Land transport funding reform in the late 1980s

This post contains a series of newspaper articles from 1988/1989 about discussions on land transport funding reform.  I have a large number of articles from the 1980s and 1990s on these issues which I will include as posts collectively on similar topics from time to time.

2 June 1988 the Evening Post reported on what then Labour Transport Minister Bill Jefferies was considering, which would subsequently result in the merger of the National Roads Board (which by this time was a branch of the Ministry of Transport, following the wind up of the Ministry of Works) with the Urban Transport Council.  The National Roads Board was the decision-making body for central government funding of roads, with extensive local government representation by region. The Urban Transport Council determined central government funding of public transport, which at the time primarily consisted of grants for capital spending to local bus enterprises.  The merger was intended to enable tradeoffs in spending of roads and public transport.  This would ultimately result in creation of Transit New Zealand as a single land transport funding and state highway management agency(hence the name). 

This undated article from around the same time also reports on the intention to deregulate the taxi industry.  It reports in more detail on the restructuring of road functions, with the Ministry of Transport holding the road design and contracting functions, and the road safety education and enforcement roles.  It as noted that while road building and maintenance received funding from RUC and fuel tax, public transport subsidies, safety education and road safety enforcement came from general taxation.  Ultimately all of this would get funded from the National Land Transport Fund.  

The article also notes interest in reviewing public transport monopolies, and using taxis to provide evening services in some communities in place of scheduled public transport services.  

15 August 1988 Evening Post report is a criticism from the AA that road user taxes had been diverted to the Urban Transport Council and the Ministry of Transport, and that this had compromised funding for road safety infrastructure improvements.  The report noted funding had been approved for a median barrier between Johnsonville and Tawa on SH1 north of Wellington (Johnsonville-Porirua motorway) and widening Upper Hutt's River Road which had been the site of multiple fatalities.  It notes failures to fund some additional median barriers.

This undated report from 1988/1989 is one of the earliest reports into New Zealand considering whether technology would enable free-flow road pricing, following a trial in the Netherlands.  The technology is described as using roadside monitors with pre-purchased stored value cards, with number plate recognition cameras.  The Minister at the time, Bill Jefferies describes it as being at the investigation stage, where's Opposition spokesman Maurice McTigue said fuel tax worked well and was fair, and tolling could only be justified for a specific project where alternative funding was needed.

Following that earlier article, road pricing was ruled out by both the Labour Government of the day and the National Opposition.  Minister Jefferies instructed that "no work" was to be done on road pricing.  The AA was opposed because it said $600m of fuel tax was diverted to the Consolidated Fund, at the rate of 21.4c/l.  The MoT's land transport division general manager Allan Kennaird said it was not considered for funding roads, but to manage congestion.  He described the work as being to "keep our ear to the ground",. as it appears the idea was thought as having more support politically than it has.