Stepping forward

Questions and answers

For additional questions and answers on the Land Transport Management Act amendments, the Government Policy Statement, the updated NZ Transport Strategy and regional transport committees, go to the Ministry of Transport website at: www.transport.govt.nz/ltma-act-questions-and-answers-1.

Three-year land transport programmes

How does the three year programme and funding process operate?

What is the national land transport programme?

The national land transport programme contains all the land transport activities, such as public transport services and road construction and maintenance, which are expected to receive funding from the NZ Transport Agency. The NZTA is responsible for allocating funding to land transport.

The activities in the national land transport programme, which originate from councils and the NZ Transport Agency, are submitted to the NZ Transport Agency through regional land transport programmes.

The national land transport programme must also list Police activities recommended by the NZ Transport Agency that are approved for funding by the Minister of Transport. This funding is mostly used for enforcing road safety laws.

When the NZ Transport Agency prepares the national land transport programme, it must make sure that programme contributes to the purpose of the Land Transport Management Act and the five New Zealand Transport Strategy objectives, i.e. to the aim of achieving an affordable, integrated, safe, responsive, and sustainable land transport system and to assisting economic development, assisting safety and personal; security, improving access and mobility, protecting and promoting public health and ensuring environmental sustainability.

The national land transport programme must also give effect to the Government Policy Statement which sets out central government’s funding priorities for the land transport sector.

In preparing the national land transport programme, the NZ Transport Agency must take into account, relevant Regional Land Transport Strategies, the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and relevant national policy statements and regional policy statements or plans made under the Resource Management Act.

How will the national land transport programme scheduling change?

The national land transport programme will be prepared once every three years instead of annually as it has been in the past.

The amended Land Transport Management Act provides for the first three-year national land transport programme to be in place on 1 July 2009. However, the Minister of Transport may agree to defer adoption of a national land transport programme for two months to 1 September.

The two-month delay would enable regional land transport committees to coordinate consultation with local authorities which must prepare long-term council community plans by 30 June under the Local Government Act 2002.

The delay would enable regional transport committees to take account of the LTCCP consultation and still file regional land transport programmes in time for the NZ Transport Agency to complete the national land transport programme.

What are regional land transport programmes?

A regional land transport programme contains all of the land transport activities in a region put forward for funding under the national land transport programme; and all significant expenditure on land transport activities to be funded from other sources.

Regional land transport programmes will be prepared by regional transport committees every three years and must contribute to both the region’s transport outcomes and the government’s outcomes as set out in the Government Policy Statement. The regional transport committees must also assess the regional programme against the five New Zealand Transport Strategy objectives, the relevant Government Policy Statement and the regional land transport strategy.

Proposed activities are submitted to regional transport committees by local authorities and the NZ Transport Agency (for state highways). The committees are responsible for determining the activities to include in their programmes, The NZ Transport Agency will use the regional land transport programmes to compile the three year national land transport programme.

What activities must regional transport committees include in regional land transport programmes?

There are two groupings of activities that must be included in regional land transport programmes:

One
Activities or combinations of activities identified by approved organisations in the region that relate to local road maintenance, local road renewals and local road minor capital works, and existing public transport services, including minor changes to those services.

These are to be listed in the programme. (Local territorial authorities and the regional council itself for public transport services will have consulted on these separately.)

Two
other activities and combinations of activities, including:

• Any other activities proposed by approved organisations
• State highway activities proposed by the NZTA
• Other activities proposed by the NZTA.

In addition to being listed, activities in the second group must be given a priority order by the regional transport committee.

The NZ Transport Agency decides whether to include activities of either grouping in the national land transport programme.

What is happening with State highway activities?

All State highway activities must be included in a regional land transport programme before the NZ Transport Agency can consider them for funding.

The NZTA’s Highway and Network Operations Group will have the responsibility for developing, building, maintaining and operating the highway network consistent with the government policy direction.

Why will the NZTA adopt the NLTP as late as August?

The possibility of extending the date for adopting the NLTP until August was included in the legislation, as part of the changes made to enable RTCs to consult on the RLTP using their regional council’s LTCCP process, and for the NZTA to incorporate any changes to the NLTP following finalisation of local authorities’ LTCCPs.  Interim approval will be given for activities happening in July or August so there will be no disruption to the activities during this period.

Does the Government Policy Statement (GPS) set financial limits both nationally and regionally?

No. The GPS only has national financial targets.  However, the NZTA will be providing indicative funding ranges by activity class for each region to assist RTCs with development of the funding package to support their RLTP.

How do national activities get funded?

When national activities are piloted in some regions as part of the regional activities, they need to be represented in the RLTP. When they are led and delivered nationally they will be funded directly through the NLTP. The NLTP comprises activities from RLTPs and national activities. The assessment processes described in the Planning, programming and funding manual (PPFM) relate to both national and regional activities.

Are the state highways (SH) projects competing for funding from the same regional bucket?

The NZTA will provide funding ranges for each region and for each activity class in the region, so there will be limited competition between state highway projects against other types of activities.  All projects will be prioritised to ensure the right activities are done first to contribute to the desired outcomes.  In adopting the NLTP the NZTA will need priorities across regions for all activities submitted within each activity class.

How will state highways (SH) be prioritised?

The NZTA will propose SH activities for inclusion in every RLTP, with the exception of the Chatham Islands, because it has no state highways. Each RTC will prepare a RLTP comprising activities proposed for inclusion by the approved organisations in their region and by the NZTA. The RTC must prioritise activities that it includes in the RLTP, other than local roads maintenance, minor capital improvements, and existing public transport services. This means that the RTC will prioritise the SH activities in its RTC.

Will the way that funding is done, change?

The rate of financial assistance for most activities will not change. There is increased funding assistance for regional land transport planning, for developing studies and strategies, and for developing activity/asset management plans.

Funding approval for activities will be given when they are ready to proceed and the business case supporting them warrants funding. Many activities will be funded at the time the NLTP is adopted, and other activities will be funded at a later time as occurs now. We expect to give 3 years' funding approval for many activities when the NLTP is approved.

Funding approval will be streamlined for activities that are part of a package – endorsed by the NZTA – that implements a strategy supported by the NZTA. The NZTA seeks early involvement in strategy and package development so that issues that may affect funding approval are addressed early in the process. The business cases behind strategies and packages will be used to support funding applications for activities implementing the supported strategies and endorsed packages.

Is the three-year cycle in effect a three-year rotating cycle, or is it annual, looking three years ahead?

Funding approval will be given for three years with an agreed annual expenditure for each of the three years.

Role of councils under three year funding

How will the role of local authorities change under three-year funding?

Local authorities will retain control over their projects and services. They will continue to have responsibility for assessing proposed activities, applying for funding when the activities are ready to progress, and managing the delivery of those activities.

There is an emphasis, though, on three year planning and the NZTA will only consider providing funding for activities that have been included in a three year regional land transport programme prepared by a regional transport committee.

Because every local authority must be a member of those committees, each one will participate in the committee’s decisions.

Do territorial authorities include non subsidised roading tasks in their RLTPs?

An RLTP must identify significant funding from sources other than the NLTF. This is described in s16 (3) (f) of the LTMA. We would expect this to be described at a summary or significant project level.

What if councils change the submitted programme after 14 November?

The approved organisation (AO) will need to manage the changes with the RTC so that they are reflected in the draft RLTP. The draft programme in LTP online should be ‘unsubmitted’ and resubmitted when the changes are made. The RTC will need to manage that process as it needs to develop the RLTP on an agreed list.  Changes beyond that point will also need to be managed as the RTC goes through the consultation and refinement of the programme.

What if a council's AMP is not approved until very late (ie 30 June)?

Any changes to activities listed in the RLTP should be made through the variation process if significant. When the changes affect local roads maintenance, minor capital works, or existing PT services then the changes will be made in direct consultation with the NZTA.  In other cases they will be made in consultation with the RTC. 

What happens if an AO disagrees with a RTC decision?

The AO is involved in the RTC and can make its views heard and recorded during that process. At the draft RLTP stage it can make a submission should it disagree with the RTC's decision.

The new LTMA allows for a two month delay in submitting the final RLTP due to timing differences in the first year, once LTCCPs have been approved.  To avoid surprises, could you please confirm that the NZTA has the same understanding?

There is no such provision. This is a confusion with the extension feasible for adoption of the NLTP. The transition provisions in the act Schedule 2 cl 8 p113 clearly state that ARTA and regions must have their first RLTP in place by 1 July 2009.

Please clarify where the 0.15% of budget for additional administration will go to (just to RC or also to DC?) or can each claim that percentage of their total programmes?

The 0.15% will go to the RC as it is responsible for 'servicing' the RTC.

The role of the NZ Transport Agency

What is the NZ Transport Agency’s role with regard to preparation and funding of regional land transport programmes?

There are several roles:

• Maximise its input to the sector by assisting and advising approved organisations in the preparation of three year regional land transport programmes through face to face meetings, published materials and targeted training sessions.
• Provide guidance and seek to be engaged early in the development and assessment of integrated strategies and packages.
• As a member of regional transport committees, participate in the decisions made by those committees.
• Statutory role of deciding which activities will be included in the national land transport programme, and deciding whether to approve funding for those activities when they are ready to progress. Because of the perceived potential for conflict, it must be transparent in its decision-making.

How will the NZ Transport Agency be prevented from favouring its own activities when making funding decisions?

The Act contains a range of accountability provisions to prevent the NZTA favouring itself. It must give effect to the Government Policy Statement when making decisions about the national land transport fund. Any state highway activity must be included in a regional land transport programme so regional transport committees will play a role in deciding which activities go forward for funding and for recommending the priority under which activities would be undertaken.

As well, there are a number of specific mechanisms. The NZTA must:

• Make funding decisions public;
• Act transparently in its decision-making;
• Give its own proposed activities the same level of scrutiny as it would give activities proposed by approved organisations when making funding decisions; and
• Have systems and processes in place to meet these requirements and report on those systems and processes annually.

The NZTA will make the process for assessing applications available publicly on its website and will provide the reasons for making funding decisions (but will withhold information on the reasons for the decisions where the information is commercially sensitive).

Integrated planning, activities and combinations of activities

What part does integrated planning play in funding decisions?

Transport management has traditionally favoured supply side measures such as building new infrastructure or providing new services. As this approach becomes less affordable, the emphasis must shift in favour of demand management and a balance between demand and supply side measures will be necessary in regional land transport programmes.

Planning, design and implementation must be coordinated to maximise efficiencies and outcomes and integration must take place between:

• Statutory processes in the Resource Management Act, Land Transport Act, Local Government Act and Land Transport Management Act.
• Different transport modes.
• Institutions at local, regional and national level.

What are activities and combinations of activities?

Activities can be can be an annual programme of work such as road maintenance programmes or public transport services, or improvement projects. Combinations of activities can be:

• A programme of activities from the same activity class, for instance a programme of seal extensions or a set of improvement projects to develop a cycle network supporting a strategy.
• A package of activities from different activity classes or organisations that complement each other, for instance a package of activities to revitalise a town centre that might consist of a new bus interchange, various bus priority measures, new public transport services, workplace travel plans and small scale road improvements.

How should approved organisations go about developing funding proposals?

Approved organisations should discuss packages with NZ Transport Agency staff early on in their development, particularly if the packages will require substantial funding under the national land transport programme.

Early consideration of a package by the NZ Transport Agency will guide and simplify the assessment of the subsequent activities that come forward for funding approval. It will also provide approved organisations with greater confidence about the fundability of the package.

Transport planners will need to engage with land use planners, urban designers and other professionals whose decisions influence demand and supply of transport infrastructure. This collaborative process will improve community outcomes, contribute to sustainable development strategies and reduce the need for additional costly transport infrastructure.

Packages - what happens if the NZTA does not prioritise a project high enough, therefore leaving the local authority partner embarrassed about meeting their part of a commitment to a packaged project?

The expectation is that activities within a packaged project will be prioritised together to ensure that integrated outcomes and benefits are achieved.  The ongoing liaison is a process to manage issues of this nature.

Significant variations – will the NZTA draft guidelines to assist the regions in defining what a significant variation is?  (All councils have their own significance policy, but some guidelines may be helpful)

The Planning, programming and funding manual (PPFM) has guidelines (the RLTP guidelines) for definitions of terms in the LTMA including a draft significance policy in section C1.2.

Will LTP online produce a summary report for RTCs?

RTCs will be able to export information entered into LTP online – for activities they wish to include in the RLTP – into a spreadsheet.

Standard reports will be available from the system, but exporting the information allows the regions to customise and format the information to suit their purpose.

Will projects be ranked within activity classes?

No.  The Act only determines that a ‘priority list’ be developed, irrespective of the activity.  There will only be one list.

Page updated: 12 September 2008