Source: Environment Canterbury Regional Council
The National Land Transport Programme (NLTP), released this week, supports some of our investment priorities including maintenance, risk, and safety – but does little to bolster public transport and help build and upgrade our local roads.
The number one priority in our Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan is a well-maintained network, so the $905 million we’ve been allocated for maintenance and pothole prevention will certainly help with that.
It’s great to see a focus on bridges, which are critical to the resilience of our network. Ultimately, we want to see a real pipeline of bridge projects developed across the South Island. The NLTP includes:
- Progression of a second Ashburton Bridge
- Funding to replace the Pages Road Bridge in Christchurch
- Two priority bridge replacements on State Highway 82
- Consideration of the Upper Ōrāri Bridge replacement for 2027-2030.
It’s also pleasing that there is support for the state highway network in our high growth areas. This includes prioritising the State Highway 1 Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Wooded Bypass as a new Road of National Significance, and continuing with improvements in Rolleston, Halswell and Hornby.
However, a gaping hole remains.
Finding the balance
Despite being the country’s second largest region, we’re receiving just over seven percent of total national contestable funding. More than last time, but disappointing, when you look at the metrics. The level of investment in Canterbury needs to be on par with our population, road network length, and contribution to GDP (ours is around 12 percent).
Many low-cost, low-risk improvements sought by our local communities have been declined, while larger state highway projects get the go-ahead. That’s not a good enough balance.
Funding is still required for intersection upgrades, new essential road links, relieving congestion and improving safety. We need equitable investment across the region – not just along state highways, but for local roads too.
Another area of significant disappointment is the level of public transport investment — $350 million for Canterbury. Most of this will go towards running our existing network. We need another $737 million on top of this for our PT Futures programme.
Public transport funding falls short
We have heard time and time again about the need to improve public transport in Greater Christchurch, one of the country’s most rapidly growing areas outside of Auckland. The government itself states that “Christchurch is the economic powerhouse of the South Island, and transport is a critical enabler for economic growth and productivity.”
The NLTP will allow us to improve frequency on one core route only, but we need to see substantial improvement across the network to drive strong patronage growth, and to ensure we reap the benefits from investment towards a mass rapid transit system in Greater Christchurch. It’s a value-for-money solution to congested roads and the key to improving travel times.
At this pace, we are more than a decade away from getting our public transport services near to where they need to be. Greater central government funding is essential to avoid delays.
A fair share
It’s important to note that funding for the NLTP is drawn from fuel taxes and road user charges. The money that comes from road use in our communities should therefore be put back into our communities. Our bread-and-butter funding is being spread like jam across other regions.
In short, the South Island is being short-changed, with revenue derived here being directed to the North Island.
Canterbury has 12 percent of the population and over 16 percent of the national roading network, but we generally only ever receive around five to eight percent of the NLTP funding.
All we’re asking for is our fair share.
Peter Scott is also Chair of the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee.
