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The highways, byways, and other ways
Local government owns 88 percent of the country’s roading network, spends $500 million per annum on local roads, governs, co-funds, manages and regulates transport. Transport is a big issue for some regional councils, especially those such as Auckland and Wellington that face particular challenges arising from growth and geography.
Territorial authorities are responsible for the building and upkeep of local roads. This includes:
- road stoppages and closures
- resealing and grading
- verges and berms
- footpaths and gulley traps
- roadside reserves
- street lighting and traffic lights
- bridges
- overpasses and underpasses
- street names and nameplates
- the rural and street numbering systems
- pedestrian crossings
- roundabouts
- road markings
- potholes
- abandoned vehicles and associated problems.
Councils use computer modelling techniques to understand how traffic moves
in their region, to predict growth and patterns of road usage, and to assess
cost/benefit ratios. Roads in the region are regularly surveyed for damage
and the results are entered into a computer that assists council engineers
to decide what type of roading (chip sealing, slurry sealing, asphaltic paving
or crack sealing) is most appropriate and cost-effective.
Getting around
Regional councils plan for and in some cases regulate and cofund a variety of transport – buses, passenger trains, private vehicles and the roads they travel on. Challenges have arisen in co-ordinating all these, especially when an urban area includes a number of different city and district councils, as it does in Wellington and Auckland. In addition, local government is very dependent on the priorities and funding that central government places on roading and transport plans.
But good transport is critical for the economy, the environment and the quality of life of those in the community who depend on public and private transport to reach their homes, work and other destinations. There is a growing awareness that a joint approach is needed to deliver the outcomes communities want.
Working together
Cooperation is not just an issue for councils. Road use is also affected by the gas, telecommunication, electricity, water supply and wastewater industries who often have a network of pipes and lines that need maintenance under the roads.
The Charter of Understanding, signed in March 2004, is an initiative by the New Zealand Utilities Advisory Group (NZUAG). It records the commitment of key players in the gas, telecommunication, electricity, water supply and wastewater industries along with major metropolitan councils, Transit New Zealand and industry bodies to work together for the better management of New Zealand’s roading corridor to benefit their customers, road users and communities.
All roads lead to …
As the capital city and the departure point for the South Island, Wellington faces particular transport issues that require cooperation on a regional level.
The project plan for the Wellington Regional Strategy, released in May 2004, says transport, business development and migrant settlement are already being addressed jointly, but are limited by two factors:
- there is a lack of direction driving the actions taken
- a number of gaps exist.
Greater Wellington Regional Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Hutt City Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, Porirua City Council and Wellington City Council have agreed that working together will bring a wider view of the issues that the region faces, and help find solutions that cut across territorial boundaries.
An example of where an integrated approach is required is in considering
capacity constraints of the Western Corridor (State Highway One and
the North Island
main trunk railway) and possible solutions to those constraints. There has
been a steady climb in the number of people using the Western Corridor, especially
with an increase of commuters from outlying areas such as the Kapiti coast.
In May 2004 Greater Wellington said it would work together with Transit New
Zealand and other relevant councils to review the options in the corridor between
Tawa and MacKay’s Crossing.
Nose to tail, traffic approaches Auckland's harbour bridge.
Auckland’s unique problems
There are numerous examples of crucial areas in which central and local government are moving away from working individually to working together to provide better transport for local communities. A big example is the $1.62 billion investment in Auckland’s transport system.
Peter Winder, Auckland Regional Council’s Director Transport, says the individual approach had created a major impasse on how to facilitate investment in transport. The impasse was particularly acute in passenger transport. It was virtually impossible to make necessary investment, he says, because local government could not own public transport. Territorial authorities could not get access to central government Transfund resources – and were left to rely on rates-based revenue. Consequently there was a progressive rundown of rail, he says. There was a need to remove the blocks to linking funding and development.
Auckland faces particular challenges because of the unique problems resulting from ongoing population and economic growth, historical under-investment, and the constraints on transport of an isthmus and harbour. Integrated north/south/west motorway systems have been planned but never completed. In the meantime, population growth has led to the intensive development of areas of Auckland that are not well serviced by road or railway corridors. This has led to notorious congestion that hinders both public and private transport around the region.
Deputy PM and Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen said, “For too long, confused and inefficient lines of responsibility have inhibited Auckland’s transport development and the establishment of a single ‘business-like’ transport organisation for the Auckland region”.
Central, regional and local government reaction to under-investment in Auckland’s transport infrastructure led to the 2003 decisions to establish and fund a single body, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA), responsible for Auckland transport, under the auspices of the Auckland Regional Council. ARTA’s responsibility includes rail, bus, ferry, pedestrian and cycle transport.
“ One organisation can make integrated decisions about how to best achieve the strategic intentions of the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy,” says Peter Winder.
New funding for Auckland is focused on transport demand management, further improving public transport and an acceleration of some roading projects.
The new framework means some commonsense approaches, unavailable in the
past, can proceed. ARTA can develop a network of bus lanes on the roads
across the
region. It can have the same level of bus information in bus shelters across
the region – reflecting ARTA common standards. The December 2003 central
government funding package also means some large projects can proceed.
Auckland’s biggest ever single transport project, the Eastern Corridor – including
a major road between Auckland and Manukau cities – is made more possible
by the new framework.
In February 2004, when Auckland and central government representatives confirmed the agreement, the ARC Chair Gwen Bull said, “today is historic. For the first time the region is working together. We are united in what we want, we’re delighted with the response from the government.”
www.transport.govt.nz
www.arc.govt.nz