New Zealand To Invest $13 Billion In Transport Infrastructure: Auckland To Get Maximum Funds

New Zealand will spend a record $13.9 billion in strengthening country's roads and transport links over the next three years. According to the New Zealand Transport Agency, the projects for this will be funded by the central government as well as local councils.

According to the plan, from the total investment, $4.2 billion will be earmarked for Auckland, $1.8 billion for Waikato and $591 million for Bay of Plenty. Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the investments across the country are meant to ensure that New Zealanders have a safe, reliable and efficient transport system.

NZTA chief executive Geoff Dangerfield expressed confidence that the 2015-2018 plan will boost economic growth and productivity. “This is an investment in the transport system as a whole, and it aims to make all parts of the system work better together to provide the greatest benefits to the people who use the transport system every day," he said.

Auckland Gains

Bulk of the funding will go to Auckland, with $4.2 billion planned for improving transport links in which 1.2b will be for public transport and $91 million for improving cycling and walking. In the allocation, Northland has not gained much, as the Government seems to have back tracked on its promise of building 10 new bridges there, which was the main plank of National during the recent by-election campaign. However, the Transport minister said funding for four bridges in Northland has been approved and others have to wait until 2018.

The Green Party, while reacting on the transport spending, had a word of caution. It said the investment is too much focused on “carbon-polluting transport infrastructure, rather than building a clean, balanced efficient system for the 21st century.”

Railway Ignored

The party said the “National government could use the Land Transport Fund to future-proof our transport system. Instead, National has chosen to continue spending over $1 billion per year on a few carbon-polluting motorways that haven't even passed a business case test." Green’s transport spokesperson Julie-Anne Genter accused the Government of following a “foolish policy” of not funding rail infrastructure from the National Land Transport Fund, though rail transport is very much land transport. She said this is despite the new investment marks a 13 percent increase over the last National Land Transport Program of 2012.

The NLTP was created as a partnership between local authorities and NZTA and develops the program and invests from the funds drawn from petrol taxes, road user charges and vehicle licensing fees.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)