Road Transport Forum on Transmission Gully

Ken Shirley from the RTF writes in the Dom Post:

Why are Sue Kedgley and her Green Party colleagues so stridently opposed to road projects and road transport?

Her article condemning the Transmission Gully project and her physical protest against the Basin Reserve reveal a messianic zeal that surpasses all understanding.

We should all welcome public debate on these important issues, but blatant untruths by campaigners should be exposed for what they are. 

Any motorist or freight operator who has experienced the waste of time and fuel associated with the many congestion points between Mana and Waikanae on the existing State Highway 1 route will readily reject her BANANA (build absolutely nothing anywhere never again) syndrome approach.

A nice summary of the Green Party policy on roads!

Kedgley acknowledges that this project has been on the backburner for decades. Her assertion that taxpayers will end up subsidising every road commuter to the tune of $18 a day is a gross distortion of reality.

What she fails to reveal is that all repairs and maintenance of existing highways and the cost of all new highway projects are paid from the hypothecated Land Transport Fund, with no general taxation funding. 

What we have is a user-pays system, where road users fully fund these activities through the fuel excise duty (FED) on petrol and road user charges (RUCs) on diesel-powered vehicles, including the truck fleet. 

The FED and RUCS are projected to contribute $4.9 billion and $3.7b, respectively, to this fund in the next three years.

In addition, about $500 million of motor-registration fees are paid to the Land Transport Fund. Road users, through their representative organisations, the AA and Road Transport Forum, support and welcome these projects, as do most local bodies. 

Yep roading is basically user-pays, and the vast majority of road users want these projects. Those against tend not to be road users.