2024 Government Policy Statement on land transport

The Government has released the final Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024 (GPS 2024).

GPS 2024 guides how funding for land transport will be invested and comes into effect on 1 July 2024. It includes $22 billion of funding to be invested into the transport network over the next three years.

GPS 2024 is built around four strategic priorities – Economic Growth and Productivity, Increased Maintenance and Resilience, Safety, and Value for Money.

As part of the focus on economic growth and productivity, GPS 2024 reintroduces the Roads of National Significance programme and introduces a programme of Roads of Regional Significance across New Zealand. It also sets out a number of major public transport projects.

New Zealand Transport Agency will consider and give effect to the GPS 2024 in developing its National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) later this year.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. We’ll review, analyse and advise the Minister of Transport on the feedback received. This feedback will inform the final GPS which is required to be released by July 2024.

We’re currently seeking feedback on the draft Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2024.

Draft GPS 2024 builds on the strategic priorities of GPS 2021, including supporting improved transport choices, improving safety, improving freight connections and reducing the impact of transport on our environment. It proposes a strengthened focus on maintaining assets and services and enhancing resilience, recognising recent flood and weather-related recovery efforts.  

It also sets out a series of projects the Government has identified as strategically important to New Zealand’s transport system in the coming decades. 

Following consultation, the Ministry of Transport will use the feedback to provide advice to the Minister of Transport on the final GPS 2024. The final GPS comes into effect on 1 July 2024.  

Consultation has now closed. 

The Government has signalled the indicative transport priorities signed off by Cabinet last year will change in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.

We are currently working to ensure the draft GPS has a greater focus on reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, as well as building greater resilience so our transport network can better withstand the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

No decisions on funding have been made and we are still working through the full extent of the damage inflicted by Cyclone Gabrielle.

We expect to begin consultation on the Draft GPS24 in May 2023.

Through our early engagement, stakeholders have indicated they would find it useful to see the Government’s intended strategic priorities for land transport as early as possible to inform their planning. For this reason, we are releasing the indicative priorities for GPS 2024.

These priorities are not final. They have been provided as an early signal of likely directions and the results that the Government is intending to achieve through GPS 2024.

We propose emissions reduction to become an overarching focus for GPS 2024, to ensure that the implications for emissions reduction are a core consideration for all investment decisions. This will be supported by five proposed strategic priorities:

• sustainable urban development
• safety
• integrated freight system
• maintaining and operating the system
• resilience

Feedback on these indicative priorities has now closed. We are intending to release the formal draft GPS for public consultation in May 2023 and you will have an opportunity to provide feedback then.

Before we begin the development of the GPS 2024 we are seeking feedback on stakeholders’ previous experience with the GPS.