Working with the environment

One of the national objectives for land transport, set out in the Government Policy Statement is 'a land transport system that mitigates the effects of land transport on the environment'.

Land transport can have significant local and national effects on the environment – including on people’s health. Transport is responsible for 18% of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. It is important to ensure that transport networks are built, maintained and used in ways that minimise harmful effects on people, other species, habitats and ecosystems. Transport infrastructure is built for the long term and needs to meet the changing needs of current and future generations.

Improvements to our land transport networks can have positive, as well as negative, effects on the environment. The way transport infrastructure is designed and built can significantly reduce use of fossil fuels (which is directly correlated to climate change), improve the amenity of rural and urban landscapes, and bring people closer to each other and the natural environment.

Investments that form part of the 2015–18 NLTP can help minimise environmental harm and deliver positive environmental impacts in a number of ways.

Minimising environmental harm

The Transport Agency minimises environmental harm by:

• making robust, evidence-based decisions that take account of environmental costs and benefits: for example, as part of the business case approach and by using assessment methods and practices that are internationally recognised
• considering alternative options that might have a reduced net impact on the environment
• working with experts in conservation, habitat and species management to identify ways to minimise and offset the environmental impacts of specific projects
• carrying out research, for example, about a specific species that will be impacted by a proposed new road, and the best way to ensure it can thrive into the future.

Improving outcomes

Investments under the NLTP can improve the environment and the way we interact with our cities, rural areas and natural environments by:

• investing in public transport – moving more people more efficiently to where they need to be
• investing in freight – more freight on fewer trucks means fewer trips and less fuel used
• easing congestion and improving journey time predictability – so vehicles spend less time on the road and use less fuel to get where they are going
• making cycling a safer, more attractive choice of transport
• investing in transport projects that make our cities more accessible, safe and easy to live in
• providing smart transport links to new housing developments so that, in alleviating housing pressures costs are not transferred to the environment.

Case studies