Breaking news – New Zealand Government unveils time travel – back to 2009. When I went to NZ in 2014 I was told ‘planning’ was a dirty word and that the Roads of National Significance were nicknamed ‘Roads of Significance to the Nationals’.

On 6 March (two days ago) the draft NZ Government Policy Statement on land transport (GPS) 2024 was released for consultation. So let’s play spot the difference between this document (issued by the new National Government) and the previous 2021 GPS (issued by the Labour Government).

Start with the covers. GPS 2021 – people and their wellbeing and safety at the heart; GPS 2024 – utes and the open road carving through the landscape.

But don’t judge these books by their covers – let’s look inside. We see they each focus on four priorities.

GPS 2021: (1) Safety; (2) Better Travel Options; (3) Improving Freight Connections; and (4) Climate Change

GPS 2024: (1) Economic Growth and Productivity; (2) Increased Maintenance and Resilience; (3) Safety; (4) Value for Money

OK. Now you can judge these books! Climate Change is out, and Economic Growth is in.

Let’s hear a taste of what the two transport ministers had to say in the Forewords:

GPS 2021:
“Transport will be a key part of our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Like our economy, our transport system is facing long-term challenges caused by rapid growth in our major cities and climate change.”

GPS 2024:
“As part of GPS 2024 we are embarking on a significant programme of new and improved land transport infrastructure. Core to this is the
re-introduction of the successful Roads of National Significance programme, which was started under the previous National Government in 2009.”

I did a keyword search on ‘climate change’ in the two documents. GPS 2021 – 21 mentions. GPS 2024 – 2.

So, we’re being taken back to 2009 when the Roads of National Significance programme was started. For the record, we were exactly half-way through a 10-year period of zero road traffic growth in NZ then.

In 2014 when I was in the NZ Ministry of Transport we conceived of ‘decide and provide’ and the ‘triple access system’. Inspired by that work I have spent the last 10 years trying to move it into the mainstream of transport planning.

In 10 days time we will release the ‘Triple Access Planning for Uncertain Futures – Handbook for Practitioners’. How sobering that while the world of transport planning is looking forward and moving on (yesterday we had an online panel discussion on Triple Access Planning hearing how it is diffusing into practice), I find myself reading a draft GPS that, if I’m blunt (and unless I’m missing something) is a backwards step.

transportpolicy #economicgrowth #climatechange

Bridget DoranMark GregoryNicole BakerMatthew HintonHamish SpeakmanEdward Forrester CEng CEnvSara StaceTim Sullivan