Source: Auckland Council
Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee has today endorsed the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024-2034 – the region’s investment proposal for transport over the next 10 years.
The draft RLTP was put forward to Aucklanders to have their say from 17 May–17 June 2024. Feedback from this consultation has helped shape the final RLTP.
Councillor John Watson, Chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee says public feedback on the RLTP strongly supported public transport services, as well as maintenance and renewals of the transport network.
“The RLTP also reflects Aucklanders’ strong support for prioritising investment in new public transport infrastructure projects, and I look forward to NZTA taking this priority into account and seeing it reflected in funding decisions,” Cr Watson says.
The RLTP is a multi-agency plan by Auckland Transport (AT), the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and KiwiRail. It sets out the region’s transport objectives and how proposed transport initiatives and activities in Auckland should be prioritised for funding.
Following today’s endorsement by the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, the RLTP will now go to the Auckland Transport Board for approval. It will then be formally submitted to NZTA, which will allocate funding from the National Land Transport Fund.
Over the next 10 years, the plan includes:
- $28 billion for public transport services and infrastructure
- $17 billion for state highway improvements
- $13.3 billion for maintenance, operations and renewals, including $5.5 billion for the renewal of Auckland Transport’s local road network
- $3.1 billion for local road improvement projects (generally multi-modal), growth and other improvements
- $0.9 billion for walking and cycling
- $0.7 billion for safety
Public feedback has helped shape the plan
13,108 pieces of feedback were received on the draft RLTP, more than twice as many as the previous draft RLTP in 2021.
“We were really pleased to see so many Aucklanders take an interest and tell us what’s most important to them when it comes to transport,” says Hamish Bunn, Auckland Transport’s GM Transport System Strategy.
“Public feedback told us that we mostly have it right in terms of what challenges are facing the transport system and what our priorities need to be.
“We heard loud and clear that Aucklanders want a greater emphasis on fast, connected and reliable public transport. They also want to see a bigger focus on local road maintenance and improvements.”
Feedback showed moderate support for state highway improvements and less support for walking, cycling, safety, and sustainability initiatives.
Changes to the draft RLTP based on Aucklanders’ feedback were approved by the Regional Transport Committee (RTC), which must be satisfied that the final RLTP is consistent with the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS).
These changes include:
- Bringing forward funding for unsealed road improvements and bus optimisation programmes, with the deferral of some funding for ferry decarbonisation.
- Raising the priority of the state highway improvement projects.
- Allocation of an additional $600m (budget which was approved through Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan 2024-2034) to make public transport faster, more reliable and easier to use, and to optimise the transport network, as follows:
- $503m to support the removal of the Takaanini rail level crossings.
- $92m to the park and ride programme.
The Regional Land Transport Plan will go to the Auckland Transport Board for approval on 30 July 2024. Following this, it will be submitted to NZTA, which will allocate funding from the National Land Transport Fund.
