Future road tolling is supported “in principle” but needs to be “applied fairly”, Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley says.
Shirley made the comments on Newstalk ZB and come on the back of a New Zealand Herald Official Information Act request which showed The NZ Transport Agency is considering tolls on four major proposed networks.
The roads include Transmission Gully, the Tauranga North Link, Puhoi to Warkworth, and Petone to Grenada projects all earmarked for completion.
The report shows up to $28 million could be raised annually as a result.
“It’s got to be paid for, it’s not a question of if we pay for it, it’s a question of how we pay for it.
“Toll roading is a direct way of charging, it’s a very transparent way of charging and we support it,” Shirley told Newstalk ZB.
However, ensuring tolls and road user charges are not being charged at the same time and ensuring the money raised goes back into the right projects is important, Shirley says.
“The last thing we want, and we fear this government may be heading down that path, is for road user taxes to be used to cross-subsidise uneconomic rail projects, some of them that the public won’t use,” he told Newstalk ZB.
Adequate consultation, community support, alternative routes, effectiveness and efficiency are matters considered by NZTA for introducing tolls under terms of the Land Transport Management Act.
NZTA is yet to make a decision on the future tolls.
