Agenda of Regional Transport Committee

Regional Transport Committee

Membership

Chairperson (BOPRC)	Cr Lyall Thurston
Deputy Chairperson (BOPRC)	Cr Ken Shirley Cr Andrew von Dadelszen (Alternate)
Members
Kawerau District Council	Mayor Faylene Tunui Cr Berice Julian (Alternate)
Ōpōtiki District Council	Mayor David Moore Cr Tom Brooks (Alternate)
Rotorua Lakes Council	Mayor Tania Tapsell Cr Conan O’Brien (Alternate)
Tauranga City Council	Commissioner Anne Tolley Commissioner Stephen Selwood (Alternate)
Western Bay of Plenty District Council	Mayor James Denyer Deputy Mayor John Scrimgeour (Alternate)
Whakatāne District Council	Mayor Victor Luca Deputy Mayor Lesley Immink (alternate)
External Members
New Zealand Transport Agency Alternate member to be nominated by NZTA appointed member	David Speirs Jessica Andrew (Alternate)
External Members (non-voting)
KiwiRail	Angus Hodgson Vacant (Alternate)
External Advisors (non-voting)
Environmental Sustainability Advisor	Glen Crowther
Freight Advisor	Greg Pert
Road Safety Advisor	Inspector Logan Marsh – District Road Police Manager
Port Advisor	Dan Kneebone – Property and Infrastructure Manager
New Zealand Automobile Association	Stacey Spall
Quorum	Five members, consisting of more than half the number of members
Frequency	Quarterly

Purpose

Section 105(1) of the Land Transport Management Act 2003 requires every regional council to establish a Regional Transport Committee for its region.

Role

· Prepare a regional land transport plan, or any significant variation to the plan, for the approval of the Regional Council.

· Approve any non-significant variation to the regional land transport plan.

· Adopt a policy that determines significance in respect of:

§ variations made to regional land transport plans under section 18D of the Land Transport Management Act 2003; and

§ the activities that are included in the regional land transport plan under section 16 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003.

· Monitor implementation of the regional land transport plan.

· Make recommendations in support of land transport activities that are eligible for national funding and align with the regional land transport plan.

· Consolidate individual road controlling, authority (RCA) speed management plans and prepare the regional speed management plan in accordance with the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022.

· Co-ordinate, integrate and adopt regional transport and land-use strategies and plans.

· Provide advocacy on strategic regional and inter-regional transport matters to Central Government and other key stakeholders as appropriate.

· Provide the Regional Council with any advice and assistance the Regional Council may request in relation to its transport responsibilities.

· Approve submissions to Central Government, local authorities and other agencies on Regional Transport Committee matters.

· Monitor and provide advocacy on regional road safety matters.

Committee Procedures

· Membership consists of two representatives of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, the Mayor of each territorial authority in the region and a representative of the New Zealand Transport Agency.

· In the case of an equality of votes, the chair, or any other person presiding the meeting does not have a casting vote (and therefore the act or question is defeated and the status quo is preserved).

· The Regional Transport Committee may appoint external advisors to assist it in the exercise of its specific responsibilities and delegated authority. For the purposes of clarity, external advisors may be given full speaking rights at the discretion of the committee, but are not entitled to vote on committee matters.

· Under the Local Government Act 2002, the Regional Transport Committee is not defined as a joint committee however, the provisions of the Local Government Act 2002 and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 concerning the meetings of committees of regional councils, so far as they are applicable and with the necessary modifications, apply in respect of meetings of the Regional Transport Committee.

Power to Act

To make all decisions necessary to fulfil the role and scope of the committee subject to the limitations imposed.

Power to Recommend

The Regional Transport Committee recommends and reports to the Regional Council.

Recording of Meetings

Please note the Public section of this meeting is being recorded and streamed live on Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s website in accordance with Council's Live Streaming and Recording of Meetings Protocols which can be viewed on Council’s website. The recording will be archived and made publicly available on Council's website within two working days after the meeting on www.boprc.govt.nz for a period of three years (or as otherwise agreed to by Council).

All care is taken to maintain your privacy; however, as a visitor in the public gallery or as a participant at the meeting, your presence may be recorded. By remaining in the public gallery, it is understood your consent is given if your image is inadvertently broadcast.

Opinions expressed or statements made by individual persons during a meeting are not the opinions or statements of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Council accepts no liability for any opinions or statements made during a meeting.

Regional Transport Committee 22 May 2024

Recommendations in reports are not to be construed as Council policy until adopted by Council.

Agenda

1. Apologies

2. Public Forum:

· Mike Williams – Work Road/State Highway 2 intersection.

3. Items not on the Agenda

4. Order of Business

5. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

6. Minutes

Minutes to be Confirmed

6.1 Regional Transport Committee Minutes (Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-34 Deliberations) – 7 May 2024

To be distributed under separate cover.

7. Reports

7.1 NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Quarterly Update 2

Attachment 1 - NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Quarterly Report 2

Decisions Required

7.2 Changes to Regional Speed Management 2

7.3 Endorsement of the 2024 - 2034 Regional Land Transport Plan 2

Attachment 1 - Draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 (to be distributed under separate cover) 2

Information Only

7.4 Sub-Regional Road Safety Educational and Promotion Update 2

7.5 Regional Land Transport Plan - Annual Monitoring 2

Attachment 1 - RLTP 2021-2031 KPIs 2

Attachment 2 - RLTP 2021-2031 Annual Monitoring 2022/2023 Results 2

8. Verbal Update Opportunity for Committee Members and Advisors

9. Consideration of Items not on the Agenda

10. Acknowledgements from the Chair



Report To:	Regional Transport Committee
Meeting Date:	22 May 2024
Report Writer:	Dale Clarke, Senior Transport Planner
Report Authoriser:	Andrew Williams, Team Leader, Transport Planning
Purpose:	Highlight changes to Regional Speed Management Plan development

Changes to Regional Speed Management

Executive Summary

In March 2023, the Regional Transport Committee (RTC) endorsed a vision, objectives, principles, and measures for development of a Regional Speed Management Plan (RSMP). At the time an RSMP was a mandatory requirement for RTCs under the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022.

In December 2023, the coalition government amended the rule, making developing a regional speed management plan optional.

This report provides a status update on speed management planning across the region and summarises implications that the amended rule has on the RTCs development of an RSMP.

Staff recommend that the RTC cease work on the development of an RSMP while awaiting direction from the Minister of Transport.

Recommendations

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1 Receives the report, Changes to Regional Speed Management;

2 Agrees to discontinue the development of a Regional Speed Management Plan;

3 Notes that the future of Regional Speed Management Plans are subject to direction from the Minister of Transport.

1. Background

The “Road to Zero” road safety strategy, developed under the previous Labour government, set a target to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 40%, by 2030. To achieve this, it set out an approach based on the safe system.

To work towards safer speeds, the speed limit setting process was overhauled, culminating in the adoption of the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022 (The Rule), in April 2022. Among many requirements of The Rule, were the following:

· ‘…each regional transport committee must prepare a speed management plan…’

· ‘Each regional council must assist with the preparation of a speed management plan…’

With these new legislative requirements, regional council staff, with the support of the Regional Advisory Group (RAG) developed a vision, objectives, principles, and measures for a Regional Speed Management Plan (RSMP). These were workshopped with and endorsed by the RTC at its March 2023 meeting. This enabled the development of the Bay of Plenty’s RSMP.

Under the Rule, the intended role of Regional Councils and the RTC in the development of RSMPs was to support consistency between Road Controlling Authorities (RCA) (which is the Territorial Local Authorities(TLAs)) across the region, while collating individual RCA Speed Management Plans (SMP) into a single RSMP. Speed limits are ultimately set by each RCA; and RTCs or Regional Councils do not have an operational role in the delivery of speed management.

In December 2023, as a part of the coalition governments 100-day plan, the Minister of Transport wrote to all RCAs and RTCs informing them of the imminent amendment to The Rule. Subsequently, The Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits Amendment 2023 (The Amendment) came into effect on the 11^th of December 2023 which made any mandatory requirements of The Rule, optional.

2. Progress on Speed Management Plans

Table 1 below details the status of each RCA in respect to developing individual SMPs.

RCA	SMP Status (at 13 May 2024)
Tauranga City Council	Released a draft SMP for consultation on the 5^th of April. The scope focusses on schools, marae, city centre and some urban fringe sites. Consultation closed 3^rd of May
Western Bay of Plenty District Council	Adopted an SMP at their Council meeting on the 4^th of April. The scope focusses on schools, community identified areas, marae, and town centres.
Rotorua Lakes Council	On hold
Kawerau District Council	On hold
Whakatāne District Council	Progressing subject to further Council workshop
Ōpōtiki District Council	On hold
New Zealand Transport Agency	State Highway SMP on hold

Table 1: RCA progress on SMPs (current at 13 April 2024)

3. Status of Regional Speed Management Plan

Since the March 2023 RTC meeting, as noted above, of the RCAs/TLAs only Western Bay of Plenty District Council has adopted an SMP, and therefore no further work has progressed on an full RSMP.

The primary purpose of an RSMP is to combine all individual RCA/TLA SMPs into one, and support consistency across RCA boundaries. Given there is no consistency across all RCAs in respect to development of SMPs, the purpose of the RSMP cannot be fulfilled as was envisioned by The Rule, when it was originally adopted under the previous government.

Previously, The Rule required all RCAs to meet the same deadline and take a whole of network approach to their SMPs. However, under The Amendment, there are no longer any deadlines or requirements to develop an SMP, ultimately meaning that development of an RSMP would not add value to the overall process.

4. Considerations

4.1 Risks and Mitigations

4.1.1 A Replacement Setting of Speed Limits Rule

The Minister has advised that a new Setting of Speed Limits Rule will be developed, and there is a risk that once this is released, there may be new requirements of the RTC. Staff will review and provide feedback on the new rule when it is released for consultation.

4.1.2 Unsafe speeds left unaddressed

There is a risk that by not developing an RSMP, unsafe speed limits may remain on the regional road network, however, this risk lies with individual RCAs/TLAs as they are ultimately responsible for setting speed limits, not the RTC.

4.2 Climate Change

The matters addressed in this report are of a procedural nature and there is no need to consider climate change impacts.

4.3 Implications for Māori

Engagement with Māori remains a requirement of developing an SMP, and this remains the responsibility of RCAs who choose to continue with SMP development.

4.4 Community Engagement

INFORM

Whakamōhio

To provide affected communities with balanced and objective information to assist them in understanding the problems, alternatives and/or solutions.

4.5 Alignment with Strategic Framework

Please consider the committee’s relevant strategic framework and how this report aligns to its purpose and what it is seeking to achieve.

Speed management aligns closely with the Safe and Healthy People transport priority set out in the 2021-31 Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP). This encompasses the safety specific target of reducing Death and Serious Injuries (DSI) by 40% by 2030, including reducing DSIs with speed as a contributing factor below 2020 levels on a five-year rolling average. Progress towards this objective will continue under RCA speed management plans and other road safety activities.

4.6 Financial Implications

If the recommendation is adopted by Council, will it result in:

If the answer is ‘no’ to both questions please select the dropdown option 1 and complete appropriately.

If the answer is ‘yes’ to either question please select “Budget Implications” in the building block below and liaise with your Management Accountant in order to complete the Financial Impact table.

The decision sought in this report will not have financial implications.

5. Next Steps

Next Steps: What next? What resources are needed? Further analysis? Timeframes ahead. Any consultation planned. Remind Council of the process ahead. Next update to Council?

Conclusion: Short concluding remarks. Referring back to recommendations. No new content.

Assuming the RTC adopts the recommended resolution to this report, then staff will inform relevant partners – largely via the RAG – that work will cease on the development of an RSMP.

The Minister has signalled that a new rule will be released for consultation in the coming months. When released, any new requirements of the RTC or member councils will be considered, and communicated with the RTC.



Report To:	Regional Transport Committee
Meeting Date:	22 May 2024
Report Writer:	Niki Carling, Senior Transport Planner
Report Authoriser:	Andrew Williams, Team Leader, Transport Planning
Purpose:	This paper presents the final draft RLTP, updated with changes from the Deliberations Meeting, and requests the final draft be endorsed and recommended to Regional Council for adoption.

Endorsement of the 2024 - 2034 Regional Land Transport Plan

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to present the changes to the draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024 - 2034 (draft RLTP 2024) arising from deliberations discussions, and to support the Regional Transport Committee endorsing the draft RLTP 2024 for adoption by Regional Council on 17 June 2024.

Recommendations

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1 Receives the report, Endorsement of the 2024 - 2034 Regional Land Transport Plan;

2 Endorses the changes to the Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 sent under separate cover (Attachment 1);

3 Delegates to the Manager, Transport Planning the authority to make any numerical and minor editorial or presentational amendments to the Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 during finalisation of the document;

4 Recommends consideration of the draft final Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 document to Bay of Plenty Regional Council for adoption.

1. Background

Public consultation on the draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 (draft RLTP 2024) was carried out between 23 February and 24 March 2024. A total of 134 submissions were received. 22 submitters presented to the Regional Transport Committee (RTC) at regional hearings on 10-12 April 2024.

The RTC met on 7 May 2024 to deliberate the submissions received and the recommendations made by Regional Council staff in response to decisions sought by the submitters. The Committee also considered the proposed changes to the draft RLTP 2024 used for consultation, which were made by staff to provide consistency with the State Highways Investment Proposal 2024-34 and the draft Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024, both of which were released after consultation on the draft RLTP 2024 had commenced.

In summary, the Committee endorsed the consistency changes, and recommendations, made by staff in response to submissions. The RTC also:

· Requested a few changes to the wording in the draft RLTP 2024, as discussed in Section 2.5; and

· Delegated to the Manager, Transport Planning, ‘the authority to make further minor alterations or corrections to the draft RLTP during finalisation of the document, including revision of financial tables.’

2. Deliberations Recommendations

The endorsed recommendations have been incorporated into the draft RLTP 2024 - see Attachment 1.

2.1 Challenges

· The challenges and problem statements in the draft RLTP 2024-34 were developed by the RTC and stakeholders in workshops in early 2023.

· The consultation question asked was: “How much do you agree or disagree that these are the transport challenges the region is facing? Please tell us about any challenges you think we have missed.”

· 82% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the transport challenges identified, with 8% of respondents either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

· The RTC was comfortable with all the recommendations relating to the challenges as suggested in the Deliberations paper.

2.2 Objectives

· The objectives in the draft RLTP 2024 were developed by the RTC, based on the Ministry of Transport Outcomes Framework.

· The consultation question asked was: “How much do you agree or disagree with the transport objectives? Please explain.”

· 72% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the transport objectives identified for the region, with 14% of respondents either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

· The RTC was comfortable with the recommendations relating to the objectives and targets as suggested in the Deliberations paper. In addition, staff were asked to progress an objective and headline target that better support an ‘enabling housing’ transport priority.

2.3 Prioritised activities

· The list of prioritised activities in the draft RLTP 2024 is the output of the prioritisation process recommended by the RAG (Technical Regional Advisory Group) and approved by the RTC in August 2023.

· The consultation question asked was: “How much do you agree or disagree with the proposed list of priority projects? Are there any other specific projects/activities not included here that should be prioritised?”

· 56% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with prioritised activities for the region, with 23% of respondents either strongly disagreeing or disagreeing.

· The RTC was comfortable with the recommendations relating to the prioritised activities as suggested in the Deliberations paper. In addition, staff were asked to consolidate the SH29/29A package of works into a single line item at the top of the list of prioritised significant activities, with the full list of activities that make up the package provided at the bottom of the table.

In response to the two changes requested by submitters regarding elevating the positions of:

1. #39 Te Puke to Rangiuru Business Park shared path; and

2. #33 Tauranga Eastern Corridor Growth - Te Tumu Internal Infrastructure,

The RTC did not agree with the submitters’ requests.

2.4 Other submission themes

· A number of other themes/issues were raised by submitters, including rail, improved bus service, inequitable funding, GPS, ferries and climate change.

· The RTC was comfortable with the staff recommendations, including the recommendations relating to the prioritised activities as suggested in the Deliberations paper.

2.5 Other changes requested by RTC

Members of the Committee also requested some specific changes to the wording in the draft RLTP 2024:

1. Add text to support alternative funding for infrastructure;

2. Amend the wording in the ‘Supporting regional growth’ priority in the 10-Year Transport Priorities Table to be further balanced, as it largely spoke to public transport;

3. Remove the dollar values in the infographic in the Executive Summary;

4. List the outcomes and objectives in the same order as those listed in the GPS; and

5. Replace ‘gives effect to the GPS’ with ‘is consistent with the GPS’ throughout to ensure consistency with the Land Transport Management Act (LTMA) 2001.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

There are no significant risks associated with this matter/subject/project/initiative.

3.2 Climate Change

The draft RLTP 2024 provides opportunities for both mitigation of the effects of climate change, through greenhouse gas reduction and adaptation of the transport system to the ongoing effects of climate change, specifically:

· The draft RLTP 2024 Challenges include ‘Vulnerability to both severe weather events and longer-term climate change-related events.’

· Resilience is identified as a Problem Statement – ‘Poor resilience of the transport network is negatively impacting its functionality and efficiency’, which is addressed by the Transport Priority/Strategic Response – ‘Building resilience into the transport system by strengthening essential connections, improving access to alternative routes, and delivering robust maintenance plans.’

· Objective 5 is ‘Resilience issues in the transport system have been proactively identified and actioned so that the region can respond to, adapt, and rapidly recover from unplanned events and hazards.’

· The Prioritised Regionally Significant Activities include several activities identified as ‘Resilience and Security’ projects. Resilience activities are also included in RCAs’ maintenance programmes.

· The Resilience & Security headline target is – ‘Reduce the number of unplanned closures on the region’s state highway network by 20% between 2018 and 2030.’

3.3 Implications for Māori

The draft RLTP 2024-34 sets out the region’s proposed land transport programme and seeks funding for activities included. Therefore, it has a range of potential impacts on Māori and Council partnerships with Māori. Some specific activities proposed in the draft RLTP 2024 have the potential to impact Māori Land and their development aspirations.

The RTC has been well-placed to receive submissions from Māori. Specific engagement has included use of the Komiti Māori e-panui. Submissions from several Māori organisations throughout the rohē have been received.

3.4 Community Engagement

Consultation was carried out in accordance with s83 of the Local Government Act 2002.

3.5 Alignment with Strategic Framework

The LTMA requires every Regional Council to establish an RTC; and sets the functions of the RTC and a mandate for preparing the RLTP. The RLTP supports regional collaboration on transport issues and the provision of a more effective and efficient transport network.

The development of the draft RLTP 2024 directly contributes to the “Connected Communities” Community Outcome in the Council’s draft Long-Term Plan 2024-2034.

3.6 Financial Implications

The development of the draft RLTP 2024 is being undertaken within the current budget for the Transport Planning Activity in the Regional Council’s Long-Term Plan 2021-2031.

4. Next Steps

Adoption under the Land Transport Management Act 2003 is a two-step process:

1. RTC endorses the Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 with the changes made to the document as a result of the deliberations process.

2. The Regional Council will meet to consider the Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 for adoption on 17 June 2024.

A finalised, adopted Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 will be sent to NZTA by 1 August 2024 for its consideration for funding and inclusion in the National Land Transport Programme.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Draft Regional Land Transport Plan 2024-2034 (to be distributed under separate cover) ⇩



Report To:	Regional Transport Committee
Meeting Date:	22 May 2024
Report Authoriser:	Andrew Williams – Acting Manager, Transport Planning

Sub-Regional Road Safety Educational and Promotion Update

Executive Summary

This report provides a strategic high-level update on road safety / sustainable transport education and promotion activities from each of the sub-regions. Report writers:

· Richard Hamer, Community Safety Advisor, Whakatane District Council

· Rachel Doelman, Transport Facilities Lead - Safe & Sustainable Journeys, Rotorua District Council

· Sonia Lynds, Travel Safe Team Leader, Tauranga City Council

Recommendations

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1 Receives the report, Sub-Regional Road Safety Educational and Promotion Update.

1. Introduction

Each sub-regional road safety cluster works with various road safety partners to deliver programmes targeting road safety issues as well as sustainable transport initiatives.

2. Sub-regional Updates

2.1 Eastern Bay

Radio and social media campaigns each month have focused on Jan – Alcohol/Fatigue, Feb – Distractions/ Cycling, March – Speed/Restraints, April- Young Drivers and Motorcycles.

The Aotearoa Bike Challenge was a success both regionally and nationally with an increase in participation by cyclists. Eastern Bay events, such as Go By Bike Day and Wheels Days, were all well attended by young and old alike and received great feedback for promoting cycling. A lunchtime Bike Safety-focused workshop for Regional Council staff.

BikeReady – Cycle Skills training at Grade 1 level has been delivered to over 700 tamariki across nine Eastern Bay Kura.

We have engaged in a contract with Toi EDA to deliver a pilot project with Ōpōtiki’s Riverlock Packhouse and their overseas workers who take on driving responsibility. An initial meeting was held with staff on 12 March where we agreed the pilot will include the development of a package of training resources and driver assessment activities to improve knowledge of New Zealand’s rode rules and driver expectations.

Three Rangatahi Road Safety events were held over three consecutive days to support the knowledge and understanding of safety issues, particularly for our young drivers. The Whakatāne event was held as a community event in the centre of town, whereas the Ōpōtiki and Kawerau events were held in the high schools.

A total of 463 took part over the three days and feedback was extremely positive. The events, which included a total of 10 complementary activities, were only possible due to the high level of support from our community partner organisations.

Nancy Anderson from Toi EDA was contracted by EB Road Safety to assist with the event delivery and undertake a review of the workshops so that we better understand the positive effects that have been achieved through this investment.

The Eastern Bay Road Safety Programme has taken over management of three billboards from Waka Kotahi which are located on Pohutukawa Avenue, Wainui Road and Thornton Road.

We are updating these three sites, alongside two other local sites with the “Stay wider than the rider” message borrowed from Rotorua Lakes Council.

This is a key message aimed at both improving driver and cyclist safety on these busy local roads.

We have connected with Age Concern Tauranga, who are delivering two older drive refresher courses for our senior community. The first was delivered at the Lyceum Club in Whakatāne – 30 April, followed by Ōpōtiki District Library on 1 May. These free-of-charge courses aim to refresh knowledge and understanding of current road rules and practical tips on staying safe while using the roading network.

We held a road code-themed stalls at a number of community based events including Toi Ohomai – Te Pūkenga orientation - week event, 2024 Heart to Heart Expo and Murupara Whānau Health Expo.

The events proved extremely positive engagement experience, whereby we shared information on the graduated driver licensing system while also discussing the dangers of driving when under-licenced.

Our team also held a stall at the 2024 Heart to Heart Expo held at the Whakatāne War Memorial Hall. With a focus question to participants on “What can you and your whānau do to keep yourselves safe on our roads?”, we received some rich feedback from whānau of all ages, which we shared through social media channels.

Our team presented at a National E-Bike Library Symposium in March in Wellington, sharing the benefits to our community that have arisen thus far. The library continues to flourish and aids the promotion of cycling as an active transport mode.

In conjunction with ACC, we have funded three Basic Motorcycle Maintenance Workshops. These free-of-charge workshops aim to improve motorcyclists’ knowledge of keeping their bikes in tip top riding condition, and also encourage them to sign up to Ride Forever Programmes. The last workshop was held at Underwood and Wilkins and specifically for a female audience. Feedback at the events has been awesome with a total of 21 participants.

Rotorua

· Speed Management Plan: Public consultation finished on 18 August, with 1,718 submissions to the Plan submitted. The Infrastructure & Environmental Committee met on 1 November, at which it was decided that:

o Council would take a ‘tailored approach’ as opposed to a ‘blanket approach’ and Council would work with schools to determine whether a variable or fixed speed limit would work best outside their school, and for what distance outside of their school gate (legal minimum requirement 300m from school gate)

o A decision on speed reductions within the CBD be deferred to coincide with CBD refresh

· Speed Reduction: Pit-stop with Police ‘Drive to the conditions’ took place in August ‘Back to School’ radio campaigns have continued, transmitted over 8 stations throughout October.

· Alcohol and Impaired Driving: RSEP programme delivered to 18 participants in August and 25 participants in September, 26 in October and 20 in November. Subsidised printing of ball tickets for Rotorua Lakes High, with a road safety message in September.

· Restraints: Rotorua Car Seat Clinic, continued funding provided for clinics and home visits.

· Young Drivers: 17 young people attended Driver Directions in October..

· School Travel Planning: Crossing education was undertaken at four schools.

· Motorcycles: Funding provided for attendance at 2x bronze courses (August). Motorcycle Awareness Month ‘Look twice for motorcyclists’ back of bus advertising. Ran Rider’s Event at Tui Ridge Park, Hamurana in October where 40 participants took part. 9x bronze, 4x silver, 5x gold – signed up for Ride Forever courses.

· Roads & Roadsides: ‘STOP’ intersection campaign – pit-stop with Police took place in September

· Older drivers: Driving On took place on one day in October, 14 participants

· Bike Ready Cycle Skills: Training continues for children in-school.

· Travel Demand Management: Continuation of marketing campaign to normalise active modes, with messaging “I bike because ..”. RLC ran Ara kē Atu active travel challenge for staff for 3 weeks (finishing 17 November)

2.2 Rotorua

· Back to School radio advertising over various stations to remind people that school will be starting again shortly and to watch for kids

· Aotearoa Bike Challenge

· Rotorua Youth Road Safety Expo took place in March. Reached 788 year 11 students from 6 high schools and 15 parents/caregivers at the adult evening info session

· Fatigue pit-stop in partnership with Rotorua Police – 50 vehicles over a two hour period

· Restraints: Rotorua Car Seat Clinic, continued funding provided for home visits and clinics

· Young Drivers: 40 young people attended Driver Directions over two days in April

· Road Safety Education Programme – Delivered programme to 15 participants in March and 16 in April

· Continued delivery of Eke Haumaru Bike Ready programme in schools, including at Rotorua Specialist School

· Re-design of ‘Either Way is 50kph’ for school bus safety/speed billboards and back of bus for school buses

2.3 Western Bay

· Two Road Safety workshops were held in March one with Primary School teachers and one with secondary school student leaders. NZTA, MOE, Police, Tracksafe all formed part of the agendas.

· 2 Young Drivers Workshops held in April School Holidays. 39 attendees along with some of their parents.

· Helmet Competition media release about the importance of wearing a helmet. Link to online video here promoting helmet use, sharing paths and announcing the helmet comp winners. 2024 Design your own helmet competition winners - YouTube

· Many schools still struggling with unsafe driver behaviour during drop off and pick up times. Travel Safe continues to work with the schools across Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty, linking them with the teams and people that might be able to assist. Often observing the behaviours to provide feedback to others.

· Road Safety week has been promoted with schools

· ‘Time to Cycle’ and ‘We all want to get home safely’ campaigns have run for 3 months until the end of April.

· Be Bright Campaign currently happening on Wednesday evenings in different locations across Tauranga City.

· Travel Safe has been supporting Tracksafe and Spaces and Places with key safety messages near the new skate park about to open.

· Working with local providers to increase the number of car seat installation technicians.

3. Regional Updates

Toi Moana operates a road safety programme focussing on key issues that impact the whole region, while also providing support to select initiatives led by the sub-regional teams. The following outlines initiatives undertaken as well as work in progress:

· Regional road safety coordinator meeting booked for May

· Working with Eastern Bay and Gisborne District on improving safety response to Rhythm and Vines

· Working with Travel Safe and RLC on a school bus safety campaign

· General Road safety radio marketing ongoing



Report To:	Regional Transport Committee
Meeting Date:	22 May 2024
Report Writer:	Dale Clarke, Senior Transport Planner
Report Authoriser:	Andrew Williams, Team Leader, Transport Planning
Purpose:	Outline the results of the Regional Land Transport Plan’s (2021-31) annual monitoring

Regional Land Transport Plan - Annual Monitoring

Executive Summary

The Regional Land Transport Plan (2021-31) includes a requirement to provide annual monitoring of trends, and measures progress towards achieving the objectives of the RLTP. Annual monitoring results will be reflected via the RLTP dashboard, accessed on the Regional Council website, and are consistent with results provided with this report.

Of the 27 Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that are monitored by the RLTP, 10 have been met, 1 has been partially met, 11 have not been met and 5 have insufficient data to present a result. This represents a reduction in performance on the previous year however some areas show improvements particularly under inclusive access, where all but one measure met targets.

Recommendations

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1 Receives the report, Regional Land Transport Plan - Annual Monitoring.

1. Background

The Land Transport Management Act (LTMA) sets the form and content required to be included in a Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP). The LTMA determines that an RLTP must include “the measures that will be used to monitor the performance of the activities”. To meet this requirement, the RLTP provides a set of 27 key performance indicators (KPI) and, of those, five are listed as “headline targets”. A copy of all of the RLTPs KPIs are included at Attachment 1, and are also contained at Appendix 3 of the RLTP.

Monitoring is an important part of measuring progress in implementing a plan and assessing the effectiveness of the policies, KPIs, and activities it contains. Monitoring provides the information necessary to complete the policy cycle, illustrated by Figure 1.

Figure 1: The policy cycle

2. RLTP monitoring results – 2022/23

The RLTP monitoring results are displayed, by way of a dashboard, on the Regional Council’s website here. The dashboard is currently being finalised therefore results have been provided in a tabular format at Attachment 2. The table illustrates the progress against the 27 KPI within the RLTP 2021-31, and it illustrates that of the 27 RLTP KPIs:

§ 10 have been met;

§ 1 has been partially met;

§ 11 have not been met; and

§ 5 have insufficient data to provide a result.

Some of the high-level and key findings that can be taken from these results, include:

§ Overall road safety DSI trends have not moved since the previous year, showing a 5 year average of 203 DSIs. DSIs involving drugs, alcohol and speed continue to increase, despite the overall DSI figures remaining steady.

§ The social cost of all DSIs (KPI 4) showed a significant increase, which was due to the Ministry of Transport updating the cost value of life, which increased from around 5 million to 13 million. The new values were applied to the historic DSIs, which when updated gave an overall decrease in social cost from the 2020 baseline.

§ Air quality results (nitrogen dioxide), measured by KPI 6, across Rotorua and Tauranga have seen good results. Rotorua met its target with a result of 13.78 against a target of <21.76. Tauranga’s measure of 19.01 has met the target of <20.45 and is therefore below the 2020 baseline level.

§ Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) on unsealed roads (KPI 7) increased this year, despite an overall reduction in the total length of unsealed roads. The largest increases were in the Eastern Bay. This may indicate increased activity on these roads, such as traffic from forestry harvesting.

§ Mode share of public transport (PT) and active modes combined as a percentage of mode share, measured by KPI 15, has seen an increase from 8% to 12%. While this is a step towards the 2030 target of 28% (an increase of 20% on 2020), it is not on track linearly to meet it by. A breakdown of this measure is shown in table 1 below:

Modes measured within KPI 15	2022	2023	percentage point increase
Walking Mode Share	6.22%	8.57%	2.35%
Cycling Mode Share	1.39%	2.44%	1.05%
PT Mode Share	0.53%	1.21%	0.68%
Total combined mode share	8.14%	12.22%	4.08%

Table 1: Breakdown of mode share measure

§ Distance cycled (KPI 17) and time spent walking (KPI 18) have increased for the population across the region and may reflect significant investment in active mode infrastructure and promotional behaviour change work over the past few years.

§ Length of cycle paths in the region is still above 2020 levels but has shown a reduction from the previous year. This is largely due to some work by TCC, both in improving their database accuracy, and the conversion of some on road cycle lanes into off road pathways, which leads to a reduction in pathway asset length but not a reduction in point to point coverage.

§ The region’s contribution to national GDP (KPI 22) has dipped slightly below 2020 baseline level of 5.84%.

§ The cost to build local roads and state highways (cost per kilometre) has again increased, as illustrated by KPI 23b and 24b, which have not been met, illustrating a significant increase on the previous year. This is not a surprise considering recent contributing economic factors, notably inflationary pressures.

§ Local road condition (KPI 23a) has shown an improvement, while state highway condition (KPI 24a) continues to worsen, with smooth travel exposure trending down from 94.37% to 93.27% across the 3 years measured.

The one KPI listed as being ‘partially met’ is described in that manner because some KPI (those listed with and ‘a’ and ‘b’ measure) are split across two variables. In this instance, KPI 23 which relates to local road maintenance, measures smooth travel exposure in the ‘a’ measure and cost per lane km of maintenance as the ‘b’ measure. For this year, 23a met the target but 23b did not.

A total of 5 KPI are listed as “N/D” (insufficient data) and the reason is because the Regional Council does not collect much of this data itself – it is instead reliant on external organisations to collect the data, as part of their own monitoring systems. This means that changes to other organisations’ data collection methods impacts on the ability to report on KPIs in the RLTP.

3. Considerations

3.1 Risks and Mitigations

The RLTP 2021-31 includes a requirement to provide annual monitoring and measures progress towards achieving the objectives of the RLTP. Some data can be difficult to obtain to support this, however as noted, staff continue to work to fill these data gaps to provide improved monitoring of the RLTP.

3.2 Climate Change

The RLTP monitoring framework includes KPIs that support the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.

3.3 Implications for Māori

The RLTP 2021 was developed in consultation with Māori.

3.4 Community Engagement

Discussion of KPIs formed part of community engagement during RLTP development, and reporting on the KPIs via the online dashboard supports community interest in delivery of the RLTP.

3.5 Alignment with Strategic Framework

This work aligns most closely with the Council’s Long Term Plan’s ‘A vibrant region’ outcome.

3.6 Financial Implications

There are no material unbudgeted financial implications, and work fits within allocated an allocated budget.

4. Next Steps

The Committee will be provided with updates on monitoring and KPI progress, on an annual basis. Once finalised, the dashboard will be updated on the Regional Councils website to reflect the 2022/23 performance.

Attachments

Attachment 1 - RLTP 2021-2031 KPIs ⇩

Attachment 2 - RLTP 2021-2031 Annual Monitoring 2022/2023 Results ⇩