Skip to main content

New Zealand launches draft ITS plan

The New Zealand Government has released a draft intelligent transport systems action plan for public consultation. The plan, announced by by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, is open for consultation until 17 January 2014. It and sets out the government’s strategic plans takes a high-level, multimodal multi-agency approach to the introduction of new ITS technologies in New Zealand over the next four years. New Zealand has some specific challenges to the introduction of intelligent transport systems in
November 21, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The New Zealand Government has released a draft intelligent transport systems action plan for public consultation.  The plan, announced by by Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, is open for consultation until 17 January 2014.  It and sets out the government’s strategic plans takes a high-level, multimodal multi-agency approach to the introduction of new ITS technologies in New Zealand over the next four years.

New Zealand has some specific challenges to the introduction of intelligent transport systems including low population density, distance from international markets, the long narrow form of the country and the limited number of alternative routes should state highways or the main trunk line be unavailable.

“Intelligent transport systems have the potential to transform the operation of all modes of transport, but it is important that is introduced in a coordinated way so as to get the greatest benefit for New Zealand.

“I have asked the Ministry of Transport to lead the consultation to confirm that the government’s strategic aims are clear and that they will identify and remove barriers to the introduction of intelligent transport systems,” says Brownlee.

Brownlee says New Zealand already has some intelligent transport systems technologies in use. “Traffic control centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch rely heavily on technology to gather information on traffic conditions, adjust traffic signals and provide real-time information for travellers in order to operate the network efficiently.

“These deliver real-time congestion information to road users, and are increasing the carrying capacity of the Auckland motorway system by using motorway ramp signals.

“Vehicle manufacturers are also introducing advanced driver assistance systems such as self-parking cars and blind spot warning systems.”

Related Content

  • Qatar invests $70 billion to pave the way to world beating transportation
    July 26, 2013
    Eng. Zeina Nazer looks at what Qatar’s recently-announced investment in transport infrastructure will mean on the ground. Qatar is experiencing a rapid economic and industrial growth. This growth is characterised by a rapid population increase and by the urgent need towards the development of both infrastructure projects and major transport projects. In order to handle this rate of development within Qatar, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in
  • Covid-19 cleared the air: ITS can keep it clean
    July 31, 2020
    Covid-19 has created cleaner air: ITS can help keep it that way – but it’s not going to be straightforward, as Graham Anderson discovers
  • Getting C/AVs from pipedream to reality
    October 17, 2019
    The UK government has suggested that driverless cars could be on the roads by 2021. But designers and engineers are grappling with a number of difficult issues, muses Chris Hayhurst of MathWorks Earlier this year, the UK government made the bold statement that by 2021, driverless cars will be on the UK’s roads. But is this an achievable reality? Driverless technology already has its use cases on our roads, with levels of autonomy ranked on a scale. At one end of the spectrum, level 1 is defined by th
  • Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    January 25, 2018
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a