Headlines this week are full of news of foreign investors flying into Auckland with trillions of dollars of funds burning a hole in their pocket to attend the government’s Infrastructure Investment Summit.

So what should road transport and freight operators expect – a talkfest, or turbo-charged infrastructure?

In a world of increasing global instability, investors are looking for safe havens to invest and to get solid returns. As a politically stable, geographically remote country with an infrastructure deficit, New Zealand presents as an interesting opportunity.

Yet New Zealanders are often luke-warm, or sometimes downright suspicious about foreign investment. And I am not sure why.

We are a country of around two-million taxpayers, yet have to provide infrastructure for an area larger than the UK.

We are lifestyle rich, but capital poor. We need to attract foreign funds.

And public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a successful model for doing this. The Puhoi to Warkworth expressway was funded by a PPP.

What difference does it make, you ask?

Speed – we will get the infrastructure faster.

Rather than having to wait to harvest the billions of dollars needed from RUC (which takes years), the private sector provides the finance, design, construction and operation and maintenance of the road. Government can get cracking and commission the road build now, not next decade. For the investor, they have a safe investment with a set interest rate return appropriate for a lower risk asset class. For government and tax payers it is a lower risk than borrowing on the international debt market, which is subject to interest rate swings over time.

New Zealand still owns the roads. The investor isn’t extracting massive returns from the New Zealand economy, in fact they are taking on some of the build risk, and providing construction expertise. A win-win model.

First cab off the rank at the Infrastructure Investment Summit is the Northern Corridor expressway. This is ideal, as we need to build past the at-risk Brynderwyn range as soon as possible, and open up the Northland economy.

Driving on a WIM

NRC members will have seen our communications on the NZTA’s Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) sites being built around the country. With embedded in-road scales combined with number plate recognition cameras, trucks are weighed as they travel down the road, their number plate scanned which then is cross-referenced by NZTA with the RUC class purchased.

Vehicles that don’t have the correct RUC class or up to date kilometres purchased receive an invoice from the NZTA.

For trucks that trigger an alert, (you can see a list of what you’ll be screened for here) the numberplate will be displayed on the variable message screen directing the driver into the nearest Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre (CVSC). Failure to follow this direction carries a $1000 fine so make sure your drivers know their registration and what to look for.

Glasnevin has been fully operational for several months. Paengaroa will go live next week.

Port of Auckland offramps and Stanley Street WIM’s operating for screening and will go live with NZTA for RUC invoicing in the coming weeks.

For the road freight system, the data captured from WIM is starting to show a detailed and wide view of the levels of compliance of our road transport fleet in New Zealand. And the early signs are promising. The good news from NZTA is that early WIM sites up and running such as at Glasnevin in the South Island are reporting high levels of compliance.

Increasingly we are going to see the regulator adopt more innovative technology to police our roads. And this is something that should be welcomed. Getting better visibility of who are the compliant operators and who are the cowboys will only make the roads safer for everyone.

Make your voice heard

There are two opportunities underway this week to have your voice heard.

NZTA SH1 Dessert Road closures for rehabilitation – NRC is sending out a two-minute survey to members on how you have found the detours, build quality and closure of the highway. There are only four questions and it is anonymous, so please take the time to fill it out – we will be sharing this feedback with NZTA. Access the survey here.

Boosting the traffic flow on Onewa Road, one of the busiest roads on Auckland’s north shore, is getting a makeover with Auckland Transport looking to improve traffic efficiency through the important arterial corridor. Carparking along the road is going to be removed (well overdue), and Auckland Transport is going after improved journey time through the use of technology such as bus boosters and queue detection technology. These changes should add up to improved freight efficiency along the corridor. NRC members are encouraged to provide feedback, and you’ll find it under the “open for feedback” section. Feedback is open until 6 April 2025.

– Justin Tighe-Umbers