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• 7. Roads

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• Infrastructure Stocktake

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• 7.1 Roads: Introduction
  • 7.1.1 Road Asset Condition
  • 7.1.2 Service Delivery
• 7.2 Summary of Key Issues
• 7.3 Road Asset Condition: Current Situation
  • 7.3.1 Road Roughness
  • 7.3.2 Vehicle Operating Costs
  • 7.3.3 Roughness Distribution
  • 7.3.4 Pavement Condition
  • 7.3.5 Surface Condition
  • 7.3.6 Unsealed Roads
  • 7.3.7 Bridges
  • 7.3.8 Overall Road Condition Summary
• 7.4 Service Delivery: Current Situation
  • 7.4.1 Demand
  • 7.4.2 Network Capacity
  • 7.4.3 Overall Service Delivery Summary
• 7.5 Road Condition: The Future
• 7.6 Service Delivery: The Future
  • 7.6.1 Demand and Economic Growth
  • 7.6.2 Capital Expenditure

The following chapters deal with the four transport infrastructure sectors: road, rail, ports and airports. The key common trends that are likely to affect demand for transport across some or all of these sectors can be summarised as:

1. Growth in international trade.
   Growth in exports would generally be expected to lead to growth in demand for freight transport (road, rail, air and sea). Exports tend to follow a pattern of consolidation (diffuse transport networks consolidating raw commodities for processing or onward transport).
   Growth in imports will also play a key role in demand for freight transport. Import distribution can be expected to have a larger impact on urban areas than exports: exports tend to be focussed on single routes through urban areas, imports are in the main delivered in urban areas, and diffused over the whole area (e.g. Ports of Auckland noted that 80% of container imports were delivered within 30 kilometres of the port).
   The recent Growth and Innovation Advisory Board forum noted that this pattern of transport pushed the style of transport in different directions: export efficiency tends towards larger containers, larger trucks, larger vessels; importing tends towards smaller vehicles in distribution networks.
2. Trends in the pattern of urban and housing development
   New Zealand has large cities and relatively low housing density. This pattern leads to high demands for transport (journeys to work, for business purposes, for non-business and other leisure purposes), which are primarily satisfied through private vehicle ownership. While there has been a growth in higher density housing developments (particularly in Auckland and Wellington), cities nonetheless continue to spread.

These trends suggest an ongoing increase in demand for land transport generally. Freight growth implies greater demand for both air and sea freight transport. Increased international tourism implies greater demands for international air travel (and domestic as many international travellers also use domestic flights).

The availability of transport is a key factor linking together modern New Zealand, across all levels of society. Transport and associated activities also create significant environmental impacts, principally in the form of emissions, noise and to a lesser extent water pollution.

One of the principles of sustainable development is to decouple economic growth (and other activities in society) and the demand for unsustainable or environmentally damaging factors of production. Key trends in New Zealand suggest that such decoupling economic growth (and other activity) from raw demand for transport may be difficult. Key sustainability issues across all the transport sectors are therefore:

• how policy frameworks affect trade-offs between the positive and negative effects of the demand for transport services;
• the impact of policy frameworks on the relative costs of transport modes;
• the balance between demand management and provision of additional infrastructure, and the efficiency with which any such investment is applied.

7.1 Roads: Introduction

New Zealand's road network totals approximately 93,000 kilometres. Of this, nearly 11,000 kilometres are designated as state highways and are managed by Transit New Zealand. State highways form the major strategic links and account for just under half of the 36 billion vehicle kilometres travelled each year. The remainder of the network is referred to as local roads. These are managed by the 74 territorial local authorities.

The work in the roads sector has focused on two key elements of New Zealand's road network:

• Road asset condition. Under this heading, an assessment of the quality of the road network is made using performance indicators that provide an indication as to whether or not the road are being maintained to a given standard. The measures described below are commonly used by roading authorities here and overseas.
• Service delivery. Roads, like the other transport modes, are an input to the provision of transport services. Under this heading, the audit assesses the level of demand upon the road network and the capacity of the network. In addition, safety (i.e. accidents) and environmental (vehicle emissions) impacts are assessed.

Analysis of the current state of the road network has been undertaken and, to the extent possible given available information, comments are made regarding the future demands upon the road network.

7.1.1 Road Asset Condition

Within the time available for this audit, it has not been feasible to undertake a detailed analysis of the asset condition of the entire road network. Instead, the condition of the network has been assessed for 14 state highway networks⁵⁶ and the local road networks within Whangarei District, Gisborne District, Wairoa District and Southland District. The first three of these local road networks were chosen because they lie within "Regional Development Areas". Southland was chosen because of the significant pressures being placed upon the local road network in that area by the forestry and dairy industries.

Most of the information has been extracted from Road Asset Maintenance Management (RAMM) databases, which are managed by Transit New Zealand and the four chosen local authorities. While the extent of information available from these databases varies, it is sufficient for the purposes of this audit.

7.1.2 Service Delivery

Data relating to the capacity of the network has been obtained from Transit New Zealand and Transfund New Zealand. In general, there is relatively limited information relating to congestion. The audit has focussed on the two most populated urban areas (Auckland and Wellington) and drawn on surveys undertaken by Transit New Zealand.

Accident data has been obtained from the Land Transport Safety Authority. Vehicle emission data has been obtained from the Ministry of Transport.

7.2 Summary of Key Issues

The overall road network is in good health. A number of measures indicate that the condition of the roads has been maintained, or improved, notwithstanding that there has been substantial growth in traffic volumes. This suggests that there are no major issues with existing maintenance practices and renewal programmes.

There are, however, a range of pressures being placed upon the network including traffic congestion in Auckland, and the wear effects associated with heavy traffic growth particularly in the forestry sector.

Substantial investment is planned to relieve congestion in Auckland. Transit New Zealand's 10-year State Highway Plan forecasts upwards of $2 billion over the next 10 years. The Auckland Regional Council's 2003 Regional Land Transport Strategy (RLTS) indicates that over $5 billion would be needed over the next 10 years to complete the road investment programme outlined in the RLTS.

The Government's transport package announced on 12 December 2003 included an allocation over ten years of $1.6 billion to be focussed on Auckland transport demand management. This amount is over and above the current National Land Transport Funds forecast . While a large proportion of the $1.6 billion will be spent on Auckland's roads, a substantial amount of funding required for the road investment programme outlined in the RLTS has yet to be identified.

In addition to possible funding constraints, there is also a risk that this level of construction activity might be constrained by the availability of road consultants, contractors and materials. Anecdotally, there is some evidence that contracting rates are firming although not to levels that are without precedent. There is a possibility of constraints emerging and differing views on their likelihood have been expressed during this project. Feedback from the industry suggests that the availability of consultants and contractors will respond to the work on offer particularly where there is:

• a large and ongoing programme of construction
• certainty regarding the programme of works
• commitment to proceeding with the works.

It should be noted that many consulting and contractor firms are represented internationally and, hence, can call upon resources from offshore including, in particular, Australia.

Beyond congestion in Auckland, the review has also identified forestry as having a major impact on the road network. The impact of forestry affects local roads (including unsealed roads) and state highways. In the case of local roads, particularly unsealed roads, it can be more cost-effective to allow damage to occur and then rehabilitate the road rather than invest in anticipation of increased heavy vehicle use. At some point, however, rehabilitation will be required and this is likely to raise funding issues. Many of the local roads affected will be in areas where the territorial local authority has a relatively small rates base from which to fund roads (and other services). The review understands that Transfund is currently reviewing the financial assistance policy which currently provides, on average, a Transfund contribution equivalent to roughly 50% of the costs associated with local roads.

There is a range of wider policy issues influencing the roads sector. Current funding arrangements:

• do not lend themselves to effective management of the demand to use the roads
• do not fully signal to road users the external costs which they give rise to through using the road network (i.e. environmental externalities such as water, noise and air pollution, safety externalities and congestion externalities)
• result in current road users paying for new roads even though it is future users who benefit from the provision of roads (although it can be argued that current users benefit from road use charges paid by past users that have funded the existing road network)
• limit the ability to borrow and, hence, bring forward projects and their benefits.

There are also issues in relation to procurement although the recently enacted Land Transport Management Act creates opportunities for greater flexibility in this regard.

7.3 Road Asset Condition: Current Situation

The condition of the state highway network and local road networks in Whangarei District, Gisborne District, Wairoa District and Southland District has been investigated by assessing the following indicators:

• Road roughness;
• Vehicle operating costs due to road roughness;
• Pavement condition, using a composite index developed by Transfund; and
• Surface condition, using a nationally recognised composite index;

A brief review has also been undertaken for unsealed roads and bridges with capacity restrictions. Items that have not been evaluated include the structural capacity of road pavements and the road geometry, including seal widths, horizontal alignments and vertical alignments. There is no readily available meaningful data in these areas and, in any event, these elements are not highly sensitive to moderate changes in traffic levels.

7.3.1 Road Roughness

Road roughness is the most commonly used measure for indicating the performance of a road. The roughness of the road surface affects driver comfort and vehicle operating costs. High levels of roughness also contributes to higher levels of vehicle emission (because fuel consumption increases) and noise. When combined with other measures and assessed over time, roughness measures also provide an indication of the extent to which the condition of the road is being maintained to a given standard.

To assess the current condition of the road network, the current average road roughness was compared against the target roughness defined in Transfund's Maintenance Guidelines. This comparison is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 below.

In these graphs, the road roughness is measured in NAASRA counts per kilometre. In simple terms, the higher the number of counts, the greater the level of road roughness. The bar graphs represent the average roughness for all roads falling within each Transfund class. The solid line graph is the percentage of roads in each class that exceeds Transfund's targets by more than five percent. The "R-B" to "R-E" classes along the x-axis refer to rural roads, with the "B" and "E" classes having over 5,000 and 50 vehicles per day respectively. Likewise, the "U-A" to "U-E" classes refer to urban roads, with the "A" and "E" classes having over 10,000 or under 500 vehicles per day respectively.

The performance of the state highway networks is better than Transfund's Guidelines, which were initially developed for local road networks. The local authority networks also have a good average performance, but there are a higher number of urban roads with a roughness greater than the targets.

Figure 43: State Highway Roughness Performance

Source: Transfund

Figure 44: Local Authority Roughness Performance

Source: Transfund

In general, road roughness is higher on low traffic volume roads which reflects road controlling authorities directing maintenance to the most heavily used roads. Interestingly, urban local roads tend to be rougher than rural local roads (for given levels of traffic volume). Although more detailed analysis would be required to explain this observation, one possible reason is that urban local roads are used by other utilities (gas, water, sewerage, telecommunications) and so are subject to ongoing disruption to the surface to lay and repair in-ground cables and pipes.

7.3.2 Vehicle Operating Costs

Vehicle operating costs are affected by road roughness (although the costs for a given level of roughness are lower, the lower is the speed of traffic using the road). Figures 3 and 4 below illustrate the change in the annual average vehicle operating costs per kilometre since 1995.

Since 1995, VOC due to roughness has decreased, although the reduction is more pronounced for local roads than it is for state highways. The reduction in VOC implies that overall asset condition has been improving although as data on roughness, pavement integrity and surface condition below indicate, the level of improvement in road condition is relatively small particularly in relation to state highways.

It is interesting to note that the average vehicle operating costs on local roads are approximately double those on state highways. While this is reflective of the higher average roughness on the local authority networks, it should be noted that the local authority information may be skewed because of the small sample size, the focus on networks targeted for regional development and the inclusion of networks where heavy traffic growth is known to be placing demands on the road surface.

Figure 45: VOC per Kilometre (State Highways, Entire Network)

Figure 46: VOC per Kilometre (Local Authority Roads, All Networks)

7.3.3 Roughness Distribution

To further illustrate the condition of the road network, Figure 47 and Figure 48 divide the proportion of road network into five categories ranging from "excellent" to "very poor". Roads in the "excellent" category do not generate vehicle operating costs due to road roughness. The "very good" category results in some vehicle operating costs due to road roughness, but the roughness does not reduce driver satisfaction. The other categories highlight an increasing roughness that results in increasing vehicle operating costs and driver dissatisfaction.

Figure 47: Roughness Distributions (State Highway)

Source: RAMM data

Figure 48: Roughness Distribution (Local Authority Roads)

Source: RAMM data

Over 95% of the state highway network falls within the "excellent" and "very good" categories, compared to 60 to 70% on local roads. In broad terms, the proportion of state highways and local roads categorised as being in either excellent or very good condition has remained at approximately the same level. The fact that vehicle operating costs due to roughness has fallen, particularly in the case of local roads, probably reflects local authorities targeting expenditure to reduce roughness on those sections of their networks with higher traffic volumes.

7.3.4 Pavement Condition

The road pavement condition affects the load carrying capacity of the road, the rate of decay of service, and the efficiency of the roadway to carry vehicles.

An overview of the road pavement condition has been analysed using Transfund's recently developed Pavement Integrity Index (PII), which is essentially a function of the number of pavement defects. Figure 49 and Figure 50 divide the proportion of road network into five categories ranging from "excellent" to "very poor". The "excellent" category has a PII less than zero, whereas a "very poor" category has a PII greater than 50. The "excellent" category reflects a well maintained road without unacceptable levels of distresses.

Figure 49: Pavement Integrity (State Highways)

Source: RAMM data

Figure 50: Pavement Integrity (Local Authority Roads)

Source: RAMM data

The results of the PII broadly reflect the roughness distribution data noted above. Using the PII, almost all state highway pavements lie within the "excellent" or "very good" categories, reflecting a high standard of maintenance. The local road pavements have a much smaller proportion of roads with the "excellent" category, but 80 to 90% lie within either the "excellent" or "very good" categories", reflecting an overall good condition.

As with the roughness data noted above, the proportion of pavement within each category under the PII is similar for both state highways and local authorities over time. This implies that road controlling authorities are undertaking maintenance and renewals at a rate that ensures the pavement condition and integrity is being maintained to a consistent standard over time. Initial data from Transit indicates, however, that the condition of the state highway network in 2003 is being maintained, but only just.

7.3.5 Surface Condition

The road surface provides protection to the underlying pavement and provides an appropriate interface with vehicle tyres. Surface condition affects the level of noise generation and skid resistance. An analysis in these areas requires considerable amounts of data and is beyond the scope of this audit. The structural elements of road surface have, however, been analysed.

Surface condition has been analysed using RAMM data and applying the Surface Integrity Index (SII) formula developed by Transfund. Because of insufficient data, surface life component has been excluded. As for the PII, the SII is essentially a function of the number of surface defects. Figure 51 and Figure 52 divide the proportion of road network into five categories ranging from "excellent" to "very poor". The "excellent" category has a SII less than zero, whereas a "very poor" category has a PII greater than 20. The "excellent" category reflects a well maintained road without surface faults.

Figure 51: Surface Integrity (State Highways)

Source: RAMM data

Figure 52: Surface Integrity (Local Authority Roads)

Source: RAMM data

The latest available data indicate that overall road surface structural condition is very good across state highways and local roads with steady improvement over time, particularly with respect to local roads. This is reflected in slightly over 90% of the network having no or limited faults. Traffic volumes have been increasing which increases surface wear. The fact that the surface condition has been improving implies that maintenance is being targeted in the right areas.

7.3.6 Unsealed Roads

Unsealed roads are a low cost solution for low traffic volumes, with many performing adequately as links in the road network. However, good management is required to ensure that when significant traffic volume and land use changes occur, these roads are investigated for upgrading to sealed pavements. Converting from an unsealed to a sealed road also often requires improvement to the road pavement structure, width, and geometry.

Transfund's Project Evaluation Manual identifies the economic impacts on vehicle operating costs and adjoining properties for unsealed roads. An economic evaluation into the total cost has not been carried out, as this would require information relating to adjacent land uses and a larger sample of local authority data.

Tables Table 31 and Table 32 illustrate the varying levels of service for the four local authority networks that have been analysed. Whangarei District Council has a very high proportion of unsealed roads carrying 100 or more vehicles per day, compared to the other three authorities. While this reflects current policy settings within the Council, it also reflects the particularly high costs of aggregates and maintaining a stable road platform for sealed roads.

Source: RAMM data

Source: RAMM data

A retired National Roads Board standard suggested that roads should be sealed once traffic volumes exceeded 100 vehicles per day, but there is no current national standard requiring this. Currently, upgrading of an unsealed road is governed by the local authority's funding ability and standards. Where Transfund funding is sought, each project must also meet funding criteria as set out in the Project Evaluation Manual. The low traffic volumes on unsealed roads means that usually, sealing is not a high priority.

7.3.7 Bridges

Bridges on the road network are relatively secure against most normal events, with the largest vulnerability tending to be erosion of bridge approaches in major flood events. While this occurs from time to time, reinstatement, at least to a temporary standard is achieved relatively quickly, and normally occurs concurrently with other road opening activities after such major events.

Seismic performance of bridges and over-passes is a particular consideration in New Zealand, particularly Newmarket, Auckland Harbour Bridge and the Thorndon Viaduct in Wellington. Key structures (e.g. the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Thorndon Viaduct) have main subject of specific work to improve seismic security and durability. The Newmarket Viaduct work is partly complete and a number of other key structures are currently underway (e.g. Shell Gully behind the Wellington CBD). Whilst these are relatively costly items they are being progressively addressed.The bridge stock on the state highway network is generally in good condition. Reflecting the time of their construction, there has been somewhat of a bow-wave of work required on state highway bridges. Transit has managed this in a way to ensure that bridges are rehabilitated at the most cost effective stage of their life cycle.

There are some weight or speed restrictions on minor routes. Several bridges on this network are only marginally above the maximum legal vehicle dimensions, which is a height of 4.25 metres. The most notable of these are the Arahura River Bridge on SH6 in Westland District and the Awatere River Bridge on SH1 in Marlborough District. Both these bridges are combined road and rail bridges.

7.3.8 Overall Road Condition Summary

Maintenance practices and renewal programmes have been improving the performance of the road network. Based on an analysis of roughness, pavement condition and surface condition, it is concluded that the overall the road network condition is in good health. It should be noted, however, that within the time available, analysis has been limited to the state highway network (which accounts for roughly half of all vehicle kilometres travelled) and four local road networks in areas identified for regional development.

7.4 Service Delivery: Current Situation

While the condition of the road network is an important dimension of infrastructure quality, from a road users' perspective, the quality of the network is a function of how well it meets the demands placed upon it by users. In this section of the report, the service capacity and capability of the road network is assessed in terms of:

• Demand measured in terms of road use intensity, vehicle ownership and car-park availability.
• Network capacity measured in terms of congestion.
• Safety impacts.
• Environmental issues.

7.4.1 Demand

The demand relates to the use that the road infrastructure is subjected to. Two readily available indicators are:

• The intensity of road use in terms of vehicle kilometres travelled, and;
• The level of vehicle ownership.

In addition, the audit has examined the supply of car-parks in major urban areas as one factor influencing vehicle and, hence, road use.

7.4.1.1 Total Road Use Intensity (Vehicle Kilometres Travelled)

Road use intensity is often measured in terms of vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT). In simple terms, VKT is the number of vehicles multiplied by the average distance each vehicle travels in one year. Table 34 summarises road use intensity for each region based on 2002 data.

Source: Transit and Transfund Annual Reports and Transfund National Traffic Database

The urban areas dominate road use, with the Auckland Region making up 29% of the total New Zealand VKT. Auckland also has the highest intensity of VKT at over 1.3 million VKT per kilometre. The next highest region is Wellington at 0.85 million VKT per kilometre. Christchurch does not feature when considering the total Canterbury Region VKT, but when looking at urban roads only, the Canterbury Region has an intensity of 1.0 million VKT per kilometre, compared to 1.4 and 2.3 for Wellington and Auckland Region urban roads only.

The more rural regions have a higher VKT per capita, which reflects both the longer distances required to service these areas and rural industry activities such as dairying. The West Coast, Waikato, Taranaki and Southland have more than 10,000 VKT per capita, with the West Coast per capita VKT nearly double that of Wellington. There appears to be a paradox in Gisborne, which has the lowest per capita VKT in New Zealand, suggesting socio-economic factors.

The high variation in regional road use intensity is reflected in large variations between road types. This is highlighted in Table 35, which is a road intensity summary by road type from 2002 data.

Source: Transit and Transfund Annual Reports and Transfund National Traffic Database

The table demonstrates the importance of the state highway component of the road infrastructure. State highways only make up 11% of the total road length, but are subjected to nearly half of the total VKT. Likewise, urban roads, including motorways, make up 17% of the total road length, but are subjected to 57% of the total VKT.

Although urban roads dominate total VKT, rural state highways have a greater VKT per kilometre than local urban roads. Coupled with high speed expectations and varying road geometry, the relatively low volumes of traffic can nevertheless result in high pressure being placed on these roads.

In contrast, unsealed local roads make up 36% of the total road length, but only have 2% of the total VKT. However, the unsealed local road networks in Northland, Canterbury and Otago have VKTs greater than the entire VKTs in Gisborne and the West Coast.

7.4.1.2 Heavy Vehicle Road Use Intensity

Heavy vehicle road used intensity can been measured in terms of vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) and net tonne kilometres travelled (NKT), which excludes the tare weight of the vehicle. The comparison between heavy vehicle VKT and NKT reflects differences in the average weight carried per vehicle.

Whilst total VKT demand highlights pressures on road capacity, particularly in urban areas, the heavy vehicle VKT will place pressure on road maintenance, particularly when coupled with a high NKT. However, high heavy vehicle VKTs can also place pressure on road capacity in rural areas, which then reflects the desire for passing lanes. The table below provides a road use intensity summary for each region from 2002 data.

Source: Transit Heavy Vehicle Limits Project

As for the total VKT, the Auckland Region has the highest heavy vehicle VKT at 147 million vehicle kilometre per year. Although Auckland only has 8.6% of the road length, it makes up 19% of the heavy vehicle VKT.

The Waikato Region has the highest NKT at 1,847 million tonne kilometres per year. However, in terms of weight intensity, the Bay of Plenty has the highest intensity at 214.8 thousand tonnes per kilometre, compared to the New Zealand average of 106.5 thousand tonnes per kilometre. Other regions with high weight intensities are Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki and Wellington.

In urban dominated regions such as Auckland and Wellington, this reflects the high intensity associated with port and industrial activities. In Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Taranaki, this is likely to reflect high demand from forestry and dairying activities. As for the total VKT, the Gisborne Region has the smallest heavy vehicle VKT and NKT.

7.4.1.3 Vehicle Ownership

Whilst vehicle ownership is not a direct measure of demand, it is primary driver for demand. In other words, more vehicles results in a higher overall demand. The table below provides vehicle ownership data for each region based on 2002 data.

Source: LTSA and Statistics New Zealand

Regional vehicle ownership trends largely parallel those associated with VKT, as regions with high numbers of vehicles have the highest VKTs.

In terms of vehicle ownership intensity, the Auckland Region has 109 vehicles per kilometre of road, compared to a low of 8 vehicles per kilometre on the West Coast.

New Zealand has a very high level of vehicle ownership, with an average of 1.52 vehicles per household. Within the regions, this ranges from 1.59 vehicles per household in Auckland to 1.38 vehicles per household in Gisborne.

The vehicle ownership per household is similar in Wellington and Gisborne. However, the Wellington result reflects more dense urban population in Wellington City and relatively high access to public transport, whereas in Gisborne, it is likely to relate to socio-economic factors.

7.4.1.4 Travel to Work Indicators

The 2001 census data collected by Department of Statistics journey to work by the primary means of transport, which is shown in the table below. This shows a high dependence on private motor transport to travel to work, which is actually the highest proportion in the Auckland Region at 80%.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

The Wellington Region has the lowest proportion of work trips by private transport, and the highest proportion of trips by public transport. The other notable fact is that Auckland has the lowest proportion of walking or cycling to work.

Table 39 identifies the changes in journey to work modes in the Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury Regions from the 1991, 1996 and 2001 census data.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

There has been an increasing number of people working from home, but this has not made any impact in the number of people travelling to work in a private vehicle. People travelling by bus or train continues to be far higher in Wellington, but care is needed when making a direct comparison with Canterbury, because although it includes Christchurch it also has a very large rural area.

7.4.1.5 Parking Space Capacity

In urban areas, the level of demand to use the road network is also influenced by the availability of car-parks. Table 40 summarises the parking space supply relative to floor area (offices and retail premises) and employees in each of the five main cities.

Source: Douglas Consulting Services Ltd⁵⁷

This indictor is a factor in the choice of journey mode made to travel to work or to visit the city centre. Not surprisingly, Auckland has a high ratio of car parks per 1000 employees reflecting the high number of vehicles and relatively limited use of public transport. In contrast, Wellington has the smallest parking space for floor area and the second smallest for the number of employees, which is partially reflected in the higher use of passenger transport.

7.4.2 Network Capacity

The road capacity is the maximum hourly traffic flow that can be accommodated on a road or intersection. It is a function of the number of traffic lanes, the number of side accesses, the lane and sealed shoulder width, the road geometry and the proportion of heavy vehicles.

Unfortunately, there are no readily obtainable indicators of current road infrastructure capacity. Accordingly, to provide some insights regarding the extent to which the road network is being stretched to, or beyond, its design capacity, the audit comments below on some specific regional pressure points. This is supplemented with congestion data relating to Auckland and Wellington.

7.4.2.1 Regional Analysis

In general, the State Highway Network has the ability to convey additional freight tonnages, and adequately cope with the demand likely to occur in the near future. While such growth will in a number of cases reduce the level of service for road users, and require additional maintenance expenditure, it is unlikely that additional loading will unduly inhibit future growth. In some cases, the roading network has limits of capacity which restrict movement of road traffic either during regular commuter peaks in the case of urban areas or peak holiday periods in the case of some roads servicing holiday areas or access into and out of major urban areas. Some examples of specific roading issues are set up below.

Northland

Northland's road network comprises 70 % of unsealed roads compared with a national average of 30 %. The basic roading network is currently in place, but requires significant upgrading to provide an efficient network that can be used to transport goods in a timely manner. This applies specifically to forestry areas where Regional funding is currently allowing upgrading of key harvesting routes. Northland's foundation materials are generally poor and contribute to the relatively high cost of roading in the north. Greater use of rail or barging for freight transport will assist in alleviating this damage, however in many cases alternatives to roading are not economic. Rail access to the major deep water port in Whangarei is currently the subject of investigations to assess the viability of providing rail access for port traffic.

Auckland

The Auckland Region suffers from the nation's most significant congestion (discussed further below), and its transport efficiency needs require relief of this congestion on both the motorway and primary arterial routes. Planned improvements address critical points such access to the Port of Auckland, and improvements to the Central Motorway Junction (CMJ).

The time required to progress road improvement projects through the Resource Management Act, other consent procedures and finalise necessary land purchase has resulted in the typical lead time from project conception to commencement of construction of close to 10 years. This has particular implications for Auckland where traffic growth exceeds 7 % along some sections of the network.

Waikato/Coromandel

A combination of tourism, development and forestry/dairying pressures are steadily increasing demand on the roading network. In the case of state highways, the planned progressive development of key routes such as the Waikato Expressway, will meet many of the forecast needs. Transit's current strategy of progressively developing passing lanes will assist maintaining the existing level of service, and a number of proposed projects will reasonably manage safety aspects. There are, however several pressure points on the existing highway network, such as traffic around Hamilton, the Wairau River Bridge (SH25 near Thames) and access to key holiday areas such Coromandel Peninsula which require specific attention. The Port of Tauranga has raised concerns regarding the fact that it is the only port without direct state highway access (to part of the port). There are some local issues with port traffic and there are a number of projects underway including an option to convert existing local road to state highway status.

Central Eastern North Island

Across the Central and Eastern North Island, the increase in forestry traffic is putting pressure on the roading infrastructure. The alternatives for carrying logs are limited in a number of locations. Debate continues on the future function on the East Coast Railway (Napier to Gisborne), however likely tonnages which may be attracted to the railway would result in only modest savings in road maintenance if carriage by rail were used.

Wellington

Wellington Region's key roading network comprises two major and one connecting State Highways which act as key rural strategic routes, and closer to Wellington function as urban commuter arterials. Congestion is evident regularly on the urban sections of SH1 and SH2 near Wellington, although some rural 2-lane sections as far north as Waikanae operate close to capacity during busy weekends and times of peak commuter traffic flow. While there are significant planned improvements from MacKays Crossing to Paramata and from Petone to Melling on SH2, neither are likely to entirely address capacity issues.

While access to the Port of Wellington is affected by congestion, the airport location has both advantages and disadvantages. While it is close to town, its location dictates that the majority of all traffic bound for the airport passes through the CBD thereby adding to congestion problems.

South Island

The South Island roading network, by contrast that of the North Island is somewhat less stressed, with growth in traffic, tonnages and population being much more modest. Sustained forestry harvesting is projected for the foreseeable future, with this resulting in particular impacts in the Nelson, Marlborough, Otago and Southland areas. The progressive conversion of pastoral farming to dairying, most noticeable in the Southland area, results in additional tonnages and higher road user expectation in some locations. Another pressure evident is the development of small land holdings closer to urban areas raising the expectation residents for sealed roads. Particularly growth areas include west of Nelson and the development of smaller blocks in Otago and Southland.

Tourism continues to be a major driver, requiring continued higher standards of access to key tourism destinations, noticeably Queenstown and the Milford Sound area.

Access to key ports is adequate at present, however increased forestry usage is causing pressures on existing road access to the ports of Nelson and Otago specifically, with issues arising related to heavy traffic movements also occurring in Picton and Canterbury. Forestry harvesting places particular pressures on otherwise lightly trafficked routes necessitating investment in road strengthening (both sealed and unsealed) and development of key bridge assets. This places financial burden on territorial authorities.

Finally, there are specific constrictions on some sections the road network which do impose costs due to alternative longer routes being required by some classes of vehicles. Examples are the restrictions on long vehicles (13 metres and over) across Arthur's Pass, and a height restriction on the Awatere road/rail bridge on SH1 in Marlborough.

The development of tourism, changes of land use to forestry and dairying, developing related industries and progressive subdivision is straining the ability of some sections of the unsealed road network to meet the expectation of road users. This is resulting in pressures on unsealed roads which tend to corrugate quickly and become difficult and costly to maintain. Development pressures are particularly noticeable in Central Otago, Queenstown-Lakes, Marlborough and Tasman Districts, and to a lesser extent elsewhere in the South Island.

Other Issues

As a more general point, several one-lane bridges cause capacity restrictions at times of peak traffic flows. The most notable example is the Waihau River Bridge on SH25 at Kopu near Thames, which provides the major access to the Coromandel Peninsula from Auckland. Extensive queues, sometimes stretching several kilometres occur at the beginning and the end of major holiday periods.

7.4.2.2 Congestion

Congestion surveys for Auckland and Wellington, and crash statistics infer a lack of capacity, however these measures are a consequence of pressure on the infrastructure, rather than a direct capacity indicator itself.

Congestion is a highly visible consequence of high travel demand placing pressure on the road network. Unfortunately it is difficult to measure consistently to obtain comparable results.

In 2002, Transit developed congestion surveys for Auckland and Wellington in accordance with procedures set out by Austroads. Although in its infancy, this has allowed a consistent congestion indicator to be developed that can be compared over time and compared with other urban areas.

Table 41 and Table 42 summarise congestion indicators from surveys carried out in April 2002 for weekday morning peak, afternoon peak and inter-peak periods.

Source: Transit/Auckland Regional Council

Source: Transit/Wellington Regional Council

The congestion indicator is the difference in travel time between travelling at the speed limit and the actual travel time. The variability in travel time is the range of actual travel time results.

While these results can be used to compare with other urban areas throughout Australia, they need to be treated with caution. For example, the results are highly dependent on the roads chosen for the surveys. In Wellington for instance, the long link distances results in very low interpeak congestion because most of the outer roads flow freely outside peak times. Congestion in Wellington thus comprises heavy congestion at some pinch points.

Table 43 highlights the Congestion Indicator for Australian cities for comparison.

Source: Austroads

In Auckland, congestion is similar to several Australian cities, although interpeak congestion levels are relatively low. However, heavy congestion is experienced on the Northern and Southern Motorways during peak periods, largely because there are no viable alternative routes.

There are also several sections of the key strategic road network which are severely under capacity during times of peak demands. In terms of average daily traffic, the road links normally appear adequate, although heavily loaded. Congestion becomes severe at the beginning and end of key holiday periods. Several of these appear on Transit's forward works programme, but they are not ranked highly compared to other congestion relief projects. Specific examples are as follows:

• SH1: Warkworth to Orewa
• SH1: Hamilton to Mercer
• SH2: Pokeno to SH25 intersection (via Maramarua)
• SH2: Katikati to Tauranga
• SH1: Otaki to Porirua

In each of the above cases congestion is the primary issue, however the high traffic volumes are exhibiting significant safety issues on most sections of highway due to the inadequate standard for the volumes being carried during holiday peak times, and at other times of significant flow.

7.4.2.3 Safety Impacts

Reported road crashes is a measure of the safety of the road network. It can directly result from road deficiencies, such as low standard geometric alignments, or it can indicate higher levels of demand, particularly on rural roads. For example, higher traffic volumes may lead to risky overtaking manoeuvres or intersection turning movements.

Table 44 is a "snap-shot" of regional fatal and serious injury crashes that occurred in 2002.

Source: LTSA

The urban areas, which can be more apparent in the Auckland and Wellington Region results have relatively low fatal and serious injury crash rates per VKT, reflecting the average lower speeds in urban areas.

Likewise the Canterbury Region has a relatively low crash rate per VKT, partly reflecting Christchurch City, but also reflecting that many rural roads have good road geometry compared to other regions.

The lower standard road geometry on many rural roads in New Zealand, including state highways, results in a demanding road environment for many drivers. Of particular concern are the very high fatal and serious crash rates per VKT in Otago, Southland and Nelson/ Marlborough/Tasman.

Ideally, to make further use of these indicators, more detailed work would need to be undertaken to identify the road section the crashes are occurring on and to identify the characteristics of these road sections.

7.4.2.4 Environmental Impacts

Vehicle use of the road network gives rise to a range of environmental impacts including:

• Emissions (greenhouse gases, particulates and various localised air quality impacts)
• Noise pollution
• Water pollution (e.g. run-off of oils, tyre residues etc).

A major study into surface transport costs (road and rail) has been commissioned by the Ministry of Transport and included within this is an examination of the costs associated with environmental impacts. The results of this work are not yet public although much earlier work undertaken by the Ministry of Transport indicated that the costs associated with environmental impacts of road use are significant.⁵⁸

Two of the more significant pollutant categories identified in the earlier work were greenhouse gases and local air quality.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

A principal contributor to greenhouse gases by the transport sector is CO₂ emissions. Trends are shown in the graph below.

Figure 53: Fleet CO₂ Output Projections

Source: Ministry of Economic Development, Energy Data File

• The business as usual ("BAU") line in the graph above incorporates the impact of vehicles coming into New Zealand as a passive receiver of global auto technology, and the advances in fuel economy that represent mainstream auto industry progress overseas.
• The "no improvement" line reflects the level of CO₂ emission if there were to be no advancement in vehicle technology. The difference between this line and the BAU line therefore reflects improvements in vehicle efficiency technology and the extent to which the composition of the New Zealand fleet reflects these improvements.
• The "MED" line represents actual CO₂ emissions based on data obtained from the Ministry of Economic Development's Energy Data File.

The points to note regarding the graph above are:

• The level of CO₂ emission is directly proportional to the amount of fuel consumed.
• The amount of fuel used is a function of the fuel efficiency of vehicles and the number of kilometres travelled by the vehicle fleet.
• Over time, the fuel efficiency of the vehicle fleet, for a given size of vehicle, may have been improving, but the total kilometres travelled has been increasing at rates roughly in line with general economic and population growth.

Local Air Emissions

The recognised pollutant types that are primary indicators of emissions from vehicles, and have potentially adverse effects on local air quality are carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). The graphs below illustrate the projected trends in the rate of emissions of these chemical compounds. They are based on the Ministry of Transport's "Vehicle Fleet Model", base case projections.

The graphs below indicate trends in emissions for vehicles operating in typical urban operation. The heavy vehicles comprise diesel vehicles only.

Figure 54: Emissions - Heavy Vehicles

Source: Ministry of Transport Vehicle Fleet Model

Figure 55: Emissions - Petrol Cars

Source: Ministry of Transport Vehicle Fleet Model

Several points should be noted:

• The rate of emission is falling over time reflecting improvements in engine technology, with significant progress being made in the global auto industry in meeting ever more exacting emissions standards. New Zealand is a receiver of this technology, so will benefit accordingly.
• However, most importantly, the impact of the level of emission depends on the circumstances surrounding the emission. For example, an extra unit of emission will have a far greater impact if the emission occurs on a crowded city street than it will if the emission occurs in an unpopulated rural area. The concentration of emissions activity determines the corresponding pollution levels.
• New Zealand cannot easily influence the pace of technology improvements, but policy decisions (for example, removing barriers to imports of used Japanese vehicles), can have a significant impact on the extent to which the vehicle fleet comprises more modern technology. In simple terms, where older vehicles are replaced by more modern equivalents, the rate of emissions tends to be lower.
• The principal contributors to vehicle fleet CO emissions are petrol vehicles with rates that are an order of magnitude greater than comparable diesel-powered vehicles. In contrast diesel engines produce PM emission rates, by mass, that are between one and two orders of magnitude higher than the petrol engine. These are functions of the basic engine technology and fuel type used.
• In the long term, for all engine technologies, the emissions performance capabilities will have emission rates that are negligible compared with current fleet average outputs.
• The traffic conditions under which a vehicle operates determine its actual emission output rates. Generally, the rates of combustion emissions are significantly higher in congested traffic situations than they are in free-flow situations. Reducing congestion can, therefore, have a much more immediate and significant impact on reducing emissions than can changes in technology, which takes time to penetrate the fleet. The example of petrol cars operating under congested and free-flow conditions is shown below.

Figure 56: Carbon Emissions - Petrol Cars

Source: Ministry of Transport Vehicle Fleet Model

7.4.3 Overall Service Delivery Summary

It is clear that demand outstrips supply in terms of congestion in New Zealand's major urban centres. This is particularly evident in Auckland, where congestion indicators show that experiences similar levels of congestion to several Australian cities.

Outside Auckland and Wellington, an overview such as this makes it difficult to quantify congestion elsewhere. Although there is not widespread road congestion, many urban centres experience "pinch points" with localised congestion.

In rural areas, it is even more difficult to assess congestion. While the demand is not near capacity on many rural roads, heavy vehicle levels on the road coupled with demanding road geometry results in driver frustration. This can result in risky overtaking and other behaviour, which is reflected in road crashes.

7.5 Road Condition: The Future

Transfund's funding and reporting policies results in maintenance and renewal programmes being reviewed and performance monitored. The introduction of the Local Government Act 2002, along with existing requirements for local authorities to fund depreciation also encourage the development of a long term approach to the maintenance of the road network.

Historically, there has been a relatively constant rehabilitation rate for the state highway network as shown in Figure 57 below. Current and forecast maintenance expenditure suggests that this rehabilitation rate will continue.

Figure 57: State Highway Pavement Age

Source: RAMM data

Over time, funding priorities are likely to change due to new issues and changes in policy settings. Issues that may arise over the next few years include:

• Changes to local authority service levels resulting from greater public involvement through the Local Government Act;
• Increased urbanisation, particularly around the largest cities;
• New controls to aspects such as noise, vehicle emissions, dust spread and stormwater runoff;
• Changes to the vehicle fleet, particularly heavy vehicle types and weights;
• Forestry, dairying and other industry demands;
• Future levels of public transport, particularly in Auckland and Wellington. However, this will have little influence on the use of the road network outside the major urban areas.

The New Zealand Transport Strategy (NZTS) will also continue to have an impact on spending priorities. The objectives of the NZTS are to:

• Assist economic growth
• Assist safety and personal security
• Improve access and mobility
• Protect and promote public health
• Ensure environmental sustainability.

Aligned with the NZTS, the Government's priorities for land transport funding are to:

• Reduce severe traffic congestion
• Improve passenger transport
• Promote walking and cycling
• Assist regional development and alternatives to roading
• Improve road safety.

This has implications for relative priorities between different types of road project. As discussed in the next section, congestion relief projects are forecast to represent a significant majority of large projects over the next 10 years.

7.6 Service Delivery: The Future

Traditional road transport planning in New Zealand has attempted to resolve supply and demand gaps through increasing supply: upgrading roads and building new roads. Reducing demand is another method available to close the gaps. Evidence from other countries suggests that increasing supply in turn induces further demand resulting in new supply and demand gaps.

Compared to many countries, New Zealand has a high reliance on private motor vehicles. This is supported by vehicle ownership indicators, which show that New Zealand has one of the highest vehicle ownership rates in the world. This reliance on private transport has largely arisen from low population densities and a relatively low cost of vehicle ownership. As private vehicle ownership has increased, public transport services have declined.

7.6.1 Demand and Economic Growth

There is a reasonably close relationship between travel demand, as measured by VKT, and Gross Domestic product (GDP) as shown in the table below. On the state highway network, it is generally believed that the rate of growth in VKT tends to slightly exceed the rate of economic growth which might reflect the relatively greater proportion of heavy vehicle traffic on the state highway network.

The Government has indicated that it is targeting growth of at least 4% per annum which is slightly higher than the average rates of VKT growth over the 10 years ending 2000.

Source: LTSA⁵⁹ and Statistics New Zealand

7.6.2 Capital Expenditure

7.6.2.1 Regional Allocation

Readily obtainable indicators of the extent of capital funding include:

• Transfund's National Road Land Transport Programme
• Transit's Ten Year Expenditure for state highways

The table below summarises forecast regional capital expenditure on the road network.

Source: Transfund and Transit

The distribution of Transfund's 2003/2004 funding across the regions and Transit's Ten Year Forecast is similar, despite Transit's forecast only being for state highways. This suggests that the funding spread for local roads is similar to state highways.

Both indicators show the funding per VKT proposed for Auckland Region is far higher than that for all other regions. This reflects the emphasis on reducing congestion in Auckland and the high costs associated with increasing urban road capacities. Funding is similar for the Waikato and Wellington Regions, albeit nearly half that per VKT than that for Auckland. As for Auckland, this reflects the emphasis on reducing congestion.

There is widespread opinion that there is insufficient capital expenditure on the road network to cater for current and projected demand. This is clearly evident in the congestion experienced in Auckland and the high crash rate in many rural areas. It should be noted that in addition to investing in the road network, measures to manage demand and road pricing could help alleviate congestion.

However, assessing the extent of the shortfall of planned investment is difficult to do with current information. The indicators above show where the funding is allocated across New Zealand, but it does not show the funding gap, if any, to meet demand shortfalls.

7.6.2.2 Capital Expenditure by Type of Project

Transit divides its project funding in to the following project classes:

• Congestion, such as additional traffic lanes or a grade separated interchange;
• Safety, such as a rural road realignment;
• Quality and efficiency, such as passing lanes;
• Route security, such as earthquake strengthening of bridges;
• Environmental projects, such as stock effluent disposal;
• Statutory projects;
• Regional development, and;
• Walking and cycling

Table 47 shows the overall costs Transit has forecast for each project class. Major projects are those with forecast construction costs greater than $3 million. Major projects have been forecast for ten years, but smaller and medium projects have been only forecast for three years.

Source: Transit

Nearly 80% of the large project cost is planned for congestion projects, with nearly 90% of this cost being planned in Auckland. This highlights the large emphasis being placed on reducing congestion.

Congestion projects are not a major component of the smaller project cost, which highlights the point that reducing congestion is very expensive. Safety projects make up about half of the smaller project costs and, on average, have much lower costs than congestion-relief projects.

Apart from congestion, the greatest allocation is for quality and efficiency projects, which are either passing lanes in rural areas, or urban capacity increases in areas where it is considered that congestion is not the main driver for the project.

These fund indicators spread available Government funding to match current priorities. However, they do not indicate if the forecast funding is sufficient to meet the perceived quality of service gaps.

7.6.2.3 Funding Arrangements

Existing funding arrangements raise several policy-related issues. Under current arrangements, Transfund funds all capital works on state highways, and provides a funding allocation to territorial authorities for local roads. This funding is allocated by project, and varies for local authorities, based on the ability for each authority to pay for road infrastructure. This variation ranges between 48% and 75% of the capital cost of the project.

Therefore local authority capital funding is dependent on the willingness or ability of each authority to fund local road infrastructure. There are issues arising from these arrangements including the appropriate contribution of rates versus other forms of funding. Transfund is currently undertaking some work in this area. At a practical level, some local authorities, particularly in tourist/holiday areas have raised concerns that current funding arrangements do not adequately take into account the costs associated with maintaining roads that are heavily used by people who are not resident in the local area (and, hence, are not ratepayers in that area).

Under the recently enacted Land Transport Management Act, Transfund's objective is to allocate resources in a way that contributes to an integrated, safe, responsive, and sustainable land transport system. More specifically, in considering funding applications, Transfund is required to take into account the objectives of the New Zealand Transport Strategy which are to:

• Assist economic growth;
• Assist safety and personal security;
• Improve access and mobility;
• Protect and promote public health;
• Ensure environmental sustainability.

Transfund's objective under the Land Transport Management Act is broader than its previous objective (under the Transit New Zealand Act) which focused on efficiency. Moreover, Transfund's brief now spans all land transport modes rather than just roads. Funding is now available for:

• Passenger transport;
• Alternatives to roads;
• Walking and cycling

This has caused some lobby groups to question why road users are having to pay for services that they do not use.

Current funding arrangements operate on a pay-as-you-go basis. This means that the funding available for projects in any one year is limited by the amount of funding that is expected to be generated in that year. The recently enacted Land Transport Management Act potentially creates more opportunity to fund projects by borrowing from the private sector. One advantage of borrowing (from either the private or public sectors) is that it allows scheduling of road projects to be optimised and their benefits to be brought forward ahead of when they otherwise would have commenced.

⁵⁶These are listed in Appendix 1 and reflect a cross-section of New Zealand. The sample represents approximately 70% of the state highway network.

⁵⁷Douglas, M., (2002) Trips and Parking Related to Land Use Paper presented to Wellington Regional Council Transport Planning Workshop.

⁵⁸Ministry of Transport (1996) Land Transport Pricing Study: Environmental Externalities.

⁵⁹The LTSAVKT data from odometer readings of vehicles rather than traffic patterns from Transfund and Transit data used earlier in this report.