Road reforms 1997 and environmental costs of roads

The editorial of The Dominion 15 October 1997 reports that full user pays is on its way, following the report of the Roading Advisory Group (RAG). The RAG conclusions were that the system needed more than minor reforms, nor should it simply have more money spent on it, but also it did not support privatising the roads.  It recommended retaining open access to roads but with user pays. It included ending ratepayer funding for roads, but retaining ratepayer funding of footpaths and cycleways. The editorial mentioned the use of technology to enable road pricing, but also called for an end to direction of some fuel taxes to the Crown account.

Following this report, the Bolger/Shipley Government advanced road reform proposals titled "Better Transport Better Roads", which was to commercialise road management and empower commercial road managers to implement road pricing.  However, these were cancelled by the Clark Government after the 1999 election. There reforms have not been revisited by subsequent governments to date.

 The subsequent two newspaper reports reflect work undertaken by the Ministry of Transport on the environmental impacts of roads. It was one of a series of papers from the Land Transport Pricing Study on environmental externalities. The report estimated costs were between $1b and $4b, with the best estimate being $1.38b per annum.. The main issue being how to separate externalities from costs born privately.  Noise was estimated to cost between $230m and $2.65b, with best estimates being $290m. Water impacts was estimated to cost between $35m and $170m, with best estimates being $100m. Greenhouse gases estimated to cost between $25m and $580m with best estimates being $290m.  The conclusion was that the report helped to indicate what policy responses might be appropriate to externalities. Since that report, two further reports have been prepared which include assessment of the environmental costs of transport, namely Surface Transport Costs and Charges (2002) and Domestic Transport Costs and Charges (2023).

The Independent 29/03/96

Evening Post 30/03/96