No matter where we live, we should be able to move easily around our city in ways that help us to protect our climate. We need to transition to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future for the benefit of all New Zealanders and future generations to come. Transport Choices aims to demonstrate what’s possible for communities across Aotearoa New Zealand, by quickly providing people with more transport options, and making it easier to travel in ways that are good for all of us and our environment.
It’s important because transport makes up almost half of New Zealand’s carbon emissions, most of which comes from road transport.
Under the Government’s emissions reduction plan, a $350 million Transport Choices package was made available from the Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
As part of this package, we’ll be working with local councils to:
Currently a lot of infrastructure to support active transport modes is not safe enough for majority of people, and often disconnected. Having greater transport choices will ensure people can access all their needs, while creating safer and healthier environments for communities across Aotearoa, New Zealand.
It’s about making small, visible changes to our streets and the way people use them, quickly – and helping people embrace cycling, walking or public transport as a means of travel. There are many small-scale improvements we can make to our urban public transport system that will have a strong impact on improving the reliability of our public transport system and improve the experience of people who use the networks which, in turn will make public transport a more attractive option for people.
Emissions reduction plan(external link)
Transport Choices is one of the several initiatives under the Climate Emergency Response Fund programme enabling people across New Zealand to be active participants in Aotearoa New Zealand’s climate response.
In May 2022, government released its first emissions reduction plan (ERP) and transport has a significant role to play, calling for a 41 percent reduction in emissions from the transport sector by 2035 (from 2019 levels). Three key areas were identified as areas of focus for transport:
