Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Transporting New Zealand told today’s [note: Monday] Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee at Parliament that goods vehicles should be exempt from time-of-use charging.
Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Dom Kalasih and Head of Policy & Advocacy Billy Clemens listed four key improvements that would maximise time of use savings for businesses and consumers as part of their submission on the Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill.
The recommendations were:
1. That the legislation exempts freight vehicles and public transport vehicles from paying time-of-use charges.
2. That the legislation does not allow differentiated time-of-use charges according to vehicle class.
3. That the legislation specifies assessments of the impact of time-of-use charging include the expected impacts on the supply chain and freight movement.
4. That the legislation enables scheme boards, with the approval of impacted local authorities and the Minister, to implement short-term trials ahead of a scheme being put in place.
Clemens told the Committee that many in the road freight industry are understandably wary of freight efficiency tools focusing on revenue raising rather than boosting the productivity of the supply chain.
“We’ve seen examples of de-facto congestion charging at Port of Auckland where they introduced peak-based vehicle booking systems that were initially introduced at relatively modest rates… [and then the] Port of Auckland realised it was an excellent revenue raising tool.
“So our members are looking at that and thinking: ‘These are always sold to us on productivity grounds… but once things get settled in it’s pretty tempting to turn the system into a revenue lever.’
“I think you’ve probably heard from some local authorities and councils suggesting [time of use charging] would be a helpful revenue tool.”
Transporting New Zealand also called for the legislation to reference freight impacts and good supply chain outcomes to provide further reassurance to freight businesses and their customers.
