Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31

Environment Canterbury’s Council has formally adopted the Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31 (PDF file, 2.26MB), which places new emphasis on resilience to extreme events and emissions reduction.

The Plan guides land transport planning and investment in the region and informs the Government’s development of the National Land Transport Plan and transport funding allocations.

The Plan was developed by the Regional Transport Committee, a collaborative forum of councils and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Approval and adoption

The Plan envisages a $5.5 billion investment in the region’s land transport network over the next decade. It prioritises investment to maintain existing infrastructure and services, followed by capital improvements that will:

• create a safer network
• manage demand from growth in population, freight and tourism
• shift transport modes to reduce emissions from the transport network
• increase resilience to extreme events.

You can find out more about the Plan here.

The Regional Transport Committee approved the Plan on 27 May View Committee agenda

The Canterbury Regional Council, Environment Canterbury, adopted the plan on 17 June View Council agenda

Submissions received

Eighty-one submissions were received on the draft Regional Land Transport Plan. The Regional Transport Committee considered submissions on 17 May; the agenda lists and summarises each submission. You can download this in PDF format from the 'Final plan and its development' box. The submissions can also be read and downloaded in full. To find individual submissions or topics within these PDFs, please use the search function (control + f) on your desktop keyboard.

Key points from the submissions' analysis:

• Overall, the submissions received on the draft Plan were generally supportive.
• There was a high level of support (over 90%) for the strategic objectives, key targets and investment priorities. There was a slightly lower level of support for the non-prioritised state highway improvements (73% supportive) and the measures of success (50% supportive).
• There was broad support for increasing the use of rail. There was also strong support for reducing private and heavy vehicle use, improving public and active transport, a safer road network, electrification of the transport network and urban form that facilitates mode shift.
• Some submitters sought greater enforcement, improved driver competency, improved network resilience and less investment in physical infrastructure.

Further analysis and recommended changes to the draft Plan can be found in the agenda for deliberations.

Please note that while the Plan lists and prioritises transport projects, the Regional Transport Committee and consultation process could not change the projects being advanced by Road Controlling Authorities. Any submissions about individual projects will be forwarded to the relevant organisation. The Regional Land Transport Plan is more concerned about articulating the region's transport needs and the criteria for assessing which projects will serve Cantabrians best.