Agenda of Regional Transport Committee

Meeting of the Regional Transport Committee

Date: Friday 12 March 2021

Time: 11.00am

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hawke's Bay Regional Council

159 Dalton Street

NAPIER

Agenda

Item Subject Page

1. Welcome/Karakia/Notices/Apologies

2. Conflict of Interest Declarations

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the Regional Transport Committee meeting held on 11 December 2020

4. Follow-ups from Previous Regional Transport Committee Meetings 3

5. Call for Minor Items Not on the Agenda 7

Decision Items

6. Regional Land Transport Plan Submissions 9

7. Transport Manager’s March 2021 Report 11

Information or Performance Monitoring

8. NZTA Central Region - Regional Relationships Director's March 2021 Report 19

9. March 2021 Public Transport Update 39

10. Verbal Updates by Advisory Representatives

11. Discussion of Minor Matters Not on the Agenda 43

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Regional Transport Committee

Friday 12 March 2021

Subject: Regional Land Transport Plan Submissions

Reason for Report

1. This report introduces the Hearing of submitters on the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan and invites the committee to hear the submitters who wish to be heard in respect of their submissions.

Officers’ Recommendations

2. The Regional Transport Committee (RTC) will hear the submissions of those parties wishing to be heard in respect of their submission on the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan.

Executive Summary

3. The Draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) was released for public consultation and feedback on 1 February for a period of four (4) weeks ending 28 February.

4. 64 Written submissions were received and are attached.

5. 30 Submitters wish to be heard. Seven of these submitters will be heard today with the remainder being heard on 26 March 2021 commencing 10am. The venue for this second Hearing day is yet to be confirmed.

6. All the written and verbal submissions will be assessed by the Regional Transport Committee Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and a report prepared for the RTC 14 May meeting. The RTC will then make decisions on submissions at the May meeting.

Hearing agenda

7. The following table provides the order of Hearing for submitters today (12 March). The schedule of submitters is still to be confirmed for the Hearing on 26 March and will be circulated prior to the meeting once complete.

Time	Submitter Number	Submitter
11:15	6	Dick Hilton
11:30	45	Duncan Darroch
11:45	26	Murray Deakin
12:00	7	Guy Wellwood
12.30	40	Allan Newton
12.45	53	Sonya Smith
1:00		LUNCH
1:30	61	Nicola Henderson

Options Assessment

8. The Land Transport Management Act requires the Committee to consult with the public and those affected by or have an interest in the Regional Land Transport Plan.

9. The committee is obliged to provide these people or organisations with a reasonable opportunity to present those views, including through Hearings such as this.

Strategic Fit

10. The preparation of the RLTP and the consultation on it are consistent with the strategic plan values for partnership and collaboration to deliver on the strategic goals and outcomes for sustainable and climate resilient services and infrastructure.

Financial and Resource Implications

11. The preparation of the RLTP including hearing of submissions and decision making by the Committee are included in existing plan preparation budgets.

Decision Making Process

12. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendations

That the Regional Transport Committee:

1. Receives the “Regional Land Transport Plan Submissions” staff report.

2. Receives and considers the written and verbal submissions made by submitters on the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan on 12 March and on 26 March 2021.

Authored by:

Mary-Anne Baker

Acting Transport Manager

Approved by:

Katrina Brunton

Group Manager Policy & Regulation

Attachment/s

1	RLTP Index of Submitters		Under Separate Cover
2	RLTP 2021 Submissions Received		Under Separate Cover

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Regional Transport Committee

Friday 12 March 2021

Subject: Transport Manager’s March 2021 Report

Reason for Report

1. This regular report provides the Committee with a snapshot of relevant transport matters, provides updates from the Transport Advisory Group (TAG) on issues raised at their regular meetings and outlines what is coming up within the Transport sector.

Officers’ Recommendations

2. Council officers recommend that the Committee considers the information provided and agrees the Road Safe Programme for 2021-2024 provided (attached) as the programme to be funded under the Regional Land Transport Plan.

Significant activities

Regional Land Transport Plan

3 The draft RLTP was released for public consultation on 1 February.

4. A regional marketing and communication programme accompanied the release of the draft and included both regional and local messaging in association with each of the councils.

5. 65 submissions have been received and 30 submitters wished to be heard by the committee. Some of the submitters will be heard as part of this meeting with the remainder being heard on the Friday, 26 March. The RTC will make decisions in respect of all the submissions at their 14 May meeting. The submissions have been collated and attached to this report.

Regional Cycling Governance Group

6. The Regional Cycling Governance Group responded to the invitation of the RTC to be an advisory member of the Regional Transport Committee. Graham Taylor (the chair of the Regional Cycling Governance Group) is attending the RTC meetings as its representative.

RTC- Technical Advisory Group

7. The TAG has met on several occasions to develop the consultation programme for the RLTP and also provide input into the RTC workshop on governance options for the road safety programme.

8. The TAG also amended its terms of reference to ensure it continues to support the regional delivery of all the transport network activities covered by the RLTP.

Road Safe Programme

9. A workshop was held with RTC members to discuss governance direction for the Regional Road Safety programme development and governance oversight prior to this meeting.

10. At the December meeting the RTC-TAG was also asked by the Committee to look at the proposed Road Safe Action Programme 2021-2024. The draft programme was circulated for feedback and in the interim feedback from Waka Kotahi was also received.

11. WK advised that GPS and Road to Zero have increased the level of accountability required to access investment. They are looking more closely at the strategic fit and benefits of the programme based on the evidential information, including baseline data against which to measure effectiveness.

12. This feedback has been used to refine the Road Safe programme and the revised draft is Attached to this report. We are seeking the Committee’s approval of this programme as part of the Regional Land Transport Plan.

13. We note also that there is on-going work by WK on the development of improved measures of success and monitoring indicators with a national workshop later in March on this. We will report any further progress to the committee at the May meeting.

Roadsafe Programme Update

14. There is no separate Road Safe programme report to this meeting but the key activities planned for the next three months are:

14.1. Media article on summer driving

14.2. Nuhaka School bus fleet safety messages installation

14.3. Ongoing joint projects, spotting campaigns and check points with traffic team staff and Police Impairment prevention team

14.4. Final installations of billboards carried out

14.5. Fatigue Stop /summer driving Raupunga

14.6. Driver licence support project under development

14.7. Ongoing joint projects, spotting campaigns and check points with traffic team staff and Police Impairment prevention team

14.8. 70 Tamariki in the car packs & Booster seats supplied for Children’s day

14.9. Snug fit/ Topline Road safety staff project on hold due to staffing

14.10. Preparation of road safe resources for checkpoints and Expo

14.11. Media article for billboards to be completed

14.12. Meeting with Wairoa College support project with drivers licencing

14.13. Investigation/Development of Rangatahi education project with Police Youth aid officers

14.14. Progression of billboard project for CHB

14.15. Meeting with WDC around road safety action group

15. In Hawke's Bay in 2020 there were 19 crashes and 22 deaths. So far this year (to 3 March 2021) three people have died in separate crashes.

Driver Licensing Programme

16. The Driver Licensing Programme (DLP) is underway with three service providers providing driver license training across the region. A further contract for training additional driving instructors has also commenced and two instructors focussed on providing driver training to Pacifica communities have already achieved the necessary certification.

17. The DLP Governance Group met to discuss the delivery of the programme including in relation to meeting the aims of the local share funding organisations (including TToH and NGII for this year’s programme). A robust reporting regime is being established with the service providers.

18. The delivery of the current programme was discussed as well as the future delivery of the programme. The Road Safe Action Programme proposed as part of the RLTP funding bids to the NZTA includes a proposal to continue the delivery of the DLP as part of the next 3 years programme.

Climate Change Considerations

19. The Climate Change Commission is consulting with the public from 1 February – 14 March 2021 on a draft of their first package of advice to Government on the actions it must take to reach net-zero by 2050, and ensure a transition to a low-emissions, climate resilient and thriving Aotearoa. The report and supporting evidence is available here.

20. It has released the draft advice on the first three emissions budgets and on policy direction for the Government’s first emissions reduction plan. Together, these lay out the course for reducing emissions in Aotearoa and set the direction of policy that Aotearoa takes to get there. The Commission was also asked by the Minister for Climate Change to provide advice on the eventual reductions needed in biogenic methane emissions, and on the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution.

21. The report identifies transport as a major and growing contributor to our total greenhouse gas emissions and describes a number of strategies to reduce emissions including:

21.1. Reducing travel

21.2. Mode shift to active and public transport

21.3. Vehicle improvements

21.4. Electrification of the (light) vehicle fleet

21.5. Electrification of buses and trucks

21.6. Biofuels for trucks and buses

21.7. Hydrogen for trucks and buses

21.8. Aviation – a range of strategies to reduce emissions

21.9. Shipping - strategies to reduce emissions and shifting freight from roads to shipping

21.10. Rail - strategies to reduce emissions and shifting freight from roads to rail

21.11. Low carbon fuels for off-road transport/heavy machinery

21.12. Better urban form will also impact on transport emissions.

22. The national picture for the growth in transport emissions, especially in relation to the use of private vehicles, is reflected in Hawke's Bay. The Regional Land Transport Plan also incorporates some of the options identified for reducing emissions to make the network more sustainable. This includes trialling new public transport models, supporting improvements and extensions to cycling and walking infrastructure, and a range of policies for integration of urban planning with sustainable transport options and advocacy for rail and shipping for freight transport.

23. Most of the initiatives for reducing transport emissions will also need to be supported by new national policy and funding including attention to timeframes.

24. Note that the LGNZ will be making a submission on behalf of councils. The Regional Council Transport Special Interest Group is contributing to that submission.

Considerations of Tangata Whenua

25. The draft Regional Land Transport Plan includes objectives, policies and proposed activities aimed at reducing emissions from transport and providing more transport choices for communities. In this respect it is consistent with the strategies outlined in the Climate Change Commission report.

26. In respect of road safety issues and driver licensing, some communities are at higher risk than others. This particularly includes Wairoa, which features in adverse death and serious injury statistics as well as in relation to driver licensing issues. These are being addressed in the proposed Road Safe Programme.

Decision Making Process

27. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.

Recommendations

That Regional Transport Committee

1. Receives and considers the “HBRC Transport Manager’s March 2021 Report” staff report.

2. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted Significance and Engagement Policy, and that Council can exercise its discretion and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community or persons likely to have an interest in the decision.

3. Adopts the Road Safe Programme as proposed following, as activities to be funded under the Regional Land Transport Plan.

Authored by:

Mary-Anne Baker

Acting Transport Manager

Approved by:

Katrina Brunton

Group Manager Policy & Regulation

Attachment/s

1 ⇩

RoadSafe Plan activity list NLTP 2021-24

HAWKE’S BAY REGIONAL COUNCIL

Regional Transport Committee

Friday 12 March 2021

Subject: March 2021 Public Transport Update

Reason for Report

1. This item provides the Committee with an update on HBRC’s public transport operations.

Background

2. The responsibility for contracting public transport services is assigned to regional councils under the Land Transport Management Act 2003. Under Section 35, the council must consider the needs of the “transport disadvantaged” when preparing its Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP), which sets out the services that the council will provide.

3. “Transport disadvantaged” means people who the regional council has reasonable grounds to believe are the least able to travel to basic community activities and services (for example work, education, healthcare, welfare and shopping). As part of the responsibility to the transport disadvantaged, councils also provide Total Mobility services where suitable transport operators exist to deliver the service.

Ticketing System

4. The bus ticketing and ‘Bee’ smartcard system introduced in August 2020, which is being used by nine regional councils across NZ, is working reasonably well and proving to be very popular with goBay passengers and bus drivers. However, the new system is creating considerably more work for staff.

5. Passengers are now able to top up their Bee cards on-line or with cash/EFTPOS at the regional council, this is speeding up loading times considerably. Bee cards can also be topped up on board the bus with cash.

6. The new simplified fare system and low fares are proving to be very popular.

7. There were 1313 (3.8%) more passenger trips in December 2020 than in December 2019, which can only be attributed to the new low fares. With patronage (locally and nationally) still not recovering to pre-COVID levels, this is a good result for Hawke’s Bay.

8. The amount of cash fares being presented has also reduced greatly, which is good news for the health and safety of bus drivers. Some regions have moved to eliminate cash fares, however, at this time we are not considering this in Hawke’s Bay as we believe it would cause unnecessary hardship and inconvenience for some of our passengers.

COVID-19

9. At level one there are no restrictions on public transport in Hawke’s Bay, although face coverings are ‘recommended’ but, not mandatory. During the recent changes to level two, the wearing of face coverings was mandatory. Drivers reported that most passengers were wearing masks, those that weren’t were offered masks (provided by Waka Kotahi).

10. Some complaints were received about passengers not wearing masks, however, drivers are not responsible for policing this. Bus drivers are not expected to engage directly with passengers who refuse to wear a mask although they do make it clear to passengers that mask wearing is mandatory.

11. All buses have COVID tracer app QR posters displayed at the door and on board the bus in several places. Our on-line trip register is also available for passengers who don’t have smartphones.

Public Transport Service Trips

12. Diagram 1 (attached) shows public transport trips made from July to January 2012-21.

(It should be noted that there were no trip statistics for July and August 2020 as the crossover in ticketing systems saw the buses operating without ticketing equipment).

Public Transport Service Costs

13. Diagram 2 (attached) shows the year to date net cost (after fares and excluding GST) of operating the goBay bus service from July to January 2012-21.

14. Recent cost increases are largely due to inflationary pressure (as our bus contract is adjusted by an NZTA index reflecting fuel, labour and infrastructure prices) lower fare revenue due to a new low fare schedule, and the cost of paid breaks added to the driver hours as required by the Employment Relations Amendment Act.

Total Mobility Scheme

15. The Total Mobility Scheme provides subsidised taxi travel for Hawke’s Bay residents who are unable to use public transport due to a significant, permanent impairment. People assessed for and registered to the scheme receive taxi vouchers entitling them to a 50% fare discount (some restrictions apply). The scheme is administered by the regional council and funded by both the Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Total Mobility Scheme Trips

16. Diagram 3 (attached) shows the number of Total Mobility trips made from July to January 2012-21.

Total Mobility Scheme Trips

17. Diagram 4 (attached) shows the cost of the Total Mobility Scheme (excluding GST) from July to January 2012-21.

Decision Making Process

18. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the Regional Transport Committee receives and notes the “March 2021 Public Transport Update” report.

Authored by:

Megan Welsby

Sustainable Transport Coordinator

Mary-Anne Baker

Acting Transport Manager

Approved by:

Katrina Brunton

Group Manager Policy & Regulation

Attachment/s

1 ⇩

Statistics for March 2021

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