The Wellington region’s transport network faces a number of pressures, notably: severe congestion on key commuter and freight routes; high demand for public transport services; and the need to ensure access to important regional destinations, including Wellington’s central business district (CBD), ports, airports and hospitals.
I am pleased to introduce to you this National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) for 2009–2012 – a programme through which the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is making a record investment in land transport at a time when New Zealand needs it most.
The global economic situation has changed dramatically in the past 18 months, with significant impacts for the New Zealand economy. In response, and as part of its commitment to improving New Zealand's economic outlook and performance, the government has set clear expectations and priorities for the land transport sector. These expectations are articulated in the Government policy statement on land transport funding 2009/10 – 2018/19 (GPS)(external link).
Through this NLTP, the NZTA 'gives effect' to the GPS with a focus on supporting economic activity and employment throughout the country. It aims to deliver the best possible returns for New Zealand, through prioritising a wide range of national and regional activities.
The NLTP demonstrates an increased focus on efficiency and effectiveness in all spending, a rigorous national approach to setting priorities, and an ongoing focus on improving safety and reducing the adverse environmental effects of land transport. Inevitably there is a greater investment in some areas over others where these expectations are clearly met.
This document details the funding provided for the Wellington region – and as a dynamic document will be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect any approved variations to programmes. For information on funding for the rest of New Zealand (and how the NLTP is developed and managed) please see the national NLTP document.
The Wellington region's transport network faces a number of pressures, notably:
These issues have contributed to the identification of the Wellington Northern Corridor (State Highway (SH) 1 Levin to Wellington) as one of seven roads of national significance (RoNS) in the GPS. Regularly congested and with a relatively poor safety record, the government has signalled a need for further development on this highway to improve the movement of people and freight, and to unlock economic growth potential.
When considering these regional issues and investment drivers, we have been mindful of our commitment to ensuring the NTLP represents value for money in all activities and across all regions. We've achieved this by developing a robust national prioritisation framework, taking a long-term approach to investment, and ensuring the highest priority projects have first call on available funds.
A strong commitment to value for money has also led to changes in how R (regionally distributed) funding is used. R funds come from fuel excise duty and light road user charges and are allocated proportionally to regions based on population. In the past, R funding was often used to fund lower-priority projects that would otherwise not qualify for funding.
To ensure value for money, R funds will now be used for the highest priority projects and will provide a guaranteed minimum level of funding in the Wellington region. N (nationally distributed) and C (Crown) funding will continue being used to fund the balance of the approved programme, with C funds explicitly tagged to relevant activities in the next three years.
The National Land Transport Fund can only be used to fund activities listed in the NLTP. The tables in this NLTP list:
This NLTP provides an investment of $621 million for the Wellington region over the 2009–2012 period. The primary focus of the 2009–2012 NLTP is on supporting economic activity and employment, and targeting investment in ways that help New Zealand businesses to increase productivity.
In the Wellington region this approach has resulted in an NLTP with a strong focus on RoNS projects, together with a number of maintenance and renewal activities, transport planning projects and public transport improvements. This investment mix will generate productivity gains by:
The Wellington Northern Corridor RoNS is scheduled to be developed in segments and will progress at different timeframes in the next 10 years. While some of the segments are made up of previously identified projects, further investigation work along the length of the RoNS is required both to reconfirm the form and timing of work and to ensure the RoNS programme can be substantially advanced by 2019.
The NLTP's investment in Wellington's public transport network has changed significantly with KiwiRail's purchase of all track-related rail infrastructure and urban rolling stock. As a result, key regional public transport funding allocations for the next three years will maintain existing services and provide 'non track-related' infrastructure upgrades on the region's rail and bus network.
Previous funding commitments also mean that key walking and cycling projects, such as the Petone to Ngauranga walking and cycling safety improvements, are likely to be completed within the NLTP's three-year term.
For an overview of significant projects in the region that are likely to receive funding in the next three years, see the regional maps.
While the prioritisation process has resulted in most projects in Wellington's regional land transport programme (RLTP) being reflected in this NLTP, some are unlikely to receive funding. These include SH2 Brown Owl to Fergusson Drive safety improvements, the Camborne to Motukaraka cycleway and the Paraparaumu rail overbridge clip-on cycle lanes. These projects do not align well with national investment priorities, particularly in activity classes where funding is limited.
For demand management and community programmes, our 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. In addition, for this activity class the NZTA received significantly more funding applications than in the previous year. This, together with the funding available as specified by the GPS and our targeted investment focus for this year, means a reduction on last year's funding level.
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 funding for demand management and community programmes is approved for 2009/10 only, with the review expected to establish the funding direction for the subsequent two years.
Some projects may also attract funding when more information is known about them (particularly in terms of economic efficiency). These could include the Moroa Road (stage 1 and 2) project and Wharekauhau Road (stage 3) project in Wairarapa.
Our thanks go the Wellington Regional Transport Committee, which has a pivotal role in shaping the region's transport future.
One of the committee's key tasks is to develop Wellington's three-year RLTP, which prioritises all the regional transport activities proposed by the local authority and the NZTA (on work relating to the state highway).
Public submissions on Wellington's draft programme were reflected by the Regional Transport Committee in the final programme that went to the NZTA Board. This regional perspective enabled the NZTA Board to build a geographic view of land transport requirements nationwide, and to align regional and national views in deciding on the most appropriate allocations of funds to give effect to the GPS priorities.
The next three years will bring challenging times. The NZTA and approved organisations will need to actively manage their programmes to ensure we stay on target and deliver on our commitments. I look forward to working with the Wellington Regional Transport Committee and New Zealand Police to implement this NLTP and assist in the continued development of the Wellington region.
Deborah Hume
Regional Director
Last updated: 6 October 2009
