Increases in safety and efficiency are the target outcomes of the new Upper North Island Freight Accord – released today.
The Accord was developed by the NZ Transport Agency with the support of a number of industry organisations and local government.
NZTA freight portfolio director Harry Wilson says the organisations have developed the Accord as a shared view of the freight challenges and opportunities facing the upper North Island to ensure a collaborative approach to planning and investment decisions which affect the movement of freight.
“The Upper North Island Freight Accord gives us a common understanding of ways to lift freight efficiency and improve safety, something that will benefit all of New Zealand,” Wilson says.
Around 56% of New Zealand’s freight is moved within the upper North Island meaning that freight efficiency in the region affects the prosperity of the whole country.
“The size of the national freight task is expected to grow by 50% over the next few decades, so developing strategies to make the freight system as efficient as possible will reduce the cost of goods and increase the competitiveness of our importers and exporters,” Wilson says.
The Accord identifies principles, actions and success factors that will deliver a better freight system which delivers certainty for investors.
“As an exporting nation with a focus on the primary sector, freight is the lifeblood of our economy and so it is critical that all the groups across the freight sector work together to make this system as good as it can be.”
There are 21 organisations who support the Accord, including councils, Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga, Auckland Transport, the Road Transport Forum, Fonterra and a number of transport firms – including HW Richardson, TR Group, Hall’s Group, Mainfreight, NZL Group, Toll and TIL Freight.
The Accord is part of a national freight planning process undertaken by the Transport Agency which has seen the preparation of a draft South Island Freight Plan while work continues on a Central Freight Plan. Once work on freight planning in all three regions is further advanced, work will begin on a national freight plan which will look at how the nationwide freight system can be planned and developed with a ‘one network’ approach.
The Accord can be downloaded here.
