Transport law changes bad for communities, economy

The Government's proposed changes to the Land Transport Management Act will take decision making away from communities and give it to faceless motorway building officials, said the Green Party today.

Green Party transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes said the changes were entirely predictable from a transport minister who consulted primarily with the Automobile Association and Road Transport Forum.

"These law changes are about giving more power to central government motorway builders, and they will come at the expense of communities and our economy.

"The Government wants to exclude important diverse views from regional land transport committees, and ignore considerations about environmental sustainability, public health and disability.

"This will result in more of the siloed thinking that has resulted in the complex problems our transport system faces today.

"It is crazy to think we could get a thriving economy, with livable towns and cities, from traffic engineers who do not understand the impact of their projects on urban development.

"We need a smart green transport system to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and regional and community input is essential to find the solutions that will work for everyone."

Mr Hughes said he was extremely concerned about provisions for increased borrowing to fund transport projects.

"The fact that the Government needs to borrow to pay for their motorway plans is evidence that the projects are not cost-effective transport solutions.

"Traffic volumes on state highways are declining in light of high oil prices, and still the Government wants to spend all the money on new motorways, so they need to borrow money.

"We can't increase economic productivity by borrowing to build motorways when the international oil price is expected to stay high.

"We need to invest in a transport system that doesn't increase our vulnerability to high oil prices. That's smart economics," said Mr Hughes.

From the Ministry of Transport information page:

Who have these proposed changes been discussed with?

The Ministry of Transport had preliminary discussions with stakeholders, including Local Government New Zealand, the Automobile Association of New Zealand (AA) and the Road Transport Forum.