Govt to publish transport project pipeline
The New Zealand government plans to soon publish a major transport projects pipeline, infrastructure minister Chris Bishop said in response to the newly published 30-year National Infrastructure Plan.
The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission published the plan with 10 priority actions for the next 10 years, one of which is the prioritising and sequencing of major land transport projects. Other priority actions include lifting hospital investment for an ageing population, committing to a durable resource management framework, implementing time-of-use charging and fleetwide road user charges and taking a predictable approach to electrification.
The government will study the plan's recommendations and publish its response in June. According to the commission, New Zealand was the biggest infrastructure investor in the OECD as a share of gross domestic product, but is in the bottom 10% of OECD countries for investment efficiency. “The plan contains a series of recommendations for long-term system shifts, including legislative change to require long-term investment and asset management plans, a consolidated assurance function for ministers, and better linkages between the commission’s assessment of long-term needs and fiscal strategy,” Bishop said.
