4.4 New Zealand

The Transport Complaints Unit (TCU) receives suggestions and complaints from the public on transport matters. The public can also provide their feedback via a hotline phone service operated by the Government of Hong Kong.

Role in Urban Planning

The principal body responsible for statutory planning in Hong Kong is the Town Planning Board (TPB). Representatives from the Transport Department are members of the Board, assisting TPB to oversee the preparation of draft statutory plans, to consider representations to such draft plans and to vet development applications for planning permission and amendments to plans related to prevailing traffic and transport requirements. (The source of all information on Hong Kong is the email questionnaire filled by an official at the Transport Department, Government of Hong Kong)

Findings

1. 2.

3. Hong Kong has separated transport services provision from regulation The Government does not subsidise public transportation other than specific ferry routes, which is also a differentiating factor, compared to other cities The accessibility and affordability of public transport in Hong Kong needs to be studied further.

4.4 New Zealand

The NZ Transport Agency was set up on 1 August 2008, through the merger of Land Transport NZ, Transit NZ, and Land Transport Safety Authority into a single organisation. It serves as a link between government policy-making and the operation of the transport sector.

NZTA’s main functions include the following:

Contribute to an effective, efficient and safe land transport system in the public interest. Manage the state highway system, including planning, funding, design, supervision, construction and maintenance operations. Manage funding of the land transport system, including auditing the performance of organisations receiving land transport funding. Manage regulatory requirements for transport on land.

NZTA receives revenues from the following sources:

It collects all revenue dedicated to the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) through road user charges and fuel excise duty. Significant revenue also comes from third party fees and charges for services.

NZTA works with local governments to improve, maintain and renew roads, support public transport and build new transport infrastructure assets to meet changes in demand. NZTA also works with land use planners, urban designers, engineers, and businesses and communities to deliver transport solutions and land use patterns. In the large metropolitan areas of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, NZTA has an important cofounding and regulatory role (NZTA 2011).

Figure 8: Link between NZTA and other stakeholders

Source: (NZTA 2017) Tariff setting

NZTA does not directly set fares for public or para transport services. However, as per the Regional Public Transportation Plan, within an urban area, the city transport authority conducts an annual fare review and adjustment process and must ensure that the fare increase keeps pace with increased operating costs as measured by NZTA indexing. The Transport agency may also make additional fare increases in order to achieve the fare recovery target set earlier. The transport provider also is obliged to review fares annually with its public transport contractors (Auckland Transport 2017).

Interaction with commuters

NZTA regularly talks and listens to road users, suppliers and other stakeholders including the government and local authorities. Interactions are informal through daily work on projects around the country, as well as formal (regular surveys, annual surveys and open days) (NZTA 2015).

Findings

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3.

4.

5.

6. NZTA does not provide transport services, but supports cities that provide these services NZTA manages certain regulatory requirements for urban transport, but it does not directly supervise transport service providers, or set fares The agency is responsible for transport throughout NZ, not just within cities. The agency has a policy to protect the environment, as well as the cultural and historical heritage. NZTA publishes an Annual Report and goes through performance reviews where it is rated on various measures NZTA is a signatory to the NZ Urban Design Protocol, and hence aims at ensuring that transportation networks fit in with the build, natural and community environments.