Transport Minister Simeon Brown says the Government will introduce road tolls so people who benefit from new and improved roads share the cost of building them.
Legislation will be introduced in 2025, Brown says, with the Government agreeing to toll three new roads; Ōtaki to north of Levin, Takitimu North Link, and Penlink. He wants NZTA to consider tolling for all Roads of National Significance.
Brown's full statement, including proposed toll rates, is below.
Government to enable tolling to accelerate investment in roads
The Government has agreed key policy changes to enable tolling of roading infrastructure, helping bring forward critical investment in New Zealand’s transport network, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.
“Tolling is a tool used around the world to accelerate investment in roading infrastructure, and the changes the Government is making will allow this approach to be applied in New Zealand more effectively.
“These reforms ensure that those who benefit from new and improved roads share in the cost of building them, making it possible to deliver infrastructure sooner and more efficiently.
“The Government is taking a user pays approach which optimises toll revenues to build the modern roading infrastructure which will improve economic productivity by helping Kiwis get to where they want to go quickly and safely.
Key changes include:
- Enabling tolling of an entire corridor, including existing roads that gain capacity or are extended by new projects.
- Automatically increasing toll prices by inflation, ensuring users contribute fairly over the lifetime of the road.
- Requiring a free viable alternative, while enabling tolling schemes to require heavy vehicles to use toll roads where the toll road is designed to divert traffic away from built-up or suburban areas.
- Making it more efficient to set up and collect toll revenues.
“These changes will enable the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider tolling in circumstances beyond what is currently possible. This approach is designed to bring forward investment in critical new roading projects across the country,” Mr Brown says.
“For example, corridor tolling could help deliver extensions to key roads sooner, with those who benefit contributing directly to the cost of building the extension or additional capacity on those roads.
The Government has also agreed on clear principles for NZTA when proposing toll roads and set clear expectations for consultation processes. This will give communities clarity of the benefits of toll road proposals, consider wider impacts on local roads, and examine how toll revenue may support maintenance of free alternative routes.
NZTA is also updating its tolling infrastructure and systems to reduce processing costs. Changes include upgrading internal software and adjusting the law to toll the vehicle owner rather than the driver to make it easier to collect toll payments.
“These changes will help New Zealand build future-focused roading infrastructure, improving connectivity and supporting economic productivity.
“The Government has made it clear we expect NZTA to consider tolling for all Roads of National Significance to help deliver this roading programme across New Zealand.
“With users contributing to the new roads they use, existing National Land Transport Fund resources can be protected for maintaining existing state highways and local roads.
Legislation giving effect to these changes will be introduced next year.
The Government has also agreed to toll three new roads following public consultation:
- Ōtaki to north of Levin
- Takitimu North Link
- Penlink
“Tolling on these roads will support the ongoing cost of delivering these roads and maintaining and operating them. This will help motorists in Auckland, Tauranga, and Greater Wellington gain faster, safer, and more reliable journeys. Each of these routes retains a free, viable alternative route.
“The Government has also confirmed that tolling will not be applied to the new Manawatū – Tararua Highway, as late consultation and timing constraints mean it would not be cost-effective to implement tolling until well after the road’s completion, placing it outside the Government’s expectations for new road tolling.”
Tolling Principles NZTA must consider when proposing a toll road:
- Supporting Investment: Tolling supports an efficient, productive roading network.
- Customer Pays: Those who use the road contribute to infrastructure they benefit from.
- Clear Benefits: Users gain travel time savings, safety benefits, and more reliable journeys.
- Free Alternative: A free alternative route is always available.
Changes to tolling consultation processes:
- Clearly explain the benefits of the proposed toll road and how customers will benefit.
- Outline wider impacts on local roads and how toll revenue may support maintenance of free alternatives.
- Ensure all relevant information is available at the start of the consultation process.
Heavy Vehicles & tolling
In other jurisdictions there are requirements for most heavy vehicles to use tolled roads unless they have business on local roads (such as deliveries and accessing worksites).
This is the case in Sydney, where most heavy vehicles are required to use the Northconnex tolled tunnels, rather than the untolled Pennant Hills Road, as a key goal of the tunnels was to remove trucks off local roads.
There will not be a blanket requirement for heavy vehicles to use tolled roads. These requirements will be made on a case-by-case basis, where the toll road is designed to divert traffic away from built-up or suburban areas.
27 Comments
I may be wrong but I thought part of the definition of a tax is that it is compulsory. Given there will be alternative routes to destinations this is a user pays charge that may feed into inflation to some degree if mandatory usage is enforced for heavy vehicles, but I don't think it counts as a tax.
It's no more a tax than the price of a motel for the night.
It paying for what you use at the time you use it.
As an aside, we live in a largely empty country but (particularly Nth) we are not really allowed on much of it at all - aside from beaches, roads if we pay, shopping malls, and the odd Nat Park and Reserve.
NZ is out of bounds for most of us. Any wonder the kids are tearing around on motorbikes.
NZ is out of bounds for most of us.
I loved the "Right to Roam" during my time in Scotland. Just grab an OS map and head off on a (midgie-blighted) adventure.
Just had to leave gates as you found them, and not be a prat.
Imagine trying to walk across a farm or through a forest here.........
Plenty of people walk over farms and through forests here, and don't care for the owner's consent. Every now and then I'll come across an unknown set of shoe prints in one of my paddocks. At least I did before the bull moved in and I put up warning signs. Now, not so much.
Can confirm it is much much faster on a bicycle. They should add cycleway protection, which would encourage more people out of cars onto bikes (no way in hell my kids are cycling on the painted cycle-lanes) which would reduce the number of cars causing congestion.
Unfortunately Simeon is ideologically opposed to measures which address traffic congestion.
This government is all over the place...
One minute "Labour introduced a new tax" when they increased fuel excise, then it is "National will not increase fuel excise in the first term", then it is "Automatically increasing toll prices by inflation, ensuring users contribute fairly over the lifetime of the road."
Why shouldn't fuel excise keep up with inflation but tolls should?
Dammit, I knew I should have bought more silver on black number plates!
For those that missed out on why this is a thing:
Black Plates to be Discontinued - NZ Autocar
or
or
Thanks for sharing.
just read the first article you linked.
“Waka Kotahi has stated that “In certain conditions (i.e. in change of light and at certain viewing angles), the black background plates are unable to be read accurately by the human eye.”
that was the entire reason Black and silver plates were replaced in the late 1980s and white and black ones were introduced in the first place.
Our government departments are run by morons. That explains why basically every public service department is barely functioning at the moment. Incompetence is every where and I don’t see anyone really doing anything about it.
What if, instead of wasting all our infrastructure funding on new roads we don't need (tolls will only cover less than 10% of the construction costs) they tolled existing roads to help reduce the massive taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies to car drivers and truckies, and instead used the proceeds to pay for alternatives like public transport?
You'd find you would never even need to spend any money on new roading infrastructure at all.
That's next. Congestion charges.
Given the majority of taxpayers and ratepayers are car drivers, are they not subsidising themselves.
Given all the roads and motorways are built for workers to get to their place of work, to move goods, maybe The Market should pay for it. Hmmm... maybe The Market should provide housing for their workers.
"The Government is taking a user pays approach"
Penlink is expected to have 14k-18k movements per day, and expected to cost between $760m-$1b.
If we are charitable, and assume a $3 average toll, 18k movements 365 days per year, and the whole thing delivered for $760m, you get a 2.6% return.
At $2.50 per trip, 14k per day (still 365 days of the year which is charitable), at $1b, you end up at 1.3%.
NZ Govt bonds are all trading at 4%+
At best the interest on the debt is user subsided, this doesn't come close to user pays.
18k movements a day is probably very optimistic, it would only benefit 1/2 of Whangaparaoa residents at best. Even then, it is only a 10 minute reduction in journey time and the cost savings from the less distance travelled are minimal to none, depending on your vehicle.
But this is all moot, as the OIA requested information from Waka Kotahi said, the primary purpose of the toll is to reduce the amount of people using it because they believe the way it is designed will increase congestion if it is too heavily used.
So Tauranga will end up with 3 toll roads (when the new road is completed) The Takitimu toll road is absolute rubbish and why folk are even paying a toll too use it is laughable with its numerous potholes at various times and the uneven surface here and there... then theres the proposal that floated for a very brief time last year of numerous toll zones in Tauranga ... I suspect tolling will spread like a rabid disease if the public are stupid enough to embrace it... at a minimum if folk are paying a premium the roads should be 'premium' and I dont see this in Tauranga... Takitimu is shoddy...TEL has had temp speed zones for near the last 2 years....why should people pay for that?
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.