Agenda of Regional Transport Committee Workshop


Informal Workshop Paper
To:	Regional Transport Committee Workshop
	9 February 2024
From:	Niki Carling, Senior Transport Planner
	Oliver Haycock, Manager, Transport Planning

Prioritisation of draft RLTP 2024-34 Significant Activities

1. Workshop Purpose

This workshop provides the Regional Transport Committee (RTC) with an opportunity to review the draft programme for inclusion in the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) 2024-34 and provide guidance on the prioritised list of significant transport activities.

The previous prioritisation workshop held on 15 December 2023 did not endorse the prioritised list of activities for inclusion in the draft RLTP. This 9 February 2024 workshop will revisit the prioritisation process with elected members.

To meet the timeframes set for public consultation, adoption of the final RLTP and its submission to NZTA by mid-June, it is paramount that the prioritised list is agreed in this forum. On that note, officers respectfully request that members ensure they are well-briefed on the priority activities for their district.

By way of an update on the new GPS for land transport, officers have yet to receive confirmation of priorities from the Ministry of Transport. However, this delay in confirmation should not detract from the Committee’s confirmation of a prioritised activity list for the region. The Committee undertook a rigorous process to identify transport priorities for the Bay of Plenty and it is this enduring framework that is being used to score activities.

2. Guidance sought from Members

That the RTC considers and provides guidance on the draft prioritised list of significant activities for inclusion in the draft RLTP 2024-34.

3. Background

Section 16(3)(d) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 (LTMA) requires significant activities to be ranked by order of priority in the RLTP.

At the 31 August 2023 meeting, the RTC considered a paper on the strategic framework and prioritisation process for the draft RLTP 2024-34, as recommended by the Regional Advisory Group (RAG) – see Attachment 1. The paper proposed the following parameters for the prioritisation of significant activities:

· applies to improvement activities of more than $2 million.

· requires projects and activities to show alignment with the draft RLTP 2024-34 problem and benefit statements and priorities.

· does not include continuous programmes, low-cost low-risk activities, or activities with signed contracts or allocated funding to be prioritised.

· allows business cases (programme, indicative or detailed) to be prioritised, if necessary to demonstrate their importance.

· requires RAG consensus on projects’ and activities’ contribution to transport investment priorities.

The paper further proposed that the activities would be ranked and moderated against the transport investment priorities by RAG members.

Ultimately, the RTC made the following resolution:

“Approves the overall prioritisation process and approach for the Regional Land Transport Plan 2024 as outlined in the report”.

The process subsequently undertaken by the RAG to prioritise significant activities is covered by section 4.2.1 below.

4. Regional Land Transport Plan Programme

A RLTP includes transport activities submitted by Approved Organisations (AO) i.e., local authorities, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and the Department of Conservation (if appropriate). The activity owner submits information into the Waka Kotahi Transport Investment Online (TIO) database ready for extraction into the RLTP^{^[1]}.

The regional programme needs to include the following activities:

· Committed activities

· Proposed activities looking for NLTF funding, i.e.

- Prioritised regionally significant activities

- Non-prioritised activities

· Significant activities to be funded from sources other than the NLTF

· Activities of inter-regional significance, and

· Significant activities not yet developed enough to be part of the RLTP but which may come to fruition within the period of the plan.

Sections 4.1 – 4.6 of this paper outline each of the above parts of the programme. The most critical is section 4.2 which outlines the proposed list of significant activities endorsed by the RAG and is the primary consideration of this Workshop Paper.

4.1 Committed activities

The RLTP is required under section 16(6)(c) of the LTMA to include a list of activities that have previously had funding committed through the NLTF. These projects may be in the implementation phase or may be in the process of an extensive pre-implementation phase. The final list of activities will be reconfirmed with the TAs for inclusion in the final draft RLTP released for consultation:

4.2 Proposed activities – prioritised regionally significant

Proposed activities are those being submitted for funding support from the NLTF for the 6-year period 2024/25 – 2029/30. ‘Significant’ activities, i.e., those improvement activities anticipated to cost more than $2 million, are required to be ranked by order of priority in the RLTP.

The proposed complete list of prioritised significant activities, included as Attachment 2, was finalised by the RAG following the process in 4.2.1 below and has the RAG’s collective endorsement. The score for each project is a consolidated total of its scoring against each of the transport investment priorities. Of note is the number of projects with the same total score – the 28 projects rated as the most significant score between 18 and 22.

The workshop provides an opportunity for the RTC to consider the prioritised list and to propose adding, removing or changing the priority of activities, especially in the light of similar scores. Following this workshop, all RTC feedback will be incorporated into the next evolution of draft RLTP 2024-34 to support public consultation.

4.2.1 Prioritisation process

The first step of the prioritisation process was for all the significant activities submitted by each AO to be scored by them through an internal process against a scoring range of 1 (low) to 5 (high), for their contribution to each of the six transport investment priorities. These investment priorities were previously agreed in the RTC at its 31 August 2023 Workshop and include:

1. Reducing road deaths and serious injuries.

2. Transitioning towards a more sustainable transport system to minimise environmental impacts.

3. Enhancing availability of accessible, affordable and efficient travel choices for people, goods and services.

4. An integrated freight system that optimises the efficient and effective movement of goods.

5. Building resilience into the region’s transport system by strengthening essential connections, improving access to alternative routes, and delivering robust maintenance plans.

6. Supporting sustainable regional growth through planning and investing in transport infrastructure and services that lift economic prosperity and enable housing.

Following the initial scoring, a half-day prioritisation workshop was held with all RAG members on 17 November 2023. At the workshop, activity owners presented their proposed activities and the rationale for their scoring. Members then collectively reviewed each AO’s scoring and undertook a moderation process to ensure consistency of approach across the whole proposed programme.

After assessment and moderation of the activities, the initial priority list was updated to reflect the RAG discussions and recirculated to the RAG for finalisation.

An initial prioritisation workshop was held with the RTC on 15 December 2023 but did not endorse the prioritised list of activities, thus this workshop.

4.3 Proposed activities – non-prioritised

Improvement activities below the $2 million threshold and those deemed ‘business as usual’ are excluded from the prioritisation process. A list of such activities will be confirmed with each TA for inclusion in the final draft RLTP released for consultation.

· Investment management transport planning activities - prepare the ground for future RLTPs and longer-term investment, through development of modelling, appraisal and business case capability.

· Continuous programme activities - ongoing ‘business as usual’ activities relating to state highway and local road maintenance, public transport services, road safety promotion and road policing. Approved Organisations apply for continuous programme funding on a 3-year cycle aligned with respective AO Long Term Plans and their local share contributions.

· Low-cost low-risk (LCLR) activities - an LCLR activity has an individual total cost, from design through to implementation, within the LCLR threshold of $2M. Approved Organisations apply for LCLR funding on a 3-year cycle aligned with the LTP.

4.4 Significant activities funded from other sources

There are land transport activities in the region which make a significant contribution to the objectives of the RLTP that are not eligible for NLTF funding or are funded from other sources. The majority of these are being delivered by KiwiRail or Tauranga City. For example, KiwiRail funds its improvements through Crown funds and operating profits. Tauranga city requires significant investment in the local road network. Much of the work required to increase existing capacity and provide new roads and access is funded by TCC through developer contributions and local rates. While the non-NLTF activities are funded from other sources, they do still form an important part of investment in the Bay of Plenty’s transport system.

A list of such activities will be confirmed with each TA for inclusion in the final draft RLTP released for consultation.

4.5 Activities of inter-regional significance

A potential list of significant inter-regional activities has been obtained from Te Kaunihera a Rohe o Waikato (Waikato Regional Council) and Te Kaunihera o Te Tairāwhiti (Gisborne District Council).

Bay of Plenty – Waikato

Bay of Plenty – Gisborne

4.6 Significant activities not yet developed enough for inclusion

These activities are not yet developed enough to be part of the RLTP or were not proposed due to an AO’s own prioritisation process, but may come to fruition within the period of the Plan. A list of such activities will be confirmed with each TA for inclusion in the final draft RLTP released for consultation.

Example activities are:

· On Demand Permanent Service – Tauranga South

· Tauranga Harbour PT - Ferries

· Hydrogen Bus Trial

5. Next Steps

Once RTC members have considered the draft prioritised list of significant activities, staff will incorporate all the feedback received.

Given the recent change in Government, it is likely that there will be a new GPS released in 2024. Any significant changes will mean the project list priorities may need to be reviewed and possibly amended so that the programme demonstrates consistency with the national priorities.

The next key milestone in the process will be the release of a draft RLTP for public consultation.

RLTP timeframes

Date	Milestone/ Task	Requirements
18 Dec 23– 29 Jan 24	Complete draft RLTP 2024 front-end	Review of initial feedback on draft RLTP 2024 from RTC workshop and elected members Completion of draft RLTP 2024 document front-end and statement of proposal (consultation document)
29 Jan onwards	Graphics document production	Design and production of draft document
9 Feb 2024	RTC meeting	Sign off of statement of proposal, including public consultation questions and engagement approach Appointment of hearings’ sub-committee Sign off of draft RLTP 2024 front-end for public consultation
9 Feb 2024	RTC workshop	Final prioritised activity list endorsed by RTC
9 Feb – 22 Feb 24	Graphics document completion & printing	Final preparations for consultation
23 Feb – 24 Mar 2024	Draft RLTP 2024 consultation period	Draft RLTP 2024 and statement of proposal issued Consultation and feedback process clearly communicated (to include some combined consultation with LTP)
10 – 12 Apr	Hearings	Review of public consultation feedback received Production of presentations/supporting documents for hearings
7 – 8 May	Deliberations	Details of public consultation feedback and hearings and recommendations for proposed Plan changes
9 – 17 May	Final RLTP	Production and issuing of final document
22 May	RTC meeting	Adoption of final RLTP document and programme and recommendation to Regional Council
5 June	Regional Council adopts RLTP	Report summarising investment story and prioritised programme
14 Jun	Final RLTP submitted to Waka Kotahi
31 Aug	Government adopts 2024/27 NLTP
Early Sep	Waka Kotahi releases 2024/27 NLTP Final RLTP published	Comms around prioritised activities and funding

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Copy of Report to 31 August 2023 RTC - Draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 - Strategic Framework and Prioritisation Process ⇩

Attachment 2 - Full List of Prioritised Projects

Attachments

Attachment 1 - List of RTC resolutions on draft RLTP 2024 development ⇩

Attachment 2 - Proposed Complete List of Prioritised Significant Actitivies ⇩

[1] The LTMA s.16(4) states that "An organisation may only propose an activity for inclusion in the regional land transport plan if it or another organisation accepts financial responsibility for the activity." Without an ‘owner’ the activity will not be accepted by Waka Kotahi.