To improve resilience for current and future generations, the land transport system needs substantial investment. Investment for resilience primarily comes from the National Land Transport Programme.
Every three years the NLTP is published, which sets the proposed three- and 10-year programmes of activities to give effect to the Government Policy Statement. The programme allocates the National Land Transport Fund across all regions, activities and outcomes for that three-year period, and with a view to the next 10 years.
All road controlling authorities, through their Regional Land Transport Plans offer up their highest regional priorities for consideration in the national programme.
More information on the NLTP can be found here:
National Land Transport Programme
The Maintenance, Operations and Renewals (MOR) programme has a significant role in delivering resilience outcomes. Operational monitoring (data collection) and risk controls are critical in mitigating many of the risks within the transport network and informing further decision making.The base maintenance programme also has a significant impact on benefits in terms of drainage clearing or culvert repairs, clearing bridge abutments from debris or gravel build up, and dangerous tree clearing.
The LCLR programme provides a funding mechanism for making small, capital improvements to the resilience of the transport network, typically where standalone points of risk need to be fixed. It gives simple access to funding for projects under $2 million, including all planning, design and construction.
This explicitly includes resilience improvements for non-routine work to protect roads, road structures and walking and cycling infrastructure from damage by natural hazards.
When risks become significant and are difficult or costly to mitigate, or it can be demonstrated that there are multiple risks along a stretch of the transport network, a more structured approach to determine the solution is required. A business case or equivalent investment case is used to understand the problem and context and to determine the best solution and the delivery pathway.
The nature of resilience risks often creates complexity due to impact (for example a railway line and a road on the same landslip site or the critical access needs of communities), complexity of risk (the whole area is geologically the same and has similar issues), or difficulty in consenting (coastal areas, waterways or sensitive land areas alongside). These activities must be prioritised alongside all other competing activities within the NLTP.
The State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) sets out the 10-year programme of planned activities that NZTA (for its own activities) proposes for inclusion in the NLTP, to give effect to the GPS on land transport. A similar process is required for improvements by councils on local roads.
State Highway Investment Proposal 2024–34
The NLTP also allows for unplanned resilience activities to be funded. An emergency works fund is set aside to allow transport network repairs to respond in the event of sudden and unpredictable events.
All road controlling authorities can vary their transport programme to add activities which were not previously included. For resilience activities this can be an important mechanism when the profile of a risk suddenly changes, and not addressing in a timely manner may result in a significant consequence or failure. Risk profiles can change for several reasons, but often this is seen when a storm event creates damage which does not immediately affect the roadway – for example an underslip or river movement alongside the road.
There are no restrictions to seeking variations to the NLTP, however the priority and availability of funding regionally and nationally may influence if the activity is accepted as a variation.
Where there are critical urgent resilience risks (avoiding significant later expenditure), or urgent risk to life (public safety LTMA s20.4.a), a request may be sought for funding as an exception. In this instance any request is considered by the NZTA decision makers on its merits.
For resilience in particular, this option is available in the instance where priority is unable to be demonstrated under the GPS or Investment Prioritisation Method, but the criticality, urgency or liability is such that no action is considered unacceptable.
Approach your investment advisor for further advice, or contact resilience@nzta.govt.nz
Periodically additional funds become available which accelerate certain outcomes or provide additional funding within the NLTP to support government objectives. These funding arrangements are articulated and assessed based on the specific criteria of each case.
For example, the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes were both supplemented with bespoke Crown funds.
Current crown funding arrangements include:
