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This paper reports an assessment of skills gaps and training needs likely in 2035 for New Zealand, resulting from the technological change from implementation of intelligent transport systems (ITS) in land transport.

The research reported was funded by the New Zealand Transport Agency and conducted in 2017 in Wellington, New Zealand. The economics and engineering literature provides important insights into the impact of technological change on skills demanded and the consequences for occupations and training.

Accordingly, to develop the skills gap assessment, we first developed scenarios of future ITS environments in New Zealand in 2035. This was informed by global literature on ITS technologies and their likely implementation by 2035.

Paramount among these technologies were autonomous vehicles, where their level of autonomy and coverage of the national vehicle fleet by 2035, is a useful metric of the overall level of ITS development. We present the skills gap assessment in terms of relevant well-defined occupations prevailing in 2017.

The occupations considered are: transport, ICT and public policy professionals; automotive technicians and other motor trades workers; and drivers.

To indicate the quantum of skills gaps, the paper concludes with empirical projections of numbers of future occupations in demand under an ITS environment.

Changes made to version of report published in March 2018:

• Page 69, Section 7.5.1 – MITO New Zealand Incorporated correctly named.
• Page 69, Section 7.5.3 – Second paragraph deleted.
• Page 70, Section 7.5.4 – Sentence deleted.
• Page 71, Section 7.5.6 – Dot point three – second half of sentence deleted.
• Page 77, Table 8.2 – Driver occupation group total, 2020 count corrected.
• Page 81, Table 8.5 – Driver occupation group total and Repair and maintenance occupation group total, counts corrected.
• Page 93, MITO New Zealand Incorporated reference corrected.

Keywords: economic, future, intelligent, skills, systems, transport