Preferred option

Funding the preferred option

There are three principal sources of funding for the preferred option: the New Zealand Transport Agency, local government and KiwiRail (funded by central government).

Funds likely to be available over the next 30 years: in the range of $32.5 billon to $46.6 billion.

Cost of implementing the Preferred Strategic Option: estimated at $45 billon.

To reflect preferred strategic option, the RLTS allocates land transport funding over the 30 years of the strategy as follows: 13 per cent to state highway infrastructure, 16 per cent to other roads, 25 per cent to maintenance and renewals, 42 per cent to public transport and 4 per cent to walking, cycling and managing demand for travel.

The National Land Transport Programme currently allocates 53 per cent of the transport budget over the next three years to state highway infrastructure, 26 per cent to other roads, 19 per cent to public transport and 2 per cent to walking, cycling and managing demand for travel.

If a similar allocation were to be made over the 30-year life of the strategy, a significant shortfall in the funds required for Auckland region's priority projects would result.

To ease the financial burden on ratepayers and tax payers, investigations will be made into alternative sources of funding, including developer contributions and public/private partnerships.