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This project was an initial examination of means of assessing the value for money being achieved from individual publicly-funded transport services. The feasibility of a national system to derive passenger kilometres and/or passenger boardings per $ subsidy for all contracted services at the route/time period or contract level was assessed. This involved a pilot study of two regions to identify data problems and analysis difficulties. Conclusions were drawn from this pilot study for a national system.

Small diameter tyres are increasingly being used in heavy vehicle applications. While they give operational advantages in some situations they may have a negative impact on pavement wear. This study, carried out between 1996 and 1997, investigated the implications for pavement wear of using small diameter tyres in place of standard sizes.

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 literature review was undertaken in 1995 with two main objectives:

This document is intended as a guide for practitioners in the assessment of site liquefaction potential. It is based on a three year research project (1993–1996) and recommends six liquefaction assessment methods which have given the best correlation with known soil behaviour under earthquake loading based on historic information from 14 sites in New Zealand. It also discusses the development of liquefaction prediction models and their advantages and limitations, as well as the application of the recommended liquefaction assessment methods, earthquake and site factors affecting liquefaction, and site investigation methods. Appendices detail the sites and provide information on which the assessments are based.

Bridge health monitoring is a method of evaluating the ability of a bridge to perform its required task (also called fitness for purpose) by monitoring the response of the bridge to the traffic loads it has to withstand.