Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the Government's policy statement on land transport. Video / Mark Mitchell
The Government looks set to replace the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax with time-of-use congestion charges to help pay for its Roads of National Significance (Rons) programme.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today lauded the end of the fuel tax and increasing paid parental leave from tomorrow to ease the cost of living for hard-working New Zealanders.
The 11.5c-a-litre fuel tax, which has cost Auckland motorists $150 million a year since its introduction in 2018, ends tomorrow.
“For a hard-working tradie driving a truck like a Toyota Hilux, that means a saving of around $9 every time they fill up. For seniors driving a Toyota hatchback, that means a saving of around $6,” Luxon said.
The regional fuel tax, in place since 2018, has been scrapped by the Government.
In place of the fuel tax, the Government plans to introduce time-of-use charging to bill motorists at different times on sections of motorways during the morning and afternoon peak times. Councils will be able to do the same on arterial roads.
Speaking alongside Luxon at the Z Pakuranga petrol station in his electorate, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said policy decisions have not been made about when time-of-use charging will be introduced as part of National’s coalition agreement with Act.
Last November, Brown told the Herald it would be two to three years before a congestion charging regime could be introduced, with the process involving passing the legislation, consulting with councils on schemes, developing the technology and building the infrastructure.
The final Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport, released by Brown last Thursday, said “road pricing, such as tolling and time-of-use charging, will play a key role in the delivery of the Roads of National Significance (Rons) programme” as part of wider transport revenue and investment tools.
In Auckland, this could lead to revenue from time-of-use charging used to help fund three Rons – Mill Rd, the East-West link, connecting State Highway 1 at Sylvia Park to State Highway 20 at Onehunga; and extending the four-lane highway from Puhoi to Warkworth through to Wellsford.
Today, Brown said the Government will use tolling to pay for Rons.
Congestion charging could help to fund extending the Puhoi to Warkworth highway through to Wellsford. Photo / Jonathan Kubiak
“Ultimately, time-of-use charging is about managing demand during [the] peak time in the morning and peak time in the afternoon.
“There will be some revenues which come from that, but those are some of those policy decisions we are working through,” said Brown, adding that if money is raised in a region, it should go back to the region.
A spokesman for Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said the mayor has been very clear he considers time-of-use charging to be strictly a demand management tool, not a source of revenue for central government.
“Any money raised should be on a cost recovery basis,” the spokesman said.
Simeon Brown said today is about saying the Auckland Regional Fuel tax is gone.
He said of the $868m raised from the fuel tax, $440m remained unspent, and was ring-fenced by the Government for the Eastern Busway, City Rail Link trains and stabling and road improvements.
“Of the money that was spent, Auckland Transport wasted it on many non-roading projects, including cycle lanes, redlight cameras, speed bumps, and speed limit reductions across the city,” said Brown.
The Transport Minister insisted that the Government has always been clear that time-of-use charging “is a demand management tool, not a revenue tool”.
“The Government is committed to ensuring that Aucklanders and freight can get to where they need to go, quickly and safely. That is why the Government is prioritising new Roads of National Significance, including Mill Road,” Brown said.
“As outlined in the GPS, we are currently working on a range of reforms to the transport revenue system. As part of these reforms, we will pass legislation to allow for time-of-use charging in Auckland, as committed to in the coalition agreement with ACT, to manage demand on Auckland’s existing network.”
