Freight
The Regional Freight Plan 2011 was adopted in June 2011 by the Regional Transport Committee.
A background report was prepared to collate the latest available information on freight movements in, out and through the Wellington region as well as examine qualitative information on issues, changes and opportunities.
Introduction to freight
The movement of freight both contributes to, and is determined by, economic growth as well as a changing economy.
The efficient and timely movement of freight contributes to economic and regional development by moving goods and providing services to the residents and businesses within the Wellington region. Improvements in efficient and timely freight movements will benefit the region by reducing the costs of doing business and contributing to a more business-friendly regional environment which can be a strong attraction to new businesses. These new businesses can also change the amount and nature of the freight task in the region.
Freight movements also impact communities along freight routes by contributing to congestion during peak times, as well as noise and vibration effects. Like other vehicles, freight movements are also contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Freight trucks are involved in relatively few crashes in the region. There were 22 crashes in the region during 2009 involving trucks, out of a total of 1,015.
RLTS 2020 targets for freight transport
The RLTS 2020 strategic targets of particular relevance to the Regional Freight Plan are:
- improved road journey times for freight traffic between key destinations
- improved safety, efficiency and reliability of strategic freight links to the north of the regioin
Key changes
Recently, there have been a number of changes to the context within which we are planning. These include:
- the growth of just-in-time delivery of services,
- the consolidation of freight distribution hubs (two of which are in Seaview and Palmerston North),
- trends pointing towards a doubling of the amount of freight moving throughout New Zealand in the next 30 years, and
- the price of diesel expected to become more volatile but increase overall.
The Regional Freight Plan 2011 responds to these changes by including relevant work being done at a national level by the NZ Transport Agency (namely the Roads of National Significance and the introduction of over-weight over-dimension commercial vehicles) and the KiwiRail Turnaround Plan – which focuses on improving the reliability and economic performance of rail freight.
Improving access to CentrePort and the ferry terminals is a new key focus. The other new focus is improving the knowledge base of how freight moves in the region and Greater Wellington’s freight modelling capability.