Laying the Foundations

The current infrastructure challenges, priorities and policies in New Zealand

Ernst ZollnerNZ Transport Agency

Welcome to my world…

• Transport (road, rail, air and sea ports)

• Telecommunications• Energy• Water (urban and

productive)• Social (education,

health, recreation, prisons)

Our national, regional and local

infrastructure

network

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My favourite idea the capital web

Some golden rules, to start with

Know your goals, and understand the power

First, maintain

and optimise what you

have

Build networks,

not projects

Some golden rules, to start with

Timing is everything

Its all about the users

Build it right, or regret it deeply

A task for those who like it tough

So you want to provide

infrastructure in NZ?

• Tough layout (long and thin)• Tough geography (mountains,

waters)• Tough geology (unstable and

bubbly)• Tough climate (but thanks for the

energy)• Tough market size (small economy

and population, badly distributed)• Tough demand patterns (peak

flows, and short runs)

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SHORT RUNS, LONG THIN LINES: ROAD

FreightTourismFreight and Tourism

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3.8 million tonnes +2.2 to 3.8 million tonnes0.9 to 2.2 million tonnesLess than 0.9 million tonnes

SHORT RUNS, LONG THIN LINES: RAIL

And how to make it harder…

So you want to provide

infrastructure in NZ?

• Weak tradition of integration and coordination

• (Some) weak providers• (Some) weak investment

analysis• Generally weak

understanding (or interest in) demand

• Weak long term planning

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WRONG LOCATIONS, BIG COSTS

Getting locations and integration wrong costs the ratepayer, the user and the taxpayers

But tough is what we do…A reasonable set of infrastructure

networks for our size and income:Generally good resilienceCongestion level reasonable by most

standardsCosts to users favourable in some areas

Generally good asset management practices

Generally good regulatory environment

Generally good reporting and accountability

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Strategic road linkages (congestion, reliability, unlock potential and address resilience)

• Rail maintenance and renewal (reliability and timeliness)

• Ultra-fast broadband (lower cost, increased access)

• Agricultural water use (increased access)

Support

economic

growth, and in

particular

exports

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Puhoi to Wellsford

Auckland Western Ring RouteAuckland Victoria Park Bottleneck

Waikato Expressway

Tauranga Eastern Corridor

Wellington Northern Corridor

Christchurch Motorway Projects

ROADS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

Water management the area of biggest concern

• Make better use of what we have

• Better planning, integration and coordination

• Better investment analysis

Address the

system weakness

esThe big ask: long(er) term certainty

My favourite quoteHon Steven Joyce, previous Minister of Transport, NZ Rail Conference, 21 April 2010

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“Frankly everyone is going to have to hold hands and jump together if this is to work”

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Step 1.1: Make most of what we have

• Step 1.2: Implement programmed improvements

• Step 1.2: Agree the improvement plan

• Step 2: Fund the long-term plan

Supporting the growth

of Aucklan

d

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Optimisation solutions – really cool stuff

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Step 1.1: Restoring basic services

• Step 1.2: Make most of what we have

• Step 2: New plans for a changed city

Supporting the

recovery of

Canterbury

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Step 1.1: Implement programmed improvements

• Step 1.1: Think ahead: listen to the users

• Step 2: Agree revised long-term plans

Supporting the

growth of the

Upper North Island

My favourite planning project

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Step 1: Making better use of what we have

• Step 2: Open up new high productivity routes

Supporting the general freight task

Towards 2021 – our national agenda

• Step 1.1: Continue to unblock key bottlenecks

• Step 1.2 Get the regulations right• Step 2: New focus: tackle resilience

issues• Step 3: Get the levels of service right

Supporting the

productive rural areas

• Step 1: Implement programmed improvements

• Step 2: Making better use of what we have

And support

Wellington’s resilience

Plus: road safety, broadband and innovation

What I’m really excited about

The adaptable road

The automated road

The climate change resilient road

Towards 5th generation roads

Paying for it all… the challenge

Funding certainty is a big issue• Transport & water: investment

demand larger than future funding sources

• In terminal decline? Fuel excise duty and rates funding

• Too unreliable and complex? Development contributions

Paying for it all… to the rescue?

Users Basic: paying for use

Next step: users meet

marginal cost

Investors

Basic: Private capital repaid

by availability

charge

Next step: Private

capital repaid by actual use

Future generati

ons

Basic: spreading

some costs across life of

asset

So, how golden are we?Golden rule GradeKnow your goals, and understand the power

Improving

Maintain and optimise what you have, before building new

Can do better, promising

Build networks, not projects Must do better

Timing is everything Getting better

Its all about the use (and users), not the engineering awards

Getting better

Build it right Good(ish)

And can we do it? Yes, its…