This National Land Transport Programme is a major achievement for the NZ Transport Agency and our land transport planning partners, the local and regional authorities throughout New Zealand and New Zealand Police.
It's the result of an extensive work programme - for our partners in developing and presenting their investment proposals, and for the NZTA Board in considering and prioritising them through applying the principles and framework of our Investment and Revenue Strategy.
The result is the product of some tough decisions; in an economically challenging environment, it's been more important than ever to scrutinise the value and benefits of every proposal and target our investments to areas that will most benefit New Zealand in the long-term through economic activity and employment.
As the Chairman has outlined, this NLTP makes New Zealand's largest-ever investment in land transport. It aims to ensure that we support the economy during the worst economic conditions experienced for decades through a series of highly targeted investments designed to deliver the best possible returns for New Zealand.
For example, through an investment of more than $4.5 billion in the state highway network over the next three years (nearly $1 billion more than in previous years), we aim to improve journey time reliability - something that's important to all travellers but particularly to businesses in helping to reduce transport costs. This investment will also fund work on seven 'roads of national significance', which will improve access within and through New Zealand's largest cities - easing congestion and improving critical parts of our national freight and tourism routes.
In another move to address journey time reliability and congestion, we're investing close to $900 million in public transport services and infrastructure over the next three years. In addition, the government is investing through Kiwirail over $1 billion in rail track extensions and electrification in Auckland . All this funding will enable a substantial investment in rail stations and services in Auckland, and new train units in both Auckland and Wellington.
Meanwhile, an NZTA programme will take a longer-term view of public transport investment while seeking to make decision-making processes more robust. We will convene a public transport sector leadership forum, with one of its first tasks being to develop an action plan to improve the effectiveness of public transport in New Zealand. The NZTA will also develop guidance for local authorities on developing farebox recovery policies, in which a proportion of total operating costs is recovered through fare revenue.
The NLTP includes a significant investment in important urban arterial routes. These include the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (the AMETI project) and Dominion Road in Auckland and Wairere Drive in Hamilton. Funding is also provided to upgrade a number of other significant freight and tourism routes, while $1.9 billion will go to improving and maintaining New Zealand's local road infrastructure.
The activities we fund will improve access to markets (including through ports and airports) as well as to areas of employment and areas that contribute to economic growth. They will set the scene for long-term economic growth as well as providing jobs and injecting money into communities to help New Zealanders get through these difficult times. We expect them to deliver measurable results through:
As always, the NLTP has a strong focus on reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries as a result of road crashes, which impose an increasingly heavy social and economic burden on individuals, families and the wider community. It funds a number of road and transport safety initiatives, most notably through the Road Policing Programme. The programme includes activities designed to address the 'fatal five' road safety issues (speed, alcohol, restraints, dangerous and careless driving, and high-risk drivers) as well as activities involving community engagement, incident and emergency management, and sanctions and prosecutions.
In developing the NLTP, the Government policy statement on land transport funding (GPS)(external link) has been our guiding document. An expression of the government's priorities for investment in land transport, it recognises that quality land transport infrastructure and services are an essential part of a robust economy. After all, about 70 percent of all freight in New Zealand goes by road, and 84 percent of people go to work by car, truck or motorbike.
Our commitment to achieving these priorities is articulated in our Investment and Revenue Strategy. The NZTA strategic direction provides details of the strategy's framework for every funding decision in this NLTP, using a rigorous assessment and allocation process that prioritises those activities according to their:
Projects that do not fit these criteria are not prioritised for funding.
In a new approach, 'R' funding will be used for the highest-priority projects in this NLTP. R (or 'regionally distributed') funding comes from a portion of fuel excise duty and light road user charges and is allocated proportionally to regions based on population.
In the past, R funding was used to fund lower-priority projects that would otherwise not qualify for funding. The new approach delivers much greater value for money for all public money invested in land transport.
In another development, this NLTP covers three years instead of one. It also has a change in format, with one 'national' document and 17 separate regional documents.
The new timeframe enables investment with a longer-term view, and the wider land transport sector to plan ahead with increased confidence and flexibility. It also reduces a significant planning workload, enabling everyone involved to focus more on achieving the results we seek. Given the extended timeframe, the NLTP is a dynamic document; it will be reviewed and updated regularly, with the latest versions available on the NZTA website's NLTP page.
We know that this NLTP's success will depend on our partnerships with local and regional authorities, New Zealand Police and other stakeholders. Together we'll be developing, delivering and evaluating a huge range of activities nationwide, often through co-funding arrangements. We're committed to nurturing and building on these relationships so that we all understand, engage with and deliver the NLTP goals.
We also need to consider four significant land transport issues:
Addressing these issues will be a key focus for the NZTA team and for our wider network of road transport partners in the years ahead.
The GPS identifies integrated planning as a key factor in ensuring New Zealand develops a land transport system that achieves its short- to medium-term objectives.
The benefits of an integrated planning approach are that:
Integrated land use, transport planning and urban design activity also contribute to national economic growth and productivity, and create opportunities for better integration within and between transport modes.
I'm pleased to say that we're already seeing improved integration through collaboration between the NZTA and local government agencies throughout the country, and staff regularly advising on regional planning documents and action plans. Underpinning this, the NZTA is developing its own actionfocused integrated planning strategy, which will guide transport planning, programming and funding.
A good transport system adapts to the way people live, work and play in the future. This includes responding to changes in consumer demand - for better-quality and lower-impact travel choices, and for improved access to transport networks for those who walk, cycle, and rely on public transport.
This NLTP is an important step in creating the transport system that New Zealand needs in the 21st century. Its success depends on an integrated approach involving transport operators and the general public who use the system, local government, suppliers, New Zealand Police and the Ministry of Transport. I'm confident that, working together, we can deliver a fully integrated transport system that will enhance New Zealand's productivity and growth and make for better communities, now and into future.
Geoff Dangerfield
Chief Executive
Last updated: 6 October 2009
