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NZ Transport Strategy and Contractors by Chris Olsen 2/10/2008



  


  





  
NZ Transport Strategy and Contractors  by Chris Olsen  2/10/2008

  
  

    Thu, 02/04/2009 - 1:01pm  

  
The Government released its Transport Strategy and Policy Statement on Transport in early August. The New Zealand Transport Strategy looks out to 2040 while the Government Policy Statement covers the next five years and indicates funding levels for a further five years.


So what do these documents hold for Contractors


To understand this we need to get a feel for how the Government intends to achieve the Strategy's target of a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per capita by 2040. Page 51 of the Strategy document outlines this as follows


    

  • Changes in the light vehicle fleet (i.e. electric cars and reduced emissions) will account for a 26% reduction
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  • Changes to the heavy vehicle fleet and operation efficiencies will account for a further 10% reduction
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  • Travel demand and modal shift for both light and heavy vehicles will account for a 11% reduction
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  • A conversion to bio fuels for both light and heavy vehicles will also account for a 12% reduction.
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There are a number of implications for contractors arising from these goals, particularly the modal shift goal. These changes can be summarised as a move of commuters in cities from cars to passenger transport (buses and rail). Buses of course run on roads. Other changes include a reduction in road user charges revenue and road deterioration as freight is moved by rail instead of road. The net result of this is a real squeeze on funding and a flattening of road construction work over the next five years.


In addition to these initiatives which are largely driven by vehicle use (including contractor vehicles) the Strategy lists a number of other initiatives that will impact on contractors. These include provisions to upskill the workforce and the development of a Road Surfacing Strategy. Upskilling the workforce is an important issue following the massive increase in employee numbers in recent years. There are some complex issues to resolve in this area given that most of the training the sector is not qualifications based but more about “short course” training. There appears to be a need to better integrate this type of training into unit standards which can then over time lead to qualifications if the employee decides to go down this road. Having said that a significant number of employees in our Industry have a fear of qualifications arising from their experiences at school. This issue needs a lot of thought to design a system that works for everyone.


It's expected that the Road Surfacing Strategy will be developed early next year. This Strategy is to consider the balance between sound economic outcomes, safety and the environment. In my view, it could be that some of the assumptions currently used RAMM and DTIMS, particularly relating to PSV, maybe reviewed. It may also mean that a lot of the work of Roading New Zealand’s Environmental Committee may be incorporated into the Strategy to give more of a triple bottom line approach to road resurfacing.


It seems to me that the release of the Government's Transport Strategy is timely given the recent passing into law of the Emission Trading Scheme. Implementing this Strategy in the Transport Sector should begin to position the sector well for the future.