Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

 

Once again, extreme weather on the North Island’s east coast has highlighted the fragility of New Zealand’s roading network, with more road closures and question marks hanging over the viability of some highways.

State Highway 25A on the Coromandel remains closed and won’t open until next year. Roads around the country, particularly in Northland, Gisborne, and Auckland, are coming under pressure due to the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events.

Crucial decisions will need to be made about investment in the roading network and what projects get prioritised. We constantly hear from our members about the continued poor state of roads arou...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand News -

I was pleased to see the Government at least attempt to address roading resilience in this year’s Budget. With severe weather events becoming more frequent and roads being the vital links between our communities, it is absolutely critical we increase investment in roading to make sure it is as resilient as possible.

This year’s Budget includes $279 million of funding specifically to improve the resilience of the state highway network, namely through slip prevention, slope stabilisation, flood mitigation and lessening the impact of sea level rise. This is on top of the $71 billion set aside for broader infrastructure upgrades over the next five years and the $475 mi...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand News -

By the time this magazine hits the 
shelves I will have left Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand to take up a new role as Chief Executive of Infrastructure New Zealand. It is with some sadness that I leave the road transport industry as I have thoroughly enjoyed four-and-a-half years representing it. 

There is so much to be admired about the industry here in New Zealand. As I have consistently stated in my public advocacy, road transport is what literally moves New Zealand. The fast and efficient movement of goods is key to this country’s sustained economic success and trucking is right at the heart of that. The industry is also is made up of hardworking,...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand News -

It’s fair to say, I am deeply disappointed and somewhat bemused by the failed rollout of roadside saliva-based drug testing. 

Passed into law through the Drug Driving Amendment Act, which Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand strongly supported, roadside saliva-based oral drug testing was due to begin on March 11. It was determined at the last minute, however, that the tests currently on the market are not suitable for New Zealand because, rather than indicate the level of impairment, they simply test for the presence of drugs in a driver’s system.

The decision to suspend roadside drug testing is not only a missed opportunity to enhance road safety an...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand News -

In normal circumstances I would never give up a chunk of my column to quote verbatim the words of a politician. However, new Prime Minister Hipkins’ opening Statement to Parliament in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle is potentially so consequential for the road transport industry and the future of roading in New Zealand, that I have chosen to make an exception. Hipkins told Parliament:

We know that how we recover has to be done a little bit differently this time. We’ve got to build back better, we’ve got to build back safer, and we’ve got to build back smarter. New Zealand is now without question experiencing the effects of climate change, and we are well past the poi...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand News -

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