Foreword - Understanding Transport Costs and Charges Phase One Summary Report

The Understanding Transport Costs and Charges project follows up on the Surface Transport Costs and Charges (STCC) study released in March 2005. The STCC study provided some snapshot estimates of the total, average and marginal costs and charges associated with the road and rail networks for 2001-2002. The UTCC project aims to update such knowledge.

The UTCC adopts a two-phase process which consists of:

Phase 1 – a stock-take of the current domestic transport funding, charging and pricing arrangements for the road, rail and maritime transport sectors and a gap analysis to identify transport costs and charges information needs.

Phase 2 – data collection and estimation of costs and charges for the three modes.

Transport is an integral part of our daily lives. It facilitates the movements of goods and people, which helps us to meet our basic and social needs. However, transport also has negative impacts on society at a local, national, and global level. Understanding transport costs and charges is critical to developing effective transport policies that allow the transport industry to operate efficiently and minimise potential economic, environmental and social impacts on society.

Once completed, the UTCC project will be a significant resource for transport planners and policy practitioners. It will provide costs and charges information that is required for developing policies that encourage efficient use of the transport system over time. Such information will help us gain a better understanding of the full costs of the different modes of transport and will become an important data source that transport professions can use to consider various impacts associated with transport activities.

The Phase 1 report was prepared by Hyder Consulting (NZ) Limited. The Ministry of Transport would like to acknowledge New Zealand Treasury, Ministry of Economic Development, ONTRACK, KiwiRail (formerly Toll New Zealand), NZ Transport Agency (formerly Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand), Maritime New Zealand, Auckland Regional Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Christchurch City Council, Road Transport Forum, New Zealand Automobile Association, New Zealand Shipping Federation, Ports of Auckland and Port of Napier, for participating in the workshp forums and subsequent interviews.

This document provides a brief summary of the Phase 1 report and an outline of the way forward. We trust you find this summary useful.



John Allard
General Manager Strategy and Sustainability

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