Well this is an interesting media release from Generation Zero, an advocacy group looking to raise awareness about climate change:
A mistake to the tune of $59 million was revealed today in youth organisation Generation Zero’s submission at the hearings on the Wellington Regional Land Transport Programme (RLTP).
The draft RLTP, put out for consultation in March, states a total project cost for the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway of $571 million. However, according to the NZTA website the best estimate as of January 2012 is $630 million.
The $59 million mistake is more than the total funding devoted to public transport infrastructure and cycling and walking facilities for the next three years in the draft RLTP ($55.71 million).
Speaking at the oral hearings this morning, Generation Zero spokesperson Paul Young suggested that the higher actual cost might constitute a “significant” variation to the RLTP under the significance policy. If so, this would require that the Expressway be consulted on again with the correct price tag.
“Regardless of the statutory answer, we think this raises questions about whether there has been fair and adequate public consultation here,” said Mr Young. “An extra $59 million might sound like small bikkies in the scheme of things, but it will place more pressure on an already squeezed transport budget.”
In its submission, Generation Zero called for the Expressway to be delayed to allow for greater certainty about future oil prices and for the expenditure to be properly weighed up against rail-based freight alternatives, and also against projects to emerge from the Wellington Public Transport Spine Study next year.
“Our big concern is that with all the money set to be poured into the Roads of National Significance, there will be nothing left for smart transport projects that will help free us from oil-dependent travel and reduce carbon emissions,” said Mr Young.
This Tuesday, Generation Zero launched its 50/50 campaign calling for a more balanced transport budget than the current one, which will see roughly $14 billion of taxpayer money spent on new State highways compared with just $0.5 billion on new infrastructure for public transport, walking and cycling.
“The case here is a perfect example of the unlevel playing field created by the Government’s unbalanced transport priorities,” said Mr Young. “Throwing another $59 million at a highway project with a low benefit-cost ratio hardly raises an eyebrow, while far less costly public transport and cycling developments have to fight for the crumbs from the table.”
If such an error has happened, it wouldn’t necessarily be surprising as transport agencies seem to have a habit about making such mistakes. Last year the Ministry of Transport managed to miss a cool $180 million in their calculations – for example. But perhaps the more startling revelation is that the “rounding errors” of a single state highway project in Wellington is more than what will be spent there over the next three years on all public transport infrastructure, walking and cycling projects.
Generation Zero seem to be doing some pretty good work raising the profile for smarter transport spending, with a pretty successful, and highly ingenious, protest earlier this week.
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“Speaking at the oral hearings this morning, Generation Zero spokesperson Paul Young suggested that the higher actual cost might constitute a “significant” variation to the RLTP under the significance policy. If so, this would require that the Expressway be consulted on again with the correct price tag.”
If we have to go out for an extra round of public consultation every time a quoted CBD Rail Link estimate varies more than $59million from another estimate, then the project won’t be delivered this side of 2080. At the moment the upper and lower figures are out by about $1.5billion. You’d be just on the verge of starting digging, RBNZ would announce a small rise in interest rates, and whammo… you’d be off for another six to twelve months of public consultations.
If we have to go out for further public consultation once the CRL has been given firm costings and put out for consultation on the basis of those costings, and it’s then revealed that the published cost was more than 10% lower than the lowest known cost, so be it. That shouldn’t ever happen for a project with a price tag of even eight figures, never mind nine or 10 figures.
Did you notice that, obi? The difference in published price vs best known price was over 10% of the known price. If they find hundreds-of-millions of dollars in extra costs for the CRL that weren’t published, wouldn’t you want to be re-consulted? It’s an enormous difference.
On the other hand, if they manage to save 10% on the published price of the CRL, they should keep quiet about it until completion so that National can’t try and re-appropriate the funding to elsewhere.
For put another way this rounding error would cover the cost of the capital connection shortfall for the next 140 odd years.
Generation Zero doesn’t believe in CO2-powered transport. The Capital Connection is pulled by diesel engines. It has to go for the sake of the planet, for inter-generational justice, and for sustainability!
That is, the Capital Connection has to go?
with the extension of Wellington’s rail services up to Waikanae, much of the Capital Connection’s market has been lost. It goes through Waikanae at 0725 and PMU at 0732, but is followed by a separate electric at 0730 ex Waikanae and at PMU at 0735. It would be a better use of the asset to run the electric just from PMU at 0735, allowing a transfer for passengers for Waikanae and points north to stations other than Wellington.
I think you need to go back and actually make an attempt to inform yourself about their goals obi rather than just being facetious.
Obi, If you’ve found a way to power transport with CO2, please let me know.
Great idea David.
That $500 million for public transport, cycling and walking is almost all for public transport too. Yet of all transport projects cycling and walking ones have the best returns on investment. The cheapest way for anyone to get around, that puts the least costs on society, are cycling and walking and non-motorised scooting and skateboarding. Yet they are the most ignored by government. It’s incredibly myopic.
And then comes this news story:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/7033108/Rail-commuters-to-gain-from-900m-boost
“The New Zealand Transport Agency announced yesterday it would pump $9billion into upgrading existing local transport systems over the next three years” of which a measly 10% is for public transport.
Is this new spending, or the old stuff rehashed? They can’t find the money for their grandiose RoNS plans as it is, and as a result the NTZA have been screwing local councils on road maintenance funds – hence that’s why your rates have gone up this year, so how are they going to afford more countless billions?
I will do a post on it shortly, mainly just a bit of spin from the NZTA
$59 million = 2 x the cost of building a harbour bridge cycle lane.
Just saying
I wonder if the same people lecturing us about “borrowing $300m a week” are the same people who’ll accuse Gen Zero of “muck-raking” and “Luddism”? And I wouldn’t be surprised if a sizeable chunk of the cost is attributable to pork-barrelling. Talk about socialism for the rich.
Getting away from unbalanced transport spending for a moment, this error is larger than the entire sum National hoped to save by buggering around with funding for intermediate schools.
Let’s get a little perspective on this, shall we? Yes, transport is important, but nothing is more important than the upbringing provided for the next generation. We have reached a point where the scrabble to find money is now gouging smaller sums from spending on the future than is considered an acceptable error in pricing up a transport project.