13.1 - Simplified procedures

Freight transport services

The simplified procedure may be used for evaluation of for all freight transport proposals. However, for proposals with a present value of the funding gap greater than $1 million, and for proposals where the procedures do not accurately represent the costs and benefits, the analyst should provide additional or more appropriate information. If in doubt, the analyst should contact Land Transport NZ before proceeding.

The procedures assume that the primary benefits are road maintenance and improvement cost savings to local and central government. Accident reduction benefits are also taken into account, but transport services user and other road user benefits are excluded as being negligible or zero.

The calculation of the do minimum adopts the simplified procedure for road infrastructure projects from volume 1. The net road maintenance cost savings is calculated by estimating the total annual amount of freight traffic, measured in terms of equivalent design axles (EDA), removed from the network.

For projects with a funding gap up to $1 million, only the worksheets for the chosen option need be submitted. For projects with a funding gap over $1 million, worksheets for all options should be provided.

New passenger transport services

The simplified procedure may be used for evaluation of all new passenger transport services. However, for proposals with a present value of the funding gap greater than $1 million, and for proposals where the procedures do not accurately represent the costs and benefits, the analyst should provide additional or more appropriate information. If in doubt, the analyst should contact Land Transport NZ before proceeding.

The procedure assumes that new services will be implemented during the peak period, that the majority of traffic removed will be light vehicles and that there are negligible road maintenance cost savings. Road user benefits are calculated incrementally, as a change from the do minimum. Thus, only a description of the do minimum is required for the evaluation.

The procedure simplifies the calculation of transport services user benefits and road user benefits (including travel time, vehicle operating cost, and accident cost savings and environmental benefits) by utilising the benefits and values per passenger boarding devised for Land Transport NZs patronage funding rate scheme.

The road user benefit values are based on the assumption that the road corridor in question has at least one point (bottleneck or ruling intersection) that operates at least 80 percent capacity during the peak period. If this is not the case, then the marginal changes in travel time will be negligible and road user benefits should not be included.

For projects with a funding gap of less than $1 million, only the worksheets for the chosen option need be submitted. For projects over $1 million, worksheets for all options should be provided.

Existing transport services

The simplified procedure may be used for evaluation of all existing passenger transport services. However, for proposals with a present value of the funding gap greater than $1 million, and for proposals where the procedures do not accurately represent the costs and benefits, the analyst should provide additional or more appropriate information. If in doubt, the analyst should contact Land Transport NZ before proceeding.

The simplified procedure for improving existing passenger transport services assumes that the improvements to services will be implemented in the peakperiod and that the majority of traffic removed from the road network will be light vehicles. Hence, road maintenance cost saving is excluded from the analysis. All benefits and costs are calculated incrementally as a change from the do minimum. Therefore, only a description of the do minimum is required for the evaluation.

This procedure simplifies the calculation of transport services user benefits and road user benefits (including travel time, vehicle operating cost, and accident cost savings and environmental benefits) by utilising the benefits and values per passenger boarding devised from Land Transport NZs patronage funding scheme. Thus, there are values for road users, and additional transport service users for the main urban centres of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, while other centres will have different values.

The benefit values assume that each trip on the improved service is an average length for the urban centre. Thus, for trips shorter than the average, the benefit may be overestimated. Likewise, for trips longer than the average, the benefit may be underestimated, and the analyst should consider whether this is likely to be significant.

The peak benefit values are based on the assumption that the road corridor in question has at least one point (bottleneck or ruling intersection) that operates at least 80 percent capacity during the peak period. If this is not the case, then the off peak benefits should be used.

The additional transport service user benefits are based on the benefits that accrue to both existing and new users as a result of service improvements.

For projects with a funding gap of less than $1 million, only the worksheets for the chosen option need be submitted. For projects over $1 million, worksheets for all options should be provided.

Walking and cycling projects

The simplified procedure for walking and cycling projects may be used where the undiscounted cost of the project is up to $500,000. Projects with a capital cost greater than $500,000 need to be evaluated in greater detail on a case-by-case basis. The procedure is not applicable to signalised crossings over roads.

Travel behaviour change (TBhC) projects

The simplified procedure for travel behaviour change projects may be used for all cost/size TBhC projects. Where a package is proposed combining TBhC components/projects and non-TBhC components/projects, such as walking, cycling, or road-related infrastructure or passenger transport service improvements, and the cost of the non-TBhC components is greater than $150,000, a composite evaluation is required. The Land Transport New Zealand/EECA Travel behaviour change guidance handbook (2004) provides guidelines on composite evaluation of such packages. There is also the option, should the analyst wish, of undertaking a composite evaluation for a package involving TBhC projects where the cost of non-TBhC components is less than $150,000.