next steps review of the land transport sector

Update on the LTMA Bill and the establishment of the NZ Transport Agency

The Land Transport Management Amendment Bill has now been through the Parliamentary committee stages and had its third (and final) reading on Thursday 3 July. The Bill will now need to receive Royal Assent from the Executive Council, a necessary formality, and will commence on 1 August 2008.

One of its provisions is the establishment of the New Zealand Transport Agency which will come into being on the same date the Bill commences. The Agency will take over the functions and responsibilities of Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ) and Transit New Zealand (Transit). In the meantime, LTNZ and Transit will continue their usual operations under existing legislation.

Previous updates:

Legislation to implement the recommendations from the Next Steps in the Land Transport Sector review received its first reading in Parliament on 25 October 2007. The Land Transport Management Amendment Bill is now going through the select committee process.

The legislation proposes to:

introduce a Government Policy Statement setting out government’s high level priorities for land transport
introduce three-yearly Regional Land Transport Programmes that will identify all land transport activities in a region
change the constitution of Regional Land Transport Committees
make the National Land Transport Programme three-yearly
introduce an accountability framework for the new transport Crown entity which will be formed by combining the functions of Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand
introduce full hypothecation (dedication) of fuel excise duties to the National Land Transport Fund
introduce regional fuel tax (not part of Next Steps but included in this legislation).

Amendments to the Land Transport Management Act 2003 will put in place a new system for the funding and planning of land transport, hypothecation, and establish the framework for the new Crown entity.

Consequential amendments to the Customs and Excise Act 1996 and the Land Transport Act 1998 are also required.

The Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee is due to report back to Parliament on the legislation by 25 March 2008.

Read the Minister’s first reading speech on the Beehive website >>

Access a copy of the Bill >>

Land Transport Management Amendment Bill (Next Steps) reported back (PDF, 3.75 MB) >>

This chart illustrates the proposed transport planning system showing the relationship with strategic documents.

Click on the image for a larger version

Background to the legislation

On 25 May 2007 State Services Minister Annette King released the government’s decisions on Next Steps in the Land Transport Sector. The main findings included:

Central, regional and local land transport plans are not fully aligned.
Expenditure pressures are not being addressed strategically.
Inconsistent planning and funding policies distort incentives within the sector.
The roles of the government land transport agencies remain unclear, and some functions are duplicated.
There is inefficient churn in planning.
Gaps exist in the interpretation of the New Zealand Transport Strategy (NZTS) objectives.
The Ministry of Transport is yet to acquire sufficient capability to fulfil the leadership role envisaged by the Government Transport Sector Review in 2004.

Read the media release from State Services Minister Hon Annette King on the Beehive website >>

Read the full Next Steps in the Land Transport Sector review report on the State Services Commission website >>