James Smith: National Road Carriers Policy manager comments on $1.2billion road infrastructure investment

Consistency is key to the success of crucial roads, which are next on the Government's construction hit list. 

It's funnelling nearly 1.2 billion into 17 highway projects countrywide,  as part of the Roads of National Significance programme. 

National Road Carriers Policy manager James Smith told Ryan Bridge newly built roads of significance such as the Kapiti Expressway have seen significant benefits. 

He says not only do they lead to slightly faster travel times, but the route is now more reliable and dependable. 

Smith says in his industry, drivers need to know what time they will arrive.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Government set aside a combined total of one point two billion.
This is to get key projects moving in the roads
of National Significance. Program includes half a billion to buy
up houses. Tolls will be the default. James Smith is
with the National Road Carries with me this morning.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
James, good morning, Good morning, Ryan.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Does the toll I mean, how do you feel about
the tolls? Does that cancel out the efficiency or the
benefit from the fast and newer roads or is there
a net gain?

Speaker 2 (00:25):
There's normally a net gain, Ryan, So normally you get
the increased productivity cancels out the cost of the toll.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
What do you expect with the roads that we have done,
Like I'm thinking North of Auckland, I'm thinking Kapity Expressway.
What have you seen? How significant has the midshift been?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
It has been significant. So what we've seen is not
only slightly faster times, but it's more the consistency, so
the fact that the route is now a lot more dependable.
It's a lot more reliable. So what you need in
our sector is consistency. So you need to know that
if you leave it X, you're going to arrive at

(01:06):
Y and you're going to do that on a consistent basis.
So we're seeing that with all of these projects that
brought much needed resilience, safety, and productivity to the network.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Does that make stuff cheaper for us because you're carrying
our goods, aren't you?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, we are, and it slows down the rate of
rate of increase, so everything else is still going up.
So sorry, but yes, you still expect rates to rise,
but it helps soften that blow.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Do we need do you need some sort of reassurance infrastructure?
New Zealand came out as they saying we want to
see more bipartisan buy in on this kind of stuff,
especially if it's rons.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Do you agree, Oh, absolutely, and we've actually seen that already,
so Labor Transport spokesman and have actually already said that
if the pros are actually up and honking, if there's
a change of government, they will honor the projects. So
that's why it's absolutely mission critical. These projects, some of

(02:11):
them we'd be wanning for since the nineteen fifties for
them to say can actually get shovels on the ground
and get moving.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Appreciate your time this morning. James Smith's National Road Carriers
with us for more from early edition with Ryan Bridge
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