The Minister of Transport announced the government is set it begin trials of road pricing for transport operators in a keynote speech to the RTF conference last month.
“Preliminary investigation on heavy vehicles indicates the issues aren’t necessarily congestion, but others, such as safety, noise, and wear and tear,” says Bridges.
“When thinking about a trial, the focus has been around key ports where heavy vehicles are a relatively high proportion of traffic and, in particular, the routes into Auckland and the Port of Tauranga,” he says.
“Could location-specific charging improve safety, noise, and wear and tear?” asks Bridges
“This does not be about gathering more RUC from heavy vehicles. It would be about recognising the real cost of heavy vehicles on some roads and the incentives on heavy vehicle operators to minimise their costs,” he says.
“A differential RUC could ensure better safety, less noise, and less wear and tear on some roads and lower RUC on other routes,” says Bridges.
He also spoke about the two core government policies showing a commitment to productivity gains. Bridges says the government is committed to improving infrastructure from below to above recommended OECD levels.
Bridges also welcomed Women in Trucking USA chief Ellen Voie, commenting that he supported any effort to attract more women into the transport and logistics industry.
“The National party is the party of infrastructure,” says Bridges. “Our priorities are investment in land transport to promote economic growth as well as increase productivity and road safety.”
He also spoke about the benefits of the HPMV programme to move more freight using less truck movements and the benefits yielded to operators and consumers.
The Roads of National Significance (Rons) programme will continue to receive government support says Bridges. He adds fixing the issues in Auckland and Waikato remain a top priority.
Moving the industry forward by creating greater efficiency, encouraging more women and minorities into the industry, and building a safer working culture through better risk management were some of the other themes at this year’s Road Transport Forum conference.
New Zealand’s favourite yodelling entertainers, twins Jools and Linda Topp, aka Ken and Ken were the masters of ceremony for the RTF event, and kept the conference speakers reined in and running to time.
Other key speakers at this year’s event, which took place at the Wigram Air Force Museum in Christchurch, included Ministry of Transport chief executive Martin Matthews, Canterbury employers chamber of commerce chief executive Peter Townsend, ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie, Business innovator Craig Rust, Ian Taylor from IAG, and Women in Trucking (USA) president Ellen Voie.
Voie spoke for 40 minutes about how the industry needed to encourage more women into management as well as driving roles. She commented that simple things such as promoting accomplishments, and minimising obstacles and barriers to entry would be a good start.
Voie says something as simple as providing female appropriate uniforms can make a big difference, but often its such simple things that let employers down, and they don’t realise it.
In the USA only 14% of management in the trucking industry are female, and less than 6% are truck drivers. Voie says this is something her organisation is working to improve upon.
Self-professed petrol head and owner of five vehicles, Ministry of Transport boss Martin Matthews says the future of transport will involve a paradigm shift, mostly around the use of technology. Matthews says the ministry is looking thirty years ahead to create an environment where available transport systems will work seamlessly together.
Matthews commented that mobility will be transformed in 30 years and that driverless vehicles will become part of a new norm, where people will buy mobility as a service, and public transport will be tailored to individual needs.
Ian Taylor the national manager of commercial motor vehicles for IAG brands Lumley and NZI spoke about how the insurance companies are currently competing in a soft market with pricing that is not sustainable longterm.
Taylor warned delegates to compare services and levels of service on offer, not just premium costs as he says some companies are driving down levels of service as they offer lower prices to customers.
