Prime minster Chris Hipkins has announced the deferment of a range of transport programmes including a halt to the Clean Car Upgrade scheme expected to save $586 million.
The transport schemes have been deferred so Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency can focus on post-Cyclone Gabrielle road recovery, Hipkins says.
The Clean Car Upgrade scheme was intended for households to scrap their old cars in return for a grant for a cleaner vehicle.
It’s also refocusing a goal of increasing and improving public transport as an alternative to driving to the five main centres of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch.
Hipkins says the Government is also significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to focus on the most dangerous 1% of state highways, ensuring Waka Kotahi NZTA is consulting meaningfully with affected communities, and rolling out in stages Auckland transport solutions to reduce emissions and congestion.
The Government says $1 billion in savings will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living, in addition to more than $700 million in savings reallocated to fund the petrol excise cut and half-price public transport extension through to the end of June.
Hipkins announced on March 13 a second tranche of government programmes being stopped or delayed to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on the “bread and butter” issues facing New Zealanders.
The second group of programmes add to the already announced scrapping of the biofuels mandate.
“I want New Zealanders to know the Government is doing its bit and is cutting its cloth to suit the times we are in,” says Hipkins.
“It will give ministers and wider government more bandwidth to deal with cost-of-living issues and the cyclone recovery.”
A social leasing car scheme to provide leasing arrangements to low-income families for Clean Cars that was proving difficult to implement has also been stopped, the Government adding several of the communities where it was to be trialled have been affected by the recent extreme weather.
“Work on Auckland Light Rail will continue (the first stage expected to be confirmed by mid-year) alongside other city-shaping investments like a second Waitemata Harbour Crossing, more rapid busways, and better connections to growth areas like the North-West,” says Hipkins.
“Investing in a modern Auckland where people can get around, where there’s less congestion and cleaner travel options is the least the city should expect. Our Cabinet is absolutely agreed on that.”
The changes have met with mixed reaction from various agencies like the Motor Industry Association.
The Motor Trade Association (MTA) says it’s disappointed the Clean Car Upgrade (CCU) has been shelved.
MTA advocacy and stakeholder manager Brian Anderton says the CCU would have helped lower and middle income households transition to low-emitting EVs, PHEVs and hybrid vehicles in exchange for scrapping their old vehicle.
