There has been a mixed response to the government's plan for land transport over the next decade, which prioritises more than $20 billion of funding on 14 new roads and public transport links.
The Government Policy Statement sets out priorities for investment over 10 years, with a new one every three years. The one released today is a draft which consults on a proposed $70b spend out to 2034.
To help pay for it, it is proposing to increase the fuel excise and tax, and road user charges from mid-2024, which the government said would amount to paying an extra $1 a week, for the average motorist, each year.
The National Road Carriers Association, which represents supply chain companies in the country, said it was pleased to see a significant investment in the country's road.
Its general manager for policy and advocacy, James Smith, said the "cold hard facts" were it would take "a decent amount" of money to improve our roads.
The association had been calling for a long-term commitment to road transport infrastructure for some time, he said.
"We continue to ask for road transport infrastructure to be removed from the three-year political cycle which has been shown to lead to a stop-start approach that benefits no one.
"A 50-year roading infrastructure plan is desperately needed to ensure New Zealanders have a safe, productive, and resilient networking that will be fit for purpose into the future," he said.
But Smith stressed that money alone would not deliver the outcomes the country needed.
"We also need to be smart about how we spend, where we spend it and what we get for it. Results matter if we are to get our roading infrastructure back up to scratch."
Status quo no longer tenable: LGNZ
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) echoed sentiments of a long-term commitment that was unaffected by the election cycle.
"It is doing future generations a disservice to continue making decisions in an ad hoc way without a strong long-term vision for the future that's got cross party support," president Sam Broughton said.
He urged central government that the Ministry of Transport and Waka Kotahi (NZ Transport Agency) needed to collaboratively design the future of transport infrastructure with local government.
"It's time the government recognised the critical need for a more strategic and resilient approach to transport planning and investment.
"That mean acing head on the fact that the current funding arrangements aren't fit for purpose and taking a local approach and being responsive to local needs."
LGNZ was also calling for an independent review of transport funding arrangements, targeted funding to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change for the transport network and making integrated transport networks a priority to connect towns and cities.
"The status quo is no longer tenable, and the challenges can no longer be ignored," he said.
Clear winners from the announcement, Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council, praised the plan, especially the acceleration of long delayed transport solutions for the city.
Two of the 14 key strategic projects announced by the government were for Wellington.
One was the second Mt. Victoria tunnel, upgrades to the Basin Reserve and Arras Tunnel, and the other was to deliver mass rapid public transport between Wellington CBD and Island Bay.
The government also signalled it would take the lead on projects on the state highway network.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said estimates showed that 50,000 to 80,000 more people would call Wellington home in the next 30 years.
"As civic leaders we need to champion transformational change to support our city's growing population against a backdrop of climate change.
"We know that internationally mass rapid public transport, especially light rail, has been a significant catalyst of housing and urban development and this presents an exciting opportunity for Wellington."
Greater Wellington chairperson Daran Ponter said it remained to be seen how the announcement from the government would speed up the big transformational projects now under its purview.
"But it's a good first step that will push the programme forward."
'Completely misses the mark' - Transporting NZ
But there were some who also came out swinging against the government's draft plan.
Road freight peak body Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand said it failed to adequately prioritise road network resilience.
Its interim chief executive Dom Kalasih said the draft plan would result in major tax hikes for road users, while failing to prepare the roading network for the future.
The proposed increases in road user charges alone would add thousands of dollars to the cost of operating a truck and trailer each year, that trucking companies would be forced to pass on to consumers, he said.
"At a time when New Zealanders are grappling with a cost of living crisis and a series of devastating weather events, the draft GPS completely misses the mark.
"The government needs to be prioritising the fundamentals: a well maintained state highway network with strong regional connections that can transport people and freight safely and reliably.
"Increasing road user charges for the trucking sector is not the pay forward."
Kalasih said the Ministry of Transport's latest study on road pricing showed that compared to all other road users, trucks were by far paying most of their share.
"It's time other road users starting paying more of their share of the costs and the same goes for rail freight."
He said it was also disappointing that the plan spoke about a project being underway to look at the future of revenue in the transport system.
"Funding is the absolute key and we really hoped we'd see much more advanced thinking in this regard."
Kalasih was calling for the government to reconsider its current approach.
Greenpeace called the "wish list" a "missed opportunity for real climate action".
Spokesperson Christine Rose said the government's plan was a long list of policies, but ultimately failed to address the climate crisis.
"The government must cut climate pollution by shifting the country's transport system away from new roads and private cars, towards public transport, walking, and cycling.
"All political parties must prioritise transformative action on the climate crisis, and this plan does not do that."
While it was good to see some public transport development included, ultimately Greenpeace expected to see much more from Labour in the lead-up to the 2023 election, she said.
The general election will be held on Saturday, October 14.
