Covering almost one-third of the South Island, the Otago and Southland regions face common transport challenges. These include having a large land area and road network, comparatively low populations in many areas, natural hazards impacting on transport networks and infrastructure upgrades being required to enable heavier freight vehicles to access key parts of the network. The two regions also have many similar safety issues.
These shared issues led the two Regional Transport Committees to jointly develop their Regional Land Transport Plans with a focus on maintaining the existing transport network, while promoting key improvements to transport services and infrastructure to:
Joining together to create these plans has seen greater awareness among the representative councils that journeys do not end at administrative boundaries. Many journeys in Otago and Southland and further afield, particularly the movement of freight to and from rural hinterlands, and the flow of visitors involve travel across the two regions.
Focusing on critical journeys and taking an inter-regional approach has allowed the two Regional Transport Committees to identify transport activities that will have the greatest benefits for both regions. The outcome is that the two plans are well aligned and address a common suite of cross-regional transport issues. The collaboration is also a great example of local authorities working with the Transport Agency for the benefit of both regions. The Regional Transport Committees are now considering whether one plan that covers both regions will be the next evolution.
