Resources

Road networks are lifelines for the community and are essential for the economic and social well-being of New Zealand. Significant natural hazard events can cause widespread damage to transportation networks, leading to significant repair costs to road controlling authorities, access difficulties for emergency services and disruption to road users and the community at large.

The road transport industry in New Zealand has been lobbying for increases in the allowable mass limits for heavy vehicles on the basis that this would give increased efficiency and benefits to the economy. Some of the proposals for increased mass limits involve increased axle load limits which would clearly lead to additional pavement wear. Road controlling authorities, while sharing the industry’s aims for increased efficiencies in the road transport system, are concerned that any additional pavement wear generated by higher axle loads will be paid for, so that the standard of the roading network can be maintained. At present (2005) Road User Charges (RUCs) are based on the fourth power law, which was developed from the AASHO road test in the United States in the 1950s. The pavements and vehicles used for that test differ considerably from those in use in New Zealand today.

A cycle train is similar in approach to the ‘walking school bus’ – adult volunteer ‘conductors’ cycle along a set route to school, collecting children from designated ‘train stops’ along the way. They are well established in Belgium and are beginning to appear in the United Kingdom. Previous research in New Zealand found a high level of interest in the cycle train concept, leading us to design and conduct a trial for implementing cycle train networks here.

This research explores the potential for the ‘network-planning’ approach to the design of public transport to improve patronage of public transport services in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Network planning, which mimics the ‘go-anywhere’ convenience of the car by enabling passengers to transfer between services on a simple pattern of lines, has achieved impressive results in some European and North American cities, where patronage levels have grown considerably and public subsidies are used more efficiently.

The C-roundabout (cyclist roundabout) is a new multi-lane roundabout design (developed as part of a 2006 Land Transport NZ research project Improved multi-lane roundabout designs for cyclists) that aims to improve the safety of cyclists at multi-lane roundabouts and make multi-lane roundabouts more cyclist-friendly. A C-roundabout was installed at the Palomino Drive/Sturges Road intersection in Auckland and was evaluated between 2008 and 2011 in terms of its safety, capacity, and the opinions of cyclists, pedestrians and car drivers. The C-roundabout successfully reduced vehicle speeds to 30km/h, which is close to the speed of cyclists. This made the roundabout safer for cyclists, as well as for other road users. The installation of the C-roundabout at this uncongested site had little impact on capacity. It drew positive feedback from cyclists and pedestrians, but about half of the car drivers were not in favour of it.

This research project investigated the use of curve advisory speed signs in New Zealand. A literature review identified key issues to examine. Current traffic behaviour at the location of curve advisory speed signs was observed in order to determine effectiveness and compliance. Alternative methods for determining curve advisory speeds, using road geometry data or accelerometer-based systems, were compared with ball-bank surveys. The existing criteria and methods used for setting curve advisory speeds in New Zealand were assessed in light of the above findings, and changes suggested.

Most chipsealing in New Zealand is carried out using bitumen cutback (i.e. diluted) with kerosene. Under the new regulatory framework established by the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act (1996), bitumen with the addition of kerosene between 2.5–20% by weight has been classified as a 9.1C substance that is ‘ecotoxic to the aquatic environment’. Other (non-ecotoxicity related) classifications also apply. Cutback bitumens with more than 20% kerosene are not classified. The 9.1C ecotoxicity classification is derived from a calculation based on the aquatic toxicity of kerosene. Implicit in this classification is the assumption that the kerosene in cutback bitumen has the same bioavailability as pure kerosene. The object of this research was to establish whether this assumption is valid and whether the 9.1C classification for cutback bitumens is warranted. The research focused solely on aquatic ecotoxicity; other possible environmental affects of cutbacks in the atmosphere or terrestrial environment caused...

The primary objective of the project was the development of criteria to define the end-of–life condition of pavements. These criteria could then be used in pavement performance modelling to obtain a more robust measure of remaining life. Another objective was the generation of a new model for maintenance costs. This could then be combined with the existing models for roughness and rutting to define a distress level at which rehabilitation should occur. None of the maintenance cost models developed were particularly successful in producing a reliable prediction of maintenance costs based on the pavement characteristics available from RAMM. Therefore, a logit model was developed to predict rehabilitation decisions. The major factors in the rehabilitation model were maintenance costs, traffic levels and roughness. The rehabilitation decision model derived for this study predicted rehabilitation decisions well. Approximately 72% of pavements that had been rehabilitated were predicted as requiring rehabilitation.

This purpose of this project is to assess the comparative risk associated with exposure to traffic pollution when travelling via different transport modes in New Zealand cities. Concentrations of the key traffic-related pollutants (particulate matter: (PM): PM10, PM2.5, PM1; ultrafine particles (UFPs) and carbon monoxide (CO)) were simultaneously monitored on pre-defined routes in Auckland and Christchurch during the morning and evening commute on people travelling by car, bus, on-road bike, train (Auckland only) and off-road bike (Christchurch only) from February to May 2009. The key results of this research are: • Car drivers are consistently exposed to the highest average levels of CO. • On-road cyclists are exposed to higher levels of CO, PM1 and UFPs than off-road cyclists. • Car drivers and bus passengers are exposed to higher average levels of UFP than cyclists. • At some parts of their journeys, travellers are exposed to very high levels of...

The objective of this research was to quantify the contribution of public transport to economic productivity.