Transport costs spike, Govt unprepared

The ever-increasing rise in travel costs, detailed in today's Consumer Price Index release, highlight the need for better public transport strategies, the Green Party says.

Green Party MP and transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes said the 11 percent upward spike in New Zealand transport costs over the last year was just a taste of things to come.

"Oil prices will rise and fall, but the long-term trend is up. We need smarter Government strategies to protect us from a future where New Zealand families won't be able to afford to get about.

"Unfortunately, the Government's pro-motorway transport strategy locks us into oil-dependency. Instead, we should focus on further developing an efficient public transport system that everyone can use."

Statistics NZ today released the Consumer Price Index for the last financial year which showed a 21-year-high increase to the cost of living of 5.3 percent. It included an 11 percent increase to the transport costs and a 20.1 percent increase in fuel costs.

Mr Hughes said the Government needed to rethink its transport strategy if it seriously wanted to protect future generations.

"We asked the New Zealand Transport Agency what oil price assumptions they use in their latest models for the Roads of National Significance, and were told oil prices weren't taken into account.

"It's amazing that while fuel costs are skyrocketing, the Government still has its head in the sand on the role of oil prices in transport planning.

"Using woefully out of date assumptions about the price of oil is not a smart way for the Government to run the economy."