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2018/21 Regional Land Transport Programmes
and the National Land Transport Programme - Policy Direction and Timing
Kia ora
The Minister of Transport, Hon. Phil
Twyford, recently wrote to the Chairperson of each Regional Transport
Committee, to the Transport Special Interest Group and to Local Government
New Zealand outlining the Government’s key transport policies and priorities.
In his letter, the Minister signalled the
intention to amend the draft 2018-21 Government Policy Statement on Land
Transport Funding (GPS) to reflect the Government’s immediate
priorities. The Minister undertook to make this revised draft available for
you to consider in early 2018, in order to provide the certainty needed to
bring together the 2018/21 Regional and National Land Transport Programmes.
Central and local government collaboration
in delivering a safe, efficient and connected transport system for New
Zealand is critical. It’s important that we collectively have
sufficient time to reflect Government’s priorities through
Councils’ Long Term Plans, and the 2018/21 Regional and National Land
Transport Programmes.
We have made the following changes to the
2018/21 Regional Land Transport Programme and the National Land Transport
Programme development timelines:
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Development step
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Current timeline
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Revised timeline
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Regional Land Transport Programme
submitted to the Transport Agency
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30 April 2018
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30 June 2018
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National Land Transport Programme adopted
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30 June 2018
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31 August 2018
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Those specific activities relating to
maintenance services, passenger transport services and road safety promotions
(referred to as your continuous programmes) are a significant component of
Long Term Plans. In the past, we have given you an indication of likely
funding levels for these programmes as early as possible in the NLTP
development process to provide you with certainty and continuity. This
practice will not change. Continuous programmes will follow the current
timetable and still need to be submitted on 16 December 2017, so that the
Transport Agency can assess and prioritise these programmes against the
Government’s policy direction to provide the clarity you need.
The current 2015-18 NLTP period will be
extended by two months to 31 August 2018 to ensure activities in the current
NLTP can continue to be approved.
The Minister also noted some of the
government’s priorities may require more fundamental changes to the
scope of the GPS that cannot be immediately accommodated in this amendment.
The Minister indicated it is likely the GPS will be amended again during the
2018-21 NLTP cycle. We will work closely with you to ensure a smooth process
for responding to these later changes to the GPS.
We encourage you to share this letter with
your colleagues as you see fit to ensure a wide understanding of the
processes and timeframes. We look forward to continuing to work with your
teams in the coming months in the development of the RLTP and
NLTP. If you have any questions, please contact your Director
Regional Relationships.
Regards
Fergus Gammie
Chief Executive
NZ Transport Agency
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