Goods vehicles should be exempt from congestion-style time-of-use road charges, Transporting NZ told MPs on Monday.

Transport Talk magazine says the national road freight lobby appeared before the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee at Parliament to make its submission on the Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill.

Chief executive Dom Kalasih and policy and advocacy head Billy Clemens presented four key recommendations aimed at maximising time-of-use savings for businesses and consumers.

The recommendations were:
  1. That the legislation exempts freight vehicles and public transport vehicles from paying time-of-use charges.
  2. That the legislation does not allow differentiated time-of-use charges according to vehicle class.
  3. That the legislation specifies assessments of the impact of time-of-use charging include the expected impacts on the supply chain and freight movement.
  4. That the legislation enables scheme boards, with the approval of impacted local authorities and the Minister, to implement short-term trials ahead of a scheme being put in place.

Clemens told the Committee that many in the road freight industry are wary of congestion charging becoming a revenue tool rather than improving freight productivity.

“We’ve seen examples of de-facto congestion charging at Port of Auckland where they introduced peak-based vehicle booking systems that were initially introduced at relatively modest rates… [and then the] Port of Auckland realised it was an excellent revenue raising tool,” he says.

“So our members are looking at that and thinking: ‘These are always sold to us on productivity grounds… but once things get settled in it’s pretty tempting to turn the system into a revenue lever.’

“I think you’ve probably heard from some local authorities and councils suggesting [time of use charging] would be a helpful revenue tool.”

Transporting New Zealand also urged the Government to reference freight impacts and supply chain outcomes within the legislation to reassure freight operators and their customers.

Watch: Transporting New Zealand’s full presentation to the Select Committee here (starts at 1:11:30)

The full written submission is here.

Please note: The content of this Advisory has been issued to inform members of Transporting New Zealand. It is for road freight transport industry circulation, not for media publication. It can be forwarded in its entirety to members of Transporting New Zealand. It cannot be reproduced, or printed in parts, under any logo other than Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand’s logo, without written permission from Transporting New Zealand.