Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News talks'b.
Speaker 2: Yes, so let's rip into it. Hang on a minute,
Speaker 2: I've just got to turn a page on the notes,
Speaker 2: because there we go. Okay, the government has proposed speed
Speaker 2: limit changes. You might have heard the news a few
Speaker 2: days ago about christ Church and two major stretches of road,
Speaker 2: but more recently in Auckland. The roads impacted would be
Speaker 2: the christ Church Southern Motorway and State Highway one north
Speaker 2: of Auckland, both proposed to move from one hundred k
Speaker 2: an hour to one hundred and ten kilometers an hour.
Speaker 2: To discuss that, Transport Minister Simeon Brown joins me. Now, Simeon,
Speaker 2: good afternoon. Good afternoon, So firstly, with these decisions to
Speaker 2: up the speed limit, do you base these decisions on
Speaker 2: research evidence or just a hunch.
Speaker 3: It's based on the design standard that the road was
Speaker 3: built to. These roads are built to a safe standard
Speaker 3: of being able to drive at one hundred and ten
Speaker 3: kilimeters per hour, and so we are going through the
Speaker 3: process to have those speed limits applied, to have it
Speaker 3: increased one hundred and ten kilimeters per so people can
Speaker 3: travel quickly and safely, reduce their travel times and get
Speaker 3: where they want to go along. There's major pieces of
Speaker 3: infrastructure which have been built to that standard.
Speaker 2: Do you actually have to sort of consult with anyone
Speaker 2: in particular or you just say, look, talk to the
Speaker 2: people who design the roads and say, what was this
Speaker 2: designed for?
Speaker 3: Well, that's a really good question. I mean, under the
Speaker 3: current speed limit rule, there has to be a public consultation,
Speaker 3: and so that is what's happening. The public will be
Speaker 3: consultant on whether they want to have that speed limit
Speaker 3: increased under the new proposed speed limit rule, which we've
Speaker 3: just finished or we're just in the process of completing.
Speaker 3: When it comes to roads that are built to one
Speaker 3: hundred and ten kilimeters per hour, that will allow the
Speaker 3: Director of Land Transport to just simply apply that speed
Speaker 3: limit when the road opens, rather than to have to
Speaker 3: go through this process of consulting, which is what's happening
Speaker 3: at the stage.
Speaker 2: Are there many other roads on your horizon for speed
Speaker 2: limit change.
Speaker 3: Well, all of the roads of national significance which are
Speaker 3: built under the last National government, which were built to
Speaker 3: one hundred and ten kilimeters per hour, where going through
Speaker 3: the process at the stage to have their speed limits
Speaker 3: increased to one hundred and ten kilometers per hour. So
Speaker 3: the Company Expressway is another where they've just finished consultation
Speaker 3: and hopefully a decision on that will be made shortly.
Speaker 3: As you mentioned earlier, the christ Church Southern Motorway and
Speaker 3: then the Pooho were to walk with Motorway, and of
Speaker 3: course a couple of years ago the White Color Expressway
Speaker 3: had its speed limit increased one hundred and ten. So
Speaker 3: the government wants to have every road which is built
Speaker 3: to that standard to be able to operate at that
Speaker 3: standard to help reduce travel times, help people get where
Speaker 3: they want to go quickly and safely.
Speaker 2: Just a quick, quick one. Are these roads still at
Speaker 2: the standard for which they were designed or do we
Speaker 2: then need to do some work on them.
Speaker 3: Some of them need some minor improvements made to them.
Speaker 3: For example, the design standard requires there to be a
Speaker 3: medium barrier in side barriers, and so for some of
Speaker 3: them there's well, they all have median barriers. Some of
Speaker 3: them have small part portions of the road which don't
Speaker 3: have side barriers, so there may need to be some
Speaker 3: minor improvements done on putting those side barriers in place.
Speaker 3: Prior to that change happening. Those would just be some
Speaker 3: small changes. It will happen prior to that spglement being applied.
Speaker 2: Because people are pretty passionate about speed limit changes. What
Speaker 2: are road safety advocates say about this and what sort
Speaker 2: of voice do they get in this discussion.
Speaker 3: Well, ultimately, these roads are built to a safe standard
Speaker 3: of one hundred and ten kilometers per hour. So there's
Speaker 3: a design standard which looks at what are the risks
Speaker 3: at traveling at one hundred and ten kilometers per hour.
Speaker 3: Those risks have been mitigated through the design of the road,
Speaker 3: which includes the width of the lanes, medium barriers, side barriers,
Speaker 3: other design standards in terms of the surface as well. Ultimately,
Speaker 3: if the roads built to that standard, the government's viewers,
Speaker 3: we should be able to operate them at that standard
Speaker 3: to help reduce travel times so people get where they
Speaker 3: want to go quickly and safely.
Speaker 2: How much what's the process from here once they change it?
Speaker 2: You've got to change roads, signage and all that. Is
Speaker 2: there any significant cost assesssaid with that? And what's the
Speaker 2: time sort of scale for these things?
Speaker 3: Well, well, other than just updating the signage, there's some
Speaker 3: side barreas which need to be built. There will take
Speaker 3: a number of or a small portion of time to
Speaker 3: get that done and in the Director of Land Transport
Speaker 3: Edenstay then needs to sign it off. And so the
Speaker 3: time frame under the current process is I said, we're
Speaker 3: changing that process so that these roads can actually have
Speaker 3: that speed limit applied from when they're open, not going
Speaker 3: not a couple of years later, for example for per
Speaker 3: Hoider Walkworth. But under the current process, it will take
Speaker 3: about six months following the consultation for that new speed
Speaker 3: limit to be applied.
Speaker 2: So that that's what the new time will be. Is
Speaker 2: that what you just said, No.
Speaker 3: That's what that's what it will be under the current
Speaker 3: speed limit rule. Okay, what we wanted, what the government
Speaker 3: wants to do is where a road is built to
Speaker 3: one hundred and ten kilimeters per hour, such as the
Speaker 3: per Hoider Walkworth Motorway, we want it to be able
Speaker 3: to open at one hundred and ten kilometers per hour.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of people traveling on that road right
Speaker 3: now wondering why it's not operating at one hundred and ten. Well,
Speaker 3: because there's a very convoluted rule in place. We have
Speaker 3: to go through a public consultation, the Director has to
Speaker 3: sign it off Ultimately it's built to that standard, it
Speaker 3: should be to operate from that standard from the day
Speaker 3: it opens.
Speaker 2: How long is that going to take to change that process?
Speaker 3: Well, we've just finished finished public consultation on that rule change.
Speaker 3: That's the rule which also includes reversing all of the
Speaker 3: blanket speed limit changes the last government put in place.
Speaker 3: We're hoping to finalize that by the end of this
Speaker 3: month and then get that in place so that is
Speaker 3: well underway.
Speaker 2: What happens Where are we at with the suburban street changes.
Speaker 2: Of course, we know in Auckland we've been that sort
Speaker 2: of blanket speed limit reductions down to thirty When are
Speaker 2: those going to pop back up?
Speaker 3: So that's all part of the rule change that we
Speaker 3: are hoping to finalize the end of this month, by
Speaker 3: the end of September. That includes reversing all the thirties
Speaker 3: back to fifties, all of the arterial roads back to sixty,
Speaker 3: and also some of those state highways which had their
Speaker 3: speed limit dropped to eighty, such as the State Highway
Speaker 3: two between Caton and Featherstone, and reversing that back to
Speaker 3: one hundred. So that rule will be will be put
Speaker 3: in place by the end of this month, and then
Speaker 3: it will take a number of months for those signs
Speaker 3: to be then updated and those speed limits be reverted.
Speaker 2: Do you have to when you do pop these speed
Speaker 2: limits back up from thirty to fifty? Do you have
Speaker 2: to a company that with any sort of safety campaign
Speaker 2: as well? For those who might have just got this
Speaker 2: false sense of security.
Speaker 3: Well, ultimately, if you travel down a lot of these
Speaker 3: roads which have gone from fifty to thirty, you know,
Speaker 3: for example Weymouth Road and Manjudewa, it's very hard to
Speaker 3: see anyone they're actually traveling at thirty kilometers per hour.
Speaker 3: A lot of these speed limits are reduced by a
Speaker 3: blanket changes, and actually people aren't following those rules, and
Speaker 3: so what we're actually the message we're sending is actually
Speaker 3: the wrong one at the moment. So by reversing it
Speaker 3: back to a reasonable speed limit, we'll be making sure
Speaker 3: that we can then focus on compliance. This government is
Speaker 3: investing significantly into road safety, particularly focusing those high risk
Speaker 3: behaviors such as drugged driving and drug driving, where over
Speaker 3: fifty percent of fatalities are caused by people drug or drunk,
Speaker 3: and so you really need to focus on the significant
Speaker 3: causes of destin serious injuries on our roads rather than
Speaker 3: just simply slowing down law abiding citizens.
Speaker 2: Have you got any particular fines in your sights for
Speaker 2: different offenses? Were noticed that the fines have gone up
Speaker 2: for parking disabled spots one hundred and fifty to seven
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty dollars. Are there particular punishment punishments? I
Speaker 2: can't think of the right word for it. Sanctions that
Speaker 2: you're looking at revising.
Speaker 3: Well, we have in the government policy Statment on Transport
Speaker 3: said that we as a government will be reviewing fines
Speaker 3: and penalties for things like drug drive and drunk driving,
Speaker 3: including using your cell phone and speeding offenses. We are
Speaker 3: out of line with most countries, particularly with Australia when
Speaker 3: it comes to those offenses. Our government wants to focus
Speaker 3: on enforcement to be those high risk behaviors. But it's
Speaker 3: something we will be reviewing at some point over the
Speaker 3: next twelve months and then looking at what those should be. Ultimately,
Speaker 3: any decision we need to go through go through cabinet.
Speaker 2: Just quickly. It's New Zealand first Private Members Bill to
Speaker 2: get rid of Eukland Transport. Maybe a slightly more nuanced question,
Speaker 2: have you got some sympathy with that idea and are
Speaker 2: there any plans for reform of that organization.
Speaker 3: Well, we share the view that there needs to be
Speaker 3: reform of Auckland Transport. Fundamentally, the organization hasn't been reflecting
Speaker 3: what Aucklanders want, what Aucklanders need. They've been too focused
Speaker 3: on Actually, I think increasing congestion in Auckland with things
Speaker 3: like speed bumps in lane bus stops slowing people down,
Speaker 3: and that's frustrating Aucklander is so change must happen. I'm
Speaker 3: working with the Mayor, Wayne Brown on what that change
Speaker 3: will be. What we're looking at, what roles and responsibilities
Speaker 3: should be in different parts of whether it's Auckland Transport
Speaker 3: setting the Regional Land Transport Plan, in a range of
Speaker 3: other things. Because ultimately we want to have more democratic
Speaker 3: accountability for transport decisions and Auckland. That's the outcome we
Speaker 3: want now and that's the that's the outcome we're going
Speaker 3: to be doing something.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess just to dig into that, just one
Speaker 2: more question, perhaps because Wayne Brown's tweet is his support
Speaker 2: of that bill, I understand, is there any chance you
Speaker 2: guys might actually pick up that New Zealand First bill
Speaker 2: and run with it or you will you come up
Speaker 2: with someone yourself, your own sort of thing and consultation and.
Speaker 3: Well, ultimately any decisions we make as the government will
Speaker 3: go through go through the Cabinet, which include New Zealand
Speaker 3: First and Act, and it will look at all of
Speaker 3: the elements which are included in terms of you know,
Speaker 3: what roles and responsibilities should Auckland Transport have. How do
Speaker 3: we have more democratic accountability of decision making. But it's
Speaker 3: not just about shifting responsibilities from one part of Auckland
Speaker 3: Council to another part. It's actually making sure that we
Speaker 3: have more democratic accountability so that the decisions being made
Speaker 3: around Transport and Auckland are actually aligned with what Auckland
Speaker 3: does think. That's the focus that I've got and it's
Speaker 3: working very closely with the Mere to make sure that
Speaker 3: is what we achieve.
Speaker 2: Excellent. Just on international matters, did you manage to watch
Speaker 2: the rugby at all?
Speaker 3: Or unfortunately not?
Speaker 2: Oh no, well okay we at least you know the result. Okay,
Speaker 2: I appreciate your time, same in Thanks very much, thank you,
Speaker 2: Bye bye. That's Simeon Brown, Minister of Transport.
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