CANTERBURY REGIONAL COUNCIL Kaunihera Taiao ki Waitaha Draft Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31 Prepared by the Regional Transport Committee, a collaboration of the region’s councils and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency February 2021 DRAFT DRAFT Contents Foreword 4 Joint statement 6 Introduction 8 Our region 9 Economic factors 10 Impact of Covid-19 11 Landscape 12 Resilience and climate change 13 Our people 14 Expected growth 16 Transport systems 17 Road 17 Cycleways and active transport 18 Public transport 18 Public transport futures 19 Rail 20 Air 20 Sea 21 Transport and land use integration 22 Policy context 23 Core statutes 23 Other national policy context 24 Local and regional policy context 26 Strategic framework 28 Ten-year transport priorities 29 Fit with strategic context 35 Policies 36 Programme and funding 38 Proposed business as usual activities 40 Proposed regionally significant activities 48 Expenditure and revenue forecast 55 Monitoring indicator framework 56 Appendices 59 Glossary 73 DRAFT Environment Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021–31 Strategic Context 04 Foreword As the chair of the Canterbury Canterbury’s transport network develops Regional Transport Committee over successive generations, planning (RTC) I am pleased to present this and replanning. The network provides us draft Regional Land Transport with access to economic, cultural and Plan (RLTP). social opportunities and contributes to making Canterbury a great place to live. The Plan is comprehensively reviewed The current network has some enduring every six years and we have taken a attributes: strong collaborative focus with territorial • It reaches deeply across our large authorities and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport region to keep communities Agency to develop this plan for the connected from the mountains to region. Our aim has been to ensure the the sea; ki uta, ki tai plan reflects the Canterbury community’s desired future for their transport • It is changing quickly to support network, and that it will meet their growing urban populations in Greater ever-changing needs. Christchurch • It provides a safe way for people and The Canterbury Regional Transport goods to be moved around our region Committee is a statutory body established and beyond. under the Land Transport Management Act 2003. The Act requires Environment These enduring attributes need to be Canterbury to appoint a councillor from supported in our planning as they lead each territorial authority to the Committee, to improved economic, cultural and as well as a representative from Waka social outcomes. However, there are Kotahi. In Canterbury we value this serious challenges that impact the future arrangement as it ensures local community effectiveness of our transport network: aspirations are considered at the regional • The resilience of our network – with level and communicated nationally. climate change, the resilience of our network will continue to be tested The Committee’s principal task is to as extreme events occur at a more identify key transport-related outcomes, frequent rate. In the long term we objectives and issues for the Canterbury need to shift from a network that can region and create a prioritised programme recover, to a network that continues to of transport activities to address them. function during adversity These are articulated in the Plan. This is not an easy task as activities submitted by • The environmental impact of the local councils and Waka Kotahi have been network – reducing transport related identified through complex modelling, to greenhouse gas emissions is part of our identify the optimal activities for inclusion. responsibility as kaitiaki, in addition to ensuring the transport network continues to contribute to the well- being of future generations. DRAFT Environment Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021–31 Strategic Context 05 Our last Regional Land Transport Plan A joint statement from the South Island noted future innovations and we have Regional Transport Committee Chairs already seen the implementation of some Group has been included in this Plan and of these including remotely controlled highlights this need to work together. rail engines, e-bikes and electric scooters Collaboration across the South Island is for active transport, and algorithms to particularly important as critical freight and plan on-demand public transport routes. visitor journeys cross regional boundaries This Plan seeks to position Canterbury to and connect to both Stewart Island and the continually harness the potential of new North Island. technologies that optimise the use of the network and increase the rate of transition Finally, I want to thank all the people towards improved environmental, social who have worked hard to bring this plan and economic outcomes. together. Nā te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi. With your food basket and In this draft Plan, we propose to introduce mine, we all live well. headline targets: to reduce road deaths and injuries; to reduce transport emissions contributing to climate change; to reduce impact on the road network by moving Peter Scott more of the region’s ever-growing freight Chair, Canterbury Regional load by rail. The first two of these align the Transport Committee region to national targets. The latter builds on our research showing that this modal shift is economically and environmentally astute for the South Island. A core factor in achieving our collective vision is to ensure our investment is addressing the large-scale challenges we face. Quarterly reporting against the monitoring framework, to the Regional Transport Committee, will support us to monitor progress against the objectives of the Plan and enable robust, evidence- based investment decisions. The Committee welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with central government, councils outside our region, private sector partners, our communities and all those affected, to improve transport outcomes in Canterbury and across the South Island. DRAFT Environment Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021–31 Strategic Context 6 DRAFT Environment Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021–31 Strategic Context 07 Joint statement from the South Island Regional Transport Chairs The transport system provides the These shared priorities form the priorities arteries and veins that bring life to of this group and are listed below. our communities, support regional prosperity and improve the overall Priority areas wellbeing of the South Island. The transport system connects our 1. Advocacy for transportation in the South communities, allowing people to Island, including tracking how central travel safely and efficiently across government investment, including our diverse landscapes, and enables the National Land Transport Fund the safe and efficient movement of and Provincial Growth Fund, is being freight. It is imperative to ensure allocated across the country the transport network is working as 2. Resilience of the transport network effectively as possible. 3. Freight journeys across the South Island The South Island Regional Transport 4. Tourism journey improvements across Committee Chairs Group was formed in the South Island 2016 for this purpose. The Group seeks to 5. An enabling funding approach for significantly improve transport outcomes innovative multi-modal (road, rail, air, in the South Island through better inter- sea) solutions regional collaboration and integration. 6. Explore opportunities for inter-regional public transport. The Group is focussed on ensuring the South Island stays at the forefront of central government thinking. The formation of the Group recognises that the South Island advocating with one voice is more effective than seven regions advocating independently on the same matters. This approach seeks to ensure that the needs and aspirations of our South Island communities are recognised and understood by the Central Government. We want to be seen by Central Government as a group of 1 million people with a common aspiration for our transport system. Notwithstanding, each region in the South Island has unique characteristics, but at the same time, will share similar transport priorities and challenges. DRAFT Environment Canterbury Regional Land Transport Plan 2021–31 Strategic Context 08 Introduction The Canterbury Regional Land The aim is to have an agreed regional Transport Plan (RLTP) sets out programme which contributes to shared the current state of our transport prosperity - economic, social, cultural network, the challenges we face, and environmental. In alignment with this and the priorities for future requirement, the RTC defined a theme for investment. The plan sets out: the draft RLTP early in discussions: A rising • the context in which the transport tide lifts all ships. system operates In developing the draft RLTP, the • the vision and strategic objectives for Canterbury Regional Transport Committee the transport system (RTC) has taken into account the strategic • the priorities for investment – key direction provided by the Government areas where further investment is through the Ministry of Transport’s required in order to achieve the vision Outcomes Framework and the Government and objectives Policy Statement on Land Transport. • a prioritised regional programme The Committee has also been mindful of transport activities. of the planning and investment work This RLTP was developed by the Canterbury completed by Waka Kotahi in Arataki, the Regional Transport Committee (RTC). Transport