KEY POINTS:
New Zealand needs to put at least one per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) into roading to reverse decades of neglect, says a transport leader.
Bryan Gunderson, a partner at law firm Kensington Swan and chairman of this year's Land Transport Summit, said infrastructure was a key driver for economic development.
The country did not look after its roads and the sector had been chronically underfunded for decades, Mr Gunderson said.
"For the past 30 years, most OECD countries have averaged around 1.3 per cent of their GDP on land transport infrastructure.
"However, in New Zealand, a recent study by Treasury found spending tailed off from the mid-1970s and languished below 1 per cent for many years."
Despite a recent funding increase, the situation would take more than 10 years to correct, Mr Gunderson said.
Government, both now and in the future, needed to make an ongoing commitment to roading.
"The days of neglecting land transport infrastructure must end," he said.
The two-day Auckland summit, in its seventh year, ends tonight.
- NZPA
