
Accordingly, the funding for this activity class is approved for 2009/10 only, with the review expected to establish the funding direction for the subsequent two years. One result of this review is expected to be the development of guidelines and processes to ensure that demand management and community programmes are supported by evidence of benefits and value for money.
National Land Transport Fund funding for New Zealand Police road policing activities in the Taranaki region in 2009/10 totals $8.194 million.
This includes:
The NLTP and the detailed 2009/10 Road Policing Programme can be viewed on the New Zealand Police website at www.police.govt.nz/service/road(external link). The programmes for 2010/11 and 2011/12 will be published annually on the site once they have been approved by the Minister of Transport.
Planning for the future of Taranaki's transport network will be explored in the Taranaki Regional Land Transport Strategy review. It will enable the Taranaki region to explore integrated planning opportunities with various stakeholders.
Post 2012/13, regionally significant projects expected to be programmed are likely to include local road improvements generated by the New Plymouth Strategic Transportation Study.
Last updated: 6 October 2009
