The Government has released new regulations enabling increases in RUC rates. The Road User Charges (Rates) Amendment Regulations 2018 will come into effect 1 October 2018.

In June the Ministry of Transport‘s Impact Summary: Increases to Petrol Excise Duty and Road User Charges evaluated options for increasing transport revenue to fund the implementation of the Government Policy Statement on land transport 2018 (GPS 2018).

It found that on balance, a steady series of regular increases to the petrol excise duty (PED) rate and equivalent percentage increases to road user charges (RUC) rates over the next three years was recommended in order to provide sufficient revenue to implement GPS 2018 without imposing unreasonable additional costs on individuals and businesses.

The RUC system accounts for approximately 39 percent of National Land Transport Fund revenue. It consists of a set of distance-based charges, which differ depending on the size, weight and configuration of the vehicle. The system is designed to account for, and recover charges based on, the different impacts imposed on the road network by different types of vehicles.

Instead of a single fixed increase across the board, rates that have increased have been adjusted on the basis of pavement impact or ESAs (Equivalent Standard Axle) of mainly the powered vehicles. This approach has led to smoothing out some of the historical unevenness across the combination rates, which means some combinations might only have a minimal RUC adjustment.

The legislation, which includes the new rates, can be viewed here: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2018/0137/latest/whole.html#LMS71468