Agreement on a 20 year long term transport plan for Wellington to create a liveable, walkable CBD connected by rapid transit looks promising, but needs to be further developed and accelerated , says Stephen Selwood, CEO of Infrastructure New Zealand Commitment by the Government and the Wellington councils to a long term plan is a milestone in itself. Continue →

Evidence-based decision making is needed to bring down New Zealand’s increasing road toll, says Stephen Selwood CEO of Infrastructure NZ While discussion around how best New Zealand can improve its comparatively poor road safety performance is needed, it is essential that policy changes address the principal drivers of declining performance if we are to have any hope of turning the road toll around. Continue →

Genesis Energy has joined The Climate Group’s EV100 initiative which brings together companies from all over the world that are committed to switching their global fleets to electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions The diversified energy company has committed to convert every car in its light vehicle fleet to electric or hybrid by 2020, with the same ambition for 50% of its heavy vehicle fleet by 2025. Continue →

KiwiRail has posted improved revenue for the half year to December 2018 with overall revenue 12% up on the previous year Good progress in domestic freight (30%), forestry (15%) and bulk freight (8%) revenue to December was bolstered by an 8% increase in tourism revenue on the Great Journeys of New Zealand rail and ferry services. Continue →

Trucking industry managers attending the Women in Road Transport forum held in Auckland this week were presented with a possible solution to the driver shortage problem – more female drivers Four female students who are part of the first intake for the Manukau Institute of Technology’s new programme – the NZ Certificate in Commercial Road (Heavy Vehicle Operator) level 3 – spoke briefly about the experience and their career hopes for the future. Continue →

German aviation startup Volocopter has announced it will perform the next set of inner urban flight tests, as it expands its business operations into Singapore, The Urban Developer reports Volocopter chief executive Florian Reuter says the team is preparing to start implementing the first fixed routes in cities. Continue →

Random searches and lengthy queues at airports may be a thing of the past if a hi-tech security system currently being field-tested lives up to expectations A team of scientists, technicians and lux-Airport staff worked through the night to test FLYSEC’s intelligent end-to-end system, which analyses a passenger’s onsite behaviour, travel history and booking profile to classify them according to their ‘trustworthiness’. Continue →

The government’s $40m investment in a new freight hub near Palmerston North will ready the Manawatu-Whanganui region for the coming freight growth, KiwiRail’s Acting Chief Executive Todd Moyle says “Palmerston North is already a critical freight distribution point, with goods coming through from the upper North Island, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and Wellington, and freight volumes expected to increase significantly in the coming decades,” he explains. Continue →

National Road Carriers Association and the Ports of Auckland are combining forces to promote change in the supply chain to improve delivery times and prevent delays This initiative has come about because of supply chain capacity issues which were highlighted following an accident at Ports of Auckland in August. Continue →

The government should move quickly to develop an agreed roadmap with the opposition, councils and business to replace the conventional vehicle fleet with electric and renewable fuel vehicles, an industry expert insists A new report by sustainability consultants thinkstep finds that up to 88% of New Zealand’s 2015 transport carbon emissions can be eliminated by 2050 by shifting the light vehicle fleet to electric and trucks, trains, boats and planes to hydrogen or biofuel, says Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Selwood. Continue →

The country’s leading road transport organisation has welcomed announcements over roading improvements planned for Northland and the Horowhenua The National Road Carriers Association supports the plans announced by the New Zealand Transport Agency that include safety upgrades and new highways between Whangarei and Te Hana in the north and from Otaki to north of Levin. Continue →

Researchers received some interesting answers when they asked millions of people across the world what they think a driverless car should do in the face of an unavoidable accident Each scenario required making choices between various combinations of saving passengers or pedestrians, and the researchers identified a number of shared moral preferences. Continue →

There are four ways to fund transport and other infrastructure and with the end of petrol tax increases it is now time we explored the other three So says Stephen Selwood Chief Executive of Infrastructure New Zealand, who outlined the following options. Continue →

Lingering debate over the form of rapid transit to Auckland Airport reveals a lack of clarity about the role for light and heavy rail This issue must be resolved when the business case is released, says Infrastructure NZ Chief Executive Stephen Selwood. Continue →

Freight cost rises for a wide range of goods is inevitable says the National Road Carriers Association, the country’s leading road transport organisation “Road transport companies are under increased cost pressure from a variety of directions which will flow through to consumers,” says David Aitken, NRC’s CEO. Continue →

Melbourne’s $15 billion Airport Rail Link project is set to receive a $5 billion boost through a private consortium. Continue →

OPINION “The National Land Transport Programme announced August 31 sees a significant shift in the allocation of road user charges and fuel taxes away from road users to public transport users and raises questions about the future of the state highway network,” says Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Selwood “Many city dwellers will welcome the Government’s positive focus on public transport, walking and cycling. Continue →

Whangarei, winner of the most electric vehicle friendly-town in New Zealand award, has a big advantage over other regions Northland is well connected and the city’s electric vehicle(EV) spokesman, Joseph Camuso, says the big advantage Whangarei has is in knowing all the engineers from the four districts and they can act very quickly to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure and make things happen. Continue →

An ambitious plan to make Melbourne more liveable by reducing the number of vehicles could serve as a blueprint to solve New Zealand’s growing traffic woes The Victorian city’s transport officials are considering the impact of congestion and vehicles, with the number of people using the CBD grid expected to climb from 900,000 to 1.4 million by 2036. Continue →