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NZ Trucking : October 2017
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WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ Regional fuel tax for Auckland L abour leader Jacinda Ardern announced the likelihood of a regional fuel tax for Auckland under a Labour Government in order to help address the city’s woeful infrastructure issues and help pay for a rail link to the airport. Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley dismissed the proposal, saying regional fuel taxes were inefficient and difficult to administer, never delivered the promised revenue, and opened the door for a black market as well as manipulation of the system outside of the tax boundaries. He said the road transport industry was more interested in the possibilities offered by congestion charging. Overseas it had a direct impact on congestion as well as being a far more efficient and fairer means of raising revenue. Ten new RONS announced N ational announced 10 new Roads of National Significance (RONS) in August. The original seven RONS are now either complete or under construction. Minister of Transport Simon Bridges said the chosen projects were the highest volume roads and a sensible and logical extension of the original seven projects. The new routes are: Wellsford to Whangarei; East West Link in Auckland; Cambridge to Tirau; Piarere to the foot of the Kaimai Range; Tauranga to Katikati; Napier to Hastings; Manawatu Gorge; Levin to Sanson; Christchurch Northern Motorway, and Christchurch to Ashburton. Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley welcomed the news, saying New Zealand still faced a major transport infrastructure deficit and the new RONS would go a long way to helping the country catch up, while also improving resilience and safety. The new roads are expected to cost around $10.5 billion, and will be funded from the National Land Transport Fund and the use of public-private partnerships. Cross-party support for road pricing E lection campaigns usually emphasise policy differences between parties, but August’s Election 2017 Transport Summit was unique in that it highlighted critical common ground when it comes to the future of road transport in New Zealand. “Hidden amongst the usual ideological debate over the need for government interventionism versus market-driven transport policies was a beacon of cross-party agreement – that the future must include road pricing mechanisms,” said Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley. “All five parties represented at the summit – Labour, Greens, National, NZ First and ACT – agreed that the time had come to use demand management through road pricing or congestion charging to alleviate the congestion in Auckland.” Shirley said while the Government had been taking tentative steps in the direction of road pricing over the past couple of years, this degree of cross-party agreement created a real expectation amongst the transport sector that it would finally happen. Toolkit for school leavers A Labour proposal aimed at giving school leavers the practical skills and knowledge they need for adult life could also help the transport industry. Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said while New Zealand’s schools do a great job of teaching children core knowledge and learning skills, the Future of Work Commission identified that young people also needed practical work/life skills. Labour’s proposed School Leavers’ Toolkit will include helping students learn to drive. New Zealand Trucking Association chief executive officer Dave Boyce said he thought it was a good idea. “ That ’s always one of the issues for our industry, certainly with attracting school leavers, the importance of having a licence. A lot of them just don’t realise how important it is, not just for our industry but for lots of industries. It might be working nights in a warehouse or something like that that could lead to some other qualifications, but if they haven’t got a licence, they can’t get there.” 12 New Zealand Trucking October 2017 ROAD NOISE NEWS –pre election
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