Questions and answers about the amendments to the GPS
Last updated on
23/03/2012 2:04 p.m.
What is the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport Funding 2009/10-2018/19 (the GPS)?
The GPS sets out the government’s priorities for expenditure from the National Land Transport Fund over the 10 years from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2018. It determines how funding is allocated between activity classes such as road policing, state highways, local roads and public transport. Each activity class is defined in the GPS. These definitions set out the types of activities that can be funded from each activity class.
Why has the GPS been amended?
The GPS was amended to align it with the Safer Journeys strategy, enabling the funding of several Safer Journeys First Actions. The amendments also reflect the New Zealand Transport Agency’s (NZTA’s) reviews of the ‘transport planning’ and ‘demand management and community programmes’ activity classes.
What amendments have been made to the GPS?
The GPS now includes a section outlining the government’s commitment to Safer Journeys.
The funding ranges for the ‘transport planning’ activity class have been altered to allow for an underspend in 2009/10, and savings predicted as a result of NZTA’s review of this activity class.
The activity class ‘demand management and community programmes’ contained a range of activities. This activity class has been renamed ‘road user safety’ and aligned to the Safer Journeys strategy. Some activities have been moved to more appropriate classes.
The scope of the new activity class called ‘road user safety’ includes community activities that make a significant contribution to safer road user behaviour, such as education, promotion, advertising and awareness campaigns. To enable funding, this now includes the Safer Journeys First Actions.
The community-based activities in the ‘road user safety’ activity class with no direct safety component have been moved to the ‘maintenance and operation of local roads’ activity class. These are largely activities targeted at relieving congestion, such as workplace, community and personal travel planning and household travel surveys.
Education and promotion activities for model communities (urban environments where walking or cycling is offered to the community as the easiest transport choice), and their funding, have been moved to the ‘walking and cycling facilities’ activity class. This enables these activities to be considered alongside the model communities infrastructure activities. The changes are summarised in the table below.
| Item |
Amendment(s) |
| Demand management and community programmes activity class |
- Rename as ‘road user safety’ activity class
- Redefine to reflect the government’s priorities, including enabling funding for Safer Journeys First Actions
- Shift model communities education and promotion activities to the ‘walking and cycling facilities’ activity class
- Shift non-safety and congestion-focused community activities to the ‘maintenance and operation of local roads’ activity class
|
| Walking and cycling facilities activity class |
Amend the definition to include model community education and promotion activities |
| Maintenance and operations of local roads activity class |
Amend the definition to reflect current terminology and to include congestion-focused community-based activities |
| Maintenance and operation of State highways activity class |
Amend the definition for consistency with the ‘maintenance and operation of local roads’ activity class |
| Guidance in the GPS |
Add a new section setting out the government’s commitment to the Safer Journeys strategy |
| Funding ranges |
- Amend the funding ranges to reflect the relevant changes outlined above
- Lower the transport planning activity class funding ranges
|
What are Safer Journeys First Actions?
Safer Journeys is the government’s road safety strategy to 2020. It is designed to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads over the next decade. A system wide approach is taken by looking at the safety of roads, road use, vehicles and speed. The top priorities for action in the strategy are:
- young drivers
- alcohol and drug impaired drivers
- motorcycling
- roads and roadsides
- safer speeds
The strategy identifies a series of actions the government will implement to improve road safety. The First Actions include introducing alcohol interlocks, zero blood alcohol limits for repeat drink drivers and improvements to motorcycle licensing. These actions represent the government’s priorities for road safety improvements.
Read about the Safer Journeys road safety strategy
What are benefits of creating the ‘road user safety’ activity class?
The ‘road user safety’ activity class will be more aligned to the Safer Journeys strategy and will enable the funding of Safer Journeys First Actions.
What are the changes to the definitions of GPS activity classes that enable the funding of Safer Journeys First Actions?
The changes to the definitions of GPS activity classes that enable Safer Journeys are summarised in the table below.
| Current GPS definition |
| Demand management and community programmes |
Manage or purchase activities which promote safe and sustainable use of land transport networks and services including:
- initiatives to improve the performance of the land transport system by changing transport demand
- initiatives to encourage a change in travel behaviour
- national and local advertising on land transport related issues
- national and local promotion of walking and cycling
- nationally managed road safety education in schools
- providing information and education for drivers, operators, road controlling authorities and others
|
| Amendment to GPS definition |
| Road user safety |
Allocate funding to activities that promote, educate, advertise or raise awareness of the safe use of transport networks. Road user safety activities include: marketing and promotional information, educational initiatives, national and local awareness campaigns and activities required to implement the Safer Journeys First Actions for the three high priority areas of young drivers, alcohol, and motorcycling. |
Why did the GPS need to be amended to allow the Safer Journeys First Actions to be funded?
The Safer Journeys strategy was developed after the GPS was last reviewed and updated. The activities required to establish alcohol interlocks, zero blood alcohol limits for repeat drink drivers and improvements to motorcycle licensing did not fit within the definition of an existing activity class. The GPS needed to be amended to ensure the First Actions could be funded within the overall budget for land transport funding.
Funding arrangements for the zero drink-drive limit for drivers under 20, and other safety initiatives for young drivers, were considered and did not require changes to the GPS. The costs of implementing these initiatives for young drivers will be met from the NZTA’s existing budget.
When did the GPS amendments come into effect?
The GPS amendments came into effect on 5 November 2010.