Government Policy Statement on land transport 2018 Te Tauākī Kaupapa Here a te Kāwanatanga mō ngā waka whenua 2018

The Ministry recently completed two independent evaluations of GPS 2018.

1. Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2018 Evaluation
2. An evaluation of modal shift in the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport

The first Report examined the extent to which land transport investments were delivered in a manner aligned with GPS strategic priorities over 2018 - 2021. The second Report focused on how the GPS supports mode shift and where improvements can be made to enhance the impact of mode shift in future GPS iterations.

Recommendations from both reports will be implemented as part of the following:

• the delivery and implementation of GPS 2021
• GPS 2024 development
• ongoing improvements to the Ministry’s monitoring and evaluation functions.

You can download the Reports below.

This report describes collective progress against the overall delivery of GPS objectives for Year 2 (2019/20), using the measures identified for GPS 2018 short-term results.

Data analysis and availability

The focus of the Year 2 report is to continue to build upon the foundation for reporting made by the Year 1 report, and to improve the way data and information are presented. Further data, comparisons, and breakdowns will be incorporated into the Year 3 report where possible.

How the report is structured

Progress is measured against the 4 strategic priorities: safety, access, environment and value for money, and their associated objectives.

The report has been published and split according to these 4 priorities.  Each priority also has supplementary spreadsheets that include the data presented in the respective report, as well as additional data and breakdowns. 

This report describes collective progress against the overall delivery of GPS objectives for 2018/19, using the measures identified for GPS 2018 short-term results.

Data analysis and availability

The focus of the Year 1 report is to build a foundation for reporting in the future. More comprehensive analysis of the effects and impacts of GPS investments will be developed and built on in future years through the ongoing monitoring and evaluation programme.

We were not able to get all the data  and breakdowns we need to report against the measures in GPS 2018, but we will incorporate those in future reports.

How the report is structured

Progress is measured against the 4 strategic priorities: safety, access, environment and value for money, and their associated objectives.

The report has been published in 4 parts to match the priorities. The safety, access and environment priorities also have supplementary spreadsheets that include the data presented in the respective report, as well as additional data and breakdowns. The summary table details what data is included in each of the reports and spreadsheets.

Please note: The GPS 2018 Year 1 Safety Report and the associated spreadsheet have been updated to correct the data reported against ‘pedestrian and cyclist injuries’.

The measures in the GPS 2018 were listed as draft measures, subject to further work.

We worked with Waka Kotahi, the police, local government and other relevant agencies to finalise a set of measures to assess progress against GPS priorities, objectives and desired results.

GPS 2018 has a total of 82 measures that reflect its 33 short to medium-term results.

The Minister for Transport announced the release of GPS 2018 on 28 June 2018. It took effect on 1 July 2018.

GPS 2018 presented a number of changes in direction, prioritising a safer transport system that:

• is free from death and injury
• has accessible and affordable transport
• reduces emissions and delivers value for money.

The focus for GPS 2018

The 4 strategic priorities for GPS 2018 were safety, access, environment and value for money. Safety and access were elevated as the most important (key) strategic priorities, which reflected the Government’s intention to address the level of death and serious injuries on our roads, and its desire to create more liveable cities and thriving regions.

Delivering the key strategic priorities will be influenced by the supporting priorities: environment and value for money. Themes were included to influence how the results are delivered:

• a mode-neutral approach to transport planning and investment decisions
• incorporating technology and innovation into the design and delivery of land transport investment
• integrating land use, transport planning and delivery.

In addition, GPS 2018 also:

• provided funding for local government to maintain footpaths so they are safer and easier to use
• increased investment across some activity classes, including public transport, maintenance, local and regional roads, policing and walking and cycling,
• decreased state highway improvements to rebalance investment across the transport portfolio
• included 2 new activity classes to deliver increased investment in public transport:
• Rapid transit funding allows investment in rapid transit infrastructure, for example busways and light rail infrastructure, indicated in ATAP and for other metropolitan transport plans.
• Transitional rail funding enables beneficial passenger rail projects to progress before the future of rail study is completed.
• increased petrol excise duty and road user charges by 3 cents per litre (and equivalent in road user charges) in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

GPS 2018 signalled publication of a second stage GPS 2018 to finalise the measures, as well as implement further policy decisions, such as the Future of Rail and Coastal Shipping. A second stage GPS was not published, as Ministers decided it would be more effective to give GPS 2018 time to bed in, and that the new policy ideas would be best implemented through the GPS 2021.

Why rail was included in GPS 2018

GPS 2018 supported an increased focus on public transport and reducing the reliance on single occupant vehicles. Rail has an important role to play in this as part of an integrated transport system. GPS 2018 enabled some beneficial passenger rail projects to progress by including rail in the same decision-making framework as other transport modes.

GPS 2018 provided for rail funding, but the scope of this funding was limited. It supported investment in:

• improving urban rail services for passengers accessing housing, major employment and metropolitan areas where demand is outstripping capacity
• existing and new inter-regional commuter rail services to support housing and employment opportunities.

To inform the finalisation of GPS 2018 we engaged with stakeholders in April 2018.

This involved Ministers holding a transport summit in Wellington. We also met with national stakeholder groups and held regional forums across New Zealand with local government.

We received 924 submissions, which were assessed and used to inform the final GPS 2018.

To develop the draft GPS 2018, we ran an online forum for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), held listening sessions with local government transport officials and attended Regional Transport Committee meetings to discuss any key transport issues that the regions were facing. These sessions provided an opportunity to better understand how the current GPS was used, what transport issues were emerging, and what changes could be included in future.

The online forum for NGOs ran over 3 weeks. Participants could see alternative views, shape the conversation together and come to an agreed position on key issues.

Both the listening sessions and the online forum raised consistent issues.