Skip to main content

Smarter Transport Pricing project gets underway in Auckland

The New Zealand Government and Auckland Council have begun a project to investigate smarter transport pricing in Auckland.
June 9, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

The New Zealand Government and Auckland Council have begun a project to investigate smarter transport pricing in Auckland.

The Smarter Transport Pricing Project will undertake a thorough investigation to support a decision on whether or not to proceed with introducing pricing for demand management in Auckland. Officials from the Ministry of Transport, Auckland Council, Auckland Transport, the 6296 New Zealand Transport Agency, Treasury and the State Services Commission will work together and engage the public to develop and test different options.

The first stage of the project, which will lay the groundwork for assessing pricing options, is expected to be complete by the end of 2017. However, any decision on the use of a demand management tool like road pricing is still some years off, according to finance minister Steven Joyce.

Transport minister Simon Bridges commented that work undertaken last year by the Government and Auckland Council found that smarter transport pricing could help make a big difference in the performance of Auckland’s transport system. He said smarter transport pricing could involve varying what road users pay at different times and/or locations to better reflect where the cost of using the roads is higher (i.e. where there is congestion). This could encourage some users to change the time, route or way in which they travel.

“The Government has also made a clear undertaking that any form of variable pricing will be primarily used to replace the existing road taxes that motorists pay. This is about easing congestion, not raising more revenue,” said Bridges.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Detroit pilots new data standard for dockless mobility
    November 16, 2018
    Several organisations are coming together in Detroit, US, to pilot a new tool to analyse mobility data for dockless bikes and scooters. The aim is to allow urban authorities which work with dockless mobility providers to share and analyse trip data, including trip origins and destinations, neighbourhood availability, travel times and usage. This should give them the chance to allocate street space to sustainable transportation, improve safety and provide more equal access to transport services. Detroit M
  • Nothing smart about ‘deadly’ lay-bys on all-lane running motorways, says AA
    September 27, 2016
    Eight out of 10 UK drivers think that removal of hard-shoulders on smart motorways has made motorways more dangerous than four years ago, according to an AA-Populus poll of 20,845 drivers. Some drivers even refer to the lay-bys on these motorways as ‘death zones’.
  • Nissan and Enel launch vehicle-to-grid project in the UK
    May 12, 2016
    Automotive manufacturer Nissan and multinational power company Enel are to launch a major vehicle-to-grid (V2G) trial in the UK, which will see one hundred V2G units installed and connected at locations agreed by private and fleet owners of the Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 electric van. By giving Nissan electric vehicle owners the ability to plug their vehicles into the V2G system, owners will have the flexibility and power to sell stored energy from their vehicle battery back to the National Grid. The annou
  • DSRC holds the key to tomorrow's transportation
    June 15, 2016
    Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) technologies are poised to revolutionise transportation system planning, management and operations. But will widespread US adoption take five years, or twenty? As Ben Pierce of Battelle explains, the answer depends largely on which roadmap the ITS community chooses to follow for deployment.