We have been pretty critical of the Roads of National Significance over the last few years for a number of reasons. The key reasons being that many of them will have very poor economic performance and that are sucking up huge amounts of transport funding which means other areas in the transport budget are being neglected. A few days ago we saw what may be considered the turning point on the RoNS as the NZTA announced that it was no longer going to build an expressway between Otaki and Levin and instead focus on improving the quality of the existing road through a series of safety upgrades. The decision has also delivered considerable cost savings with the price of that section dropping from ~$400m to $100m but also means that the upgrades can start sooner giving further benefits without having to wait for the whole project to be completed.
Naturally you would expect blogs like this to be happy to see this news but in news that must be concerning for the government, it appears that the trucking groups also support this. Here is part of the press release from the Road Transport Forum (RTF).
“The road freight industry fully supports the Government’s RONS programme and welcomes the major investments being made in long-term projects. On the other hand we want roads which are fit for the purpose and not gold plated as some projects appear to have been. The Otaki-Levin savings are significant and will free up money for other much needed money for other projects, so in principle we support the move.
“But we are concerned that the RONs programme appears to be absorbing all the investment funding in the land transport fund leading to inadequate money for renewal and upgrading of other state highways and local roads.
That is a pretty strong statement from some of the biggest supporters of spending on roads and it must surely make the government nervous. This is likely why we have seen Steven Joyce out telling Northland to push for Puhoi to Wellsford as he must sense people are waking up to the fact that the project isn’t worth it in its current form and wants to gets it built. Has there ever been a government minister campaigning in this way to get something built? There are now calls from across the spectrum to scale back the RoNS and as these calls get louder it will place more pressure on them and the NZTA to do just that. Spending more money on upgrades to local roads like Tiverton-Wolverton St will likely have far greater impact on the movement of freight and people and the economy yet money for those kinds of projects is actually being cut. The disparity if funding is shown in the graph below which is based on the funding groups from the Government Policy statement.
Of course being the RTF they can’t be seen to just take a swipe at the RoNS and the rest of the press release looks like it is driven by ideology.
So we question the Agency’s recent decision in principle to boost funding to subsidise public transport by 30 percent, which will only benefit those few urban centres with a local bus or train service, but with only minimal increases for road renewal and maintenance. Road users provide this funding and their needs should have priority. The roads are self funding by users but public passenger transport is heavily subsidised”
What they conveniently ignore is that local governments pay for significant proportions of local road improvements out of rates meaning that we also subsidise local roads. Further by subsidising public transport we take people out of cars which helps to free up space for freight. In Auckland for example there are over 200,000 trips on PT every week day, how much extra would we be having to spend on on roads just to accommodate those extra trips?
Nice to see even the trucking lobby is starting to wake up. Highways don’t have to be paved with gold- how else would Transmission Gully manage to double in cost?
Crunch time will be when NZTA needs to make some decisions around Warkworth to Wellsford. That will show us whether this is just a once off, or whether it’s the first of a trend in cutting back the RoNS package to something more sensible.
Just throwing this out there…….
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From David Cameron
From Crossrail, high-speed rail and now the billions of pounds of investment we are announcing today, this government is committed to taking the long-term decisions to deliver growth and jobs. In what is the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era, this investment will mean faster journeys, more seats, better access to stations, greater freight links and a truly world-class rail network.
From Nick Clegg
This is the biggest expansion in railways in over 150 years, with more than £9bn of investment across the country. Whilst we inherited a deficit greater than any in our nation’s peace-time history, we knew that we had to give the country the boost it needs, to build great railways and make journeys better for the millions of hard-working people who use the train every day.
The ‘Electric Spine’ will make a significant difference for passengers, linking London, the Midlands and Yorkshire in a much more efficient rail line, connecting the south and north more effectively than ever before.
As someone who cares deeply about the environment, the opportunity to dramatically expand rail, a greener form of transport than aviation or road, is very exciting indeed. This investment will help people to choose trains over cars, reduce carbon emissions and provide a rail system that is faster, more reliable and greener.
From George Osborne
I am pleased that the Northern Hub will be funded in full as part of the government’s plans, which is a significant boost for the major towns and cities of the north, helping to rebalance the UK economy and enabling growth and regeneration throughout the regions.
This government is making more funds available to invest in rail projects than at any time since the Victorian era, and shows that the government is committed to delivering on its promises to support investment in public infrastructure that will support economic growth.
From Justine Greening, the transport secretary
Investment on this scale, in every region of the country, shows how this coalition Government is focused on delivering an affordable, reliable and faster railway network that drives jobs and growth.
These plans to increase capacity and shorten journey times on intercity, commuter and freight services are, alongside our plans for high speed rail, absolutely key to securing our country’s prosperity in the decades ahead.
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UK pouring money into railways, while NZ still pouring money into roads. (Slow Clap for Steven Joyce)
That’s what happens when your government isn’t in the pocket of the trucking lobby?
Bit more info for those who are interested
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18851907
Once again proving transport/rail need not be partisan – the Daniel Moylan talk a while back also showed that conservatives and rail mix just fine.
From the High Level Output Statement – http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/hlos-2012/railways-act-2005.pdf – it can be seen that there are big scheme commitments to substantial chunks of electrification, gauge clearing for large containers and The Northern Hug which is all about stimulating economic growth by providing transport infrastructure
I meant
“Northern Hub” of course
The ‘Northern Hug’ DOES sound very friendly!
In the last month there have been significant announcements on rail in, among others, the UK, Malaysia, NSW and today, China. These are not insignicant amounts.In Malaysia, the governmet has said it will spend up to
Developing or developed, there seems to be a trend. But of course,”NZ is different…”
LA is often seen as the poster-child for car dependance which has changed its ways (or trying to).In SE Asia, try KL – I don’t think I have lived anywhere that is so car-dominated. And while that won’t change, the Government recognises it can’t build its way out of the chronic congestion. So the answer? NZ20billion (yes,$NZ) on rail based projects – and that’s just until 2020. 3 new lines, extensions to existing lines, rolling stock…now that’s taking things seriously.
Yea I think NZ need to wait until they have a Labour/Greens coalition in power, thats our best shot at getting rail, and sensible planning in general, taken seriously. Without wanting to be super political about it (as was pointed out above, Conservatives and PT can go together) but the Nats really are living in bizzaro world when it comes to transport. I get a bit embarrassed in Europe actually when people ask me about NZ and they realise that its this ‘spread out car is supreme’ design to everything, and I see the disappointed look on their face. It seems to say (gee i’d love to visit, but I’d never want to live there)
RE: ‘It seems to say (gee i’d love to visit, but I’d never want to live there)’
Which (as per my comments on an earlier thread) is why didn’t want to uproot my life here in London and move Auckland when it was being mooted back in 2004.