Assisting safety and personal security

Related outcomes

NOT RELATED: Assisting ecomomic developmentRELATED: Assisting ecomomic developmentNOT RELATED: Assisting safety and personal securityRELATED: Assisting safety and personal securityNOT RELATED: Improving access and mobilityRELATED: Improving access and mobilityNOT RELATED: Protecting and promoting public healthRELATED: Protecting and promoting public healthNOT RELATED: Ensuring environmental sustainabilityRELATED: Ensuring environmental sustainability

The government's high level outcomes for land transport were first stated in the New Zealand Transport Strategy (NZTS, 2002) as five objectives. They are:

  1. assist economic development
  2. assist safety and personal security
  3. improve access and mobility
  4. protect and promote public health
  5. ensure environmental sustainability.

The NZTS makes it clear that "economic development, social cohesion and environmental improvements must be progressed in parallel" (NZTS, p4). It provides guidance by stating that "safety and personal security concerns associated with transport will be addressed in order to improve quality of life and to promote modes such as walking, cycling and public transport" (NZTS, p18).

Since the publication of the NZTS, the Ministry of Transport, NZTA and other organisations have provided their interpretation of the objectives and begun contributing to the process of achieving them.

Interpreting the objective

Since the publication of the NZTS, the Ministry of Transport, the NZTA and other organisations have provided their interpretation of the objectives and begun contributing to the process of achieving them.

Of particular importance to "assisting safety and personal security" are the following:

  1. 'Community Outcomes' are defined under the Local Government Act 2002. The Act requires a consultative process to ensure that the desired outcomes, including safety and personal security outcomes, belong to the local community rather than the council. 
  2. The principles and objectives for land transport are detailed in the NZ Transport Strategy (NZTS, 2002) and reiterated in the Land Transport Management Act (LTMA, 2003).
  3. Transport sector strategic directions (TSSD) were defined by the Ministry of Transport in the TSSD document (2005). The TSSD developed a set of directional statements to enable measurements of New Zealand's progress in moving towards an affordable, safe, responsive and sustainable transport system.
  4. The Government Policy Statement (GPS) expresses Government's priorities for land transport in New Zealand. The first GPS was produced in 2008; an update is currently being prepared. 
  5. The NZTA's approach to achieving the GPS is stated annually in its Statement of Intent (SOI). In its SOI 2007-2010, the NZTA "identified a number of trends that need to be addressed for the sector to progress towards land transport sustainability and safer transport on land". The trend statements of particular relevance to "assisting safety and personal security" are
    • development of towns and cities, design of networks, and operating rules provide a safe and convenient environment for walking, cycling and other personal travel options
    • people drive in a way that uses less energy and is safe in the conditions
    • fatal and serious injury crashes reduce
    • the commercial and private vehicle fleets become more energy efficient, safer and have improved environmental performance
    • commercial transport operators adopt management practices that promote safety, use less energy and reduce emissions, noise and vibration.

Achieving the objective

"For road transport, the government has set a road safety goal for 2010. Achieving this road safety goal will represent a 35% reduction in the 2001 road toll and provide New Zealand with a road safety outcome that is among the best in the world" (NZTS 2002, p19 paragraph 2).

Monitoring the outcome

NZTA and the Ministry of Transport have been assembling data and publishing it, to help track progress in dealing with the issues and to help decision makers with evidence-based planning wherever possible.  Publications include: