In a possibly unprecedented step, the New Zealand Parliament has voted - unanimously - to pass legislation allowing for "Time of Use road pricing" to be enabled, based on proposals from local road controlling authorities in partnership with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) (the central government transport funding and regulatory agency, which is also the State Highway manager).
The Bill was introduced into Parliament by the three-party centre-right coalition government, and at the end was backed by the three leftwing Opposition parties as well. I believe this is the first time anywhere in the world that congestion pricing has received unanimous political support at a national level.
According to the press release from Transport Minister, the Hon. Chris Bishop:
Sitting in traffic wastes time, costs money, and drags down productivity,”
“Travel times in our major cities are up to 30 per cent longer than in comparable Australian cities, with Auckland congestion alone estimated to cost up to $2.6 billion by next year.
“Time-of-use charging is a common-sense tool that encourages people to travel at off-peak times or by other modes. It’s about keeping our cities moving - whether you’re a parent on the school run, a tradie heading to a job, or a truckie delivering exports to port.
“Time of use charging has been talked about in New Zealand for years and now we’re getting on with it. I am really pleased that the legislation to allow the establishment of time-of-use charging schemes passed Parliament unanimously. After years of discussion, it is great to see that all of Parliament is up for reducing congestion and improving productivity.
Ironically, there is next to no political appetite for such a policy in Australia in the near future, in any State or Territory.
Of course the legislation itself does not actually implement road pricing, but it does provide a framework for time of use pricing proposals to be generated, as a local-central government partnership, for approval by the Minister. The details as to what it will mean, in practice, will only come once the Minister of Transport has approved a road pricing scheme, following a proposal submitted by local and central government authorities.
Objective
Unlike some congestion charging schemes implemented elsewhere, the primary purpose of any proposals in New Zealand must be to relieve congestion, not raise revenue (although it is acknowledged that revenue will be generated). It is not designed to reduce emissions, but it is acknowledged that this is likely to be a benefit from it. It is fundamentally not intended to punish driving, but to reduce driving on specific roads at specific times so that traffic can flow more freely. It more closely resembles the objectives of the Singapore Electronic Road Pricing policy, than say New York or London.
This is not surprising, as New Zealand is one of the most car-oriented countries in the world. Auckland, which has 1.7 million people and has made the greatest progress in developing options for road pricing, may be the first to implement it. However, Auckland has highly dispersed travel patterns with around 80% of trips in Auckland undertaken by car (either as driver or passengers), with 18% by walking or cycling (and the remainder by public transport).
Timing
The legislation does not come into force for a year after Royal assent, and subsequent to that, the Minister can receive proposals for approval, amendment or refusal. Given the next New Zealand General Election must happen before the end of 2026, it seems unlikely that the Minister will receive a proposal in advance of that.
What's next?
Auckland Transport and subsequent to that Auckland Council are expected to make decisions on what sort of Time of Use road pricing scheme it wants to implement, with NZTA, and a proposal will need to be developed for acceptance by NZTA and then submitted to the Minister. Before that happens, there will need to be public consultation on the proposal, and at that point the pressure will be highest on local politicians as to whether they want to advance any proposal for implementation.
Other cities can submit their own proposals too. Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Tauranga have all been mooted in recent years for congestion pricing on some scale, so it will be interesting to see which, if any, look to advance work on concepts for pricing in the coming year. Although much smaller cities and towns than Auckland, all have some congestion at peak times which can be severe for their size, and could benefit from road pricing.
Of course nothing is guaranteed.
The UK has had legislation enabling congestion charging by local authorities for around 24 years, and only Durham and Nottingham (the latter being a workplace parking levy) have implemented schemes under that legislation (London happened under specific legislation setting up Transport for London). New Zealand will not be quite the same, as the UK has generally enabling legislation (not requiring central government support), whereas New Zealand will see proposals go to the Minister for approval and will need to be a central-local government partnership. However, I would wager that it is more likely New Zealand will have a congestion pricing system operating sooner than any other UK cities will implement it.
New Zealand, appears on the face of it, to have a rather unique set of political willingness to enable congestion pricing, which is unseen elsewhere, but the reality of what any proposal will actually mean for motorists will come later.
Let's hope whatever proposals advance, that they can bring enough political and public acceptability to enable them to be implemented.
The Bill (which won't be law until Royal Assent) is available here.
(meanwhile it would be nice if the NZ Ministry of Transport updated its website)
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