Investment in the land transport system delivers a range of outcomes and benefits for people, business and the economy. Some of these benefits are directly transport-related, others support wider government outcomes.
The 2021–24 NLTP supports government’s wider objectives for:
For our cities and towns to support the wellbeing of people and the environment, we need them to:
The 2021–24 NTLP contributes to the Government’s goal of making our cities and towns greater places to live by enabling us and our partners to:
The 2021–24 NLTP contributes to addressing pressures on housing availability and affordability by enabling us and our partners to:
COVID-19 has significantly changed the way we live, work, shop and travel. More people are now working from home and greater numbers continue to shop online, increasing the volume of goods being home delivered. The pandemic has changed travel patterns, which has had a positive impact on traffic congestion and the environment in our cities and towns.
It has also shown us that we can move around our cities and towns in different ways and that there are benefits when there are fewer vehicles on the road – less air and noise pollution, less congestion, and increased public health from more walking and cycling. We can continue to harness some of these benefits in the way that we plan and meet demand for transport into the future.
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on regions that depend on tourism and/or migrant workers. Some regions continue to struggle with lower population and employment growth, significantly reduced tourism numbers and less travel demand, particularly on public transport. This has resulted in some regions struggling to fund their share of investment in the land transport system.
During this NLTP period, there is expected to be slower growth and reduced numbers of visitors. This three-year plan has been produced based on the expectation that Crown funding will be made available to help cover the costs of further COVID lockdowns and that there will be a return to forecast levels of demand in the medium-to-long term, which is the current economic forecast.
Through our delivery of government investment in both the NZ Upgrade Programme and Crown infrastructure package, we are supporting the regions through economic stimulus and jobs. Many of these projects are about developing corridors that also support growth, travel choice and well-connected sustainable ways to move around.