The taxi which took us to Wellington airport yesterday was powered by petrol and battery.

The driver said it had plenty of power in the city and on the open road and it saved him about $200 a week on fuel.

With savings like that it won’t be difficult to persuade more people to swap to battery powered vehicles.

But when they do, how will roads be funded?

The petrol they use attracts a tax but, at least for now, electric vehicles aren’t required to pay for road user charges which are levied on diesel vehicles.

The first thing you need is a map. Many people seem to think (as I did before I joined GeoSmart) that maps are fundamentally the same and equal. Makes sense doesn’t it. We’re a small country and you would expect all maps to have the same data.

That would seem to make sense given that the core data for New Zealand is supplied by the Government under the Land Institute of New Zealand. LINZ is the authority when it comes to things cadastral. They manage land titles, topographic data about New Zealand, hydrographic information, the official street name register and is a part of the NZ Geographic Board which is currently busy deciding whether Wanganui should now be called Whanganui.

When GeoSmart decided to enter the car navigation business, we quckly found that the ‘official’ maps of New Zealand have a ‘computed road centreline’. In effect that means that they use a system which places the road notionally between property boundaries. This wasn’t a big deal when it came to road maps because a road map requires that you plan your rate based on a paper image and if it is not exactly right, you can interpret the map and get to your desired location. This data also contains ‘paper roads’. Paper roads are unformed roads that were draughted in Scotland in the late 1800’s and never constructed. Again if you were to see a road on a map and it physically isn’t there, no problem, you can work your way around it. Consumers Institute has a number of pages on this topic.

Whilst not an issue on a printed map, consider the problems if you tried to use this data for car navigation and routing. When GeoSmart made the commitment to develop a car navigation database, it was quickly realised that it was necessary to drive every road in New Zealand and also use information gleaned from its Orthophotography in order to create an accurate road centreline database. In doing so, we were also able to capture information including one way streets, dual carriageways, turn restrictions, speed zones, the actual name on the street signs (which were sometimes different to the LINZ data) whether a road was paved or not and much more. In doing this we were able to create a database suitable for car navigation (over 90% market share including TomTom and Navman)  and many other services including Fleet Management (around 80% market share including Navman Wireless, Astrata, Xlerate, Argus Tracking, Blackhawk).

Fleet management is even more critical. One of the key reasons companies buy Fleet Management solutions is because they can claim back Road User Charges (RUC) as they are not liable to pay taxes when their trucks are on private property. If they were to try to do this using the computed road centreline, they would struggle to pass a Tax Audit because using in accurate maps, they could often be calculated to be off-road, when they are actually on the road. You can best see this in evidence by using a map dataset which overlays aerial or satellite imagery with the cadastral map data set. Especially in rural areas you will find that there are major discrepancies between the photography and the map data.

So after that long journey, GeoSmart is now able to offer you access to the Web Mapping API, which can enable you to offer routing, driving directions and other tools including displaying map tiles on a mobile or PDA display. You can search for streets, numbers and businesses.

If you explore the many LBS applications being developed overseas (some of which this blog will cover in the near future, you will see that driving or turn by turn directions are a very popular feature of LBS applications. Whether it is a LBS game, a buddy finder, proximity based marketing, planning a run or cycle trip, routing has a part to play and is one of the major reasons that people internationally use LBS applications. If you don’t have a map book (we create the Wises and AA Maps you probably have in your car)  or folded map with you, you have less opportunity to interpret data that is inaccurate, so it is imperative that you use accurate information in your application.In countries where the Government provides accurate maps (such as the USA) this is very easy to do, but in New Zealand, to date only GeoSmart has a fully driven road centreline. And of course as you know from a previous blog, we are now re driving all of New Zealand in the RAPIDcV with around 20cm accuracy.

So if you want to create an application with accurate maps and directions, the SmartFind WebMap API is a key component. If you would like to check this out, we do of course have the ability to give you a Developer Agreement at no cost so that you can start creating your application.

… try driving in the provinces.

Poneke  tells us that 91 octane petrol in Wellington has reached 218.9 cents a litre.

In Wanaka it’s 2.269 for 91;  and 2.349 for premium. 

Diesel is 199.9 cents a litre and of course Road User Charges come on top of that.

Ouch.

Dene Mackenzine looks at the people who could be the next Labour leader:

The contest to replace Prime Minister Helen Clark might be less brutal and more clear cut than previous leadership challenges, depending on the outcome of the election this year.

Less brutal leadership change? Now there’s an oxymoron.

If, as Miss Clark continues to believe, Labour can cobble together a coalition government, then she remains safe and can leave in her own time, having taken Labour to a historic fourth-term win.

But if Labour loses and the election result is close, party sources believe Trade Minister Phil Goff is the principal candidate for the job.

He is seen as a safe replacement who would not shift Labour markedly away from its centre-left position.

Although he is tainted with having been an MP in the Rogernomics era, many of Labour’s supporters are too young to remember Sir Roger Douglas and his ideas in the David Lange-led government.

If a week is a long time in politics, two decades is ancient history.

Police Minister Annette King is seen as the logical deputy leader for Mr Goff, to give the party a gender balance and an Auckland-Wellington split.

Pity about the mess she created in health, the EFA and last week’s Road User Charge debacle. And let’s not forget blaming crime on the full moon and sunny weather.

The last four opinion polls published show National’s support at more than 50% and its lead over Labour at more than 20 points.

If the polls hold up, Labour could lose up to 18 MPs, including electorate members.

Polls usually tighten before an election – although this time Labour might be where National was in 2002.

If the defeat is not too broad, Mr Goff will be challenged by Health Minister David Cunliffe and Labour Minister Trevor Mallard.

Both would bring with them an image problem.

Mr Cunliffe was identified early in his career as a potential leader, but has earned the disdain of some colleagues for his “superior” attitude.

That has mellowed somewhat and as health minister, and also as communications minister, he has shown a preparedness to take a hands-on approach to his portfolios.

But over at Craig Foss we see that those hands haven’t always done the right thing.

However, that’s another story so back to the ODT:

Mr Mallard was demoted for punching National Party MP Tau Henare, but retains strong friendships in the Labour caucus and is deputy finance minister.

As a former chief whip, he knows how to gather the numbers for a close vote.

A decimation of Labour will see other candidates chancing their arm in the belief that it will take Labour six years, or two terms, to win office.

Energy Minister David Parker and Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove will mount challenges.

Neither is particularly popular with colleagues, and Mr Cosgrove will be a fiercer competitor than Mr Parker.

Mr Cosgrove has been a member of the party since he was 14, and is a protege of former prime minister Mike Moore.

Mr Parker is seen more in the mould of former prime minister Sir Wallace (Bill) Rowling, and would offer a leadership style out of step with modern politics.

That’s the one who looked more surprised than anyone else when he won Otago in 2002 and few were surprised when he lost it to Jacqui Dean three years later.

Also in the mix at this level will be Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones, a Maori MP of whom was expected great things.

He is said to be “hugely bright” but pompous and obviously ambitious.

Not a good combination if you’re trying to win a leaderhsip contest.

Clark successors?

•Labour wins: Helen Clark stays as prime minister.

•Labour loses narrowly: Phil Goff takes over early next year.

•Labour loses moderately: Mr Goff, David Cunliffe and Trevor Mallard fight it out.

•Labour thumped: Free for all, with David Parker, Clayton Cosgrove and Shane Jones fancying their chances.

All very interesting, but the really fascinating point is that this discussion is being had at all. A few months ago leadership change woudn’t have been on anyone’s radar.

Michael Cullen reckons Tony Friedlander, Road Transport Forum chief executive, organised the truckers’ protest for political reasons.

“There may well have been [a misunderstanding] but I think there’s a great deal of politics about this as well. It’s not an entire coincidence, I’m sure, that the head of the Road Transport [Forum] is a former National Party cabinet minister.”

The Government has denied it misled truckers by agreeing to a month’s notice on RUC increases before raising them overnight earlier this week. Dr Cullen did not accept that truckies were more aggrieved with what they saw as a betrayal by the Government than with the RUC increases themselves.

“Clearly, there’s going to be a great deal of resentment around [the RUC increase], that’s absolutely understandable, but the fact that people have chosen to take a particular form of protest . . . I don’t think is entirely unrelated and I don’t think it was entirely unplanned at the senior levels of the Road Transport [Forum] either.

“I’m sure they would have had some expectation there could have been a RUC increase on 1 July, I’m sure they would’ve known it was under consideration by Cabinet.”

Perhaps they should have been mind readers?

Mr Friedlander, a National MP for 12 years up until 1987, hit back at Dr Cullen last night, saying his former political ties were no secret.

“But I’ve been in this role and in this industry for 15 years,” Mr Friedlander said. “I’ve worked for Labour ministers during that time, both in Government and when they were in opposition and I believe I’ve done that totally impartially.

“Dr Cullen really ought to recognise this protest action was spontaneous – it was organised in two and a half days. I’m pleased that he has such a high opinion of me that he thinks I’m capable of getting approximately 4,500 protesting truck drivers out across New Zealand and that I’m capable of swinging public opinion behind our industry in the way that has been demonstrated.

Mr Friedlander denied the trucking industry knew the Government was considering increasing the charges, saying it “came out of left field”.

Literally – but in spite of what Cullen thinks the truckers’ protest didn’t come out of right field; and the public support certainly didn’t have any party-political origins either. The protest merely provided that mythical silent majority with an opportunity to express itself.

Adam Smith gives his view on Cullen’s tactics here.

Whilst I support the right to protest and agree with why they were protesting, I can’t help but think that the truckers’ protest yesterday was overly disruptive and irresponsible. Yes, it did put a lot of pressure on the government to recognise their concerns, a government that has ignored public opinion on various issues, but did everyone else have to be disrupted? Even emergency vehicles were affected. I’m glad I wasn’t working, as I would have had to get up much earlier to catch a bus that would only take me half way! However my main concern is the environmental cost of such a protest. How much diesel was consumed and how much pollution was produced? I’m all for protest and disruption, but surely a simple strike would have had the same affect? If no trucks were on the road, government would have to pay attention. Long live the humble strike!

Herald online responses were generally sympathetic to the truckies and accommodated the protest, although many pointed out the damage trucks do to the roads and the need to offset this with road users charges. I do agree to some extent, however these extra charges are only going to be passed on to consumers anyway through higher prices for goods. Families are already struggling and social agencies and charitable organisations’ resources are worryingly stretched (link to story not yet published by Herald…). Considering the vital part their labour plays in our economy and our way of life, surely government should pick up the bill and pay for fixing the roads. Of course we still then pay, but those who drive those trucks for long hours, often through the night, should not be the targets of the charges. And the end of the day, more should be done to 1) give the truckies better working conditions, shorter hours, better pay, 2)get commuters of the road and into public transport (current initiatives fall short) and 3) speed up the transition of all vehicles onto sustainable and environmentally friendlier fuels.

So with Labour sliding down the polls, how is another deluge of unpopular attention going to affect the party’s fortunes come election time? Kiwiblog’s David Farrar made a good point:

“Just had a verbal report from Auckland on the Truck protest. I am told that the Motorway between Auckland and Papakura is stacked full of trucks for the entire 25 kms. This is an estimated 4,500 trucks in Auckland alone. That is a lot of pissed off voters, many of them traditional Labour voters.”

I have to agree. It really does make you wonder who is there left to support the party, now that the traditional base is feeling alienated. Workers jobs are being lost, either through cost cutting or automation, and Labour’s proud record on employment is under threat. Although most of the stresses on the economy are from overseas occurrences out of the control of the government, many think the surplus Labour created and the prosperous economic times of a few years back have been wasted. The party has often put its arse on the line to support good but unpopular legislation, but there is only so much unpopular legislation a government can push. It appears almost inevitable that National will be elected, not for being an inspiring pleasing alternative, but for not being Labour. Labour is well and truly trucked!

(I was not too sure which headline to go with for this post. I had “For trucks’ sake”, “I don’t give a truck”, “What the truck?”, “Trucking mayhem”, “We’re all trucked”, and “Driver’s are trucked off”!)

Organisers hailed yesterday’s nationwide protest by transport operators over increased road user charges as a “huge success”, but warn they could do it again if they don’t get their way.

Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander said while it appeared the 4000-truck demonstration achieved its goal of forcing an inquiry into the way the Government calculated road user charges, more action by truckers could not be ruled out.

“This is the first time the sector has taken this kind of action and I hope we don’t have to do it again. But you would have to have a pretty thick hide to be surprised if we did.”

Mr Friedlander met Ministry of Transport secretary Wayne Donnelly yesterday to discuss convening a working party to examine the formula used by the Government to set road charges for heavy vehicles.

The “terms of reference” for the working party would be decided next week and further discussions would be held with transport minister Annette King when she returned from overseas on July 14, Mr Friedlander said.

The industry has two complaints: it says the charges were raised at the worst possible time because of soaring petrol prices, and it was not given notice.

Ms King yesterday said she also wanted transparency for road charges calculations.

“What I want to be sure of – and I am sure Mr Friedlander and his members want to be sure of – is that the formula for setting road user charges delivers that fairness,” she said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday it was important that truck operators paid their fair share, and other road users had been picking up the bulk of the cost of maintaining the transport system.

“We think what is happening is fair. They don’t.

“There can be a working party to talk about how we move ahead from here,” she said.

During yesterday’s protest, more than 110 trucks converged on Dunedin’s CBD about 8.30am; the trucks had dispersed by 9.15am.

Demonstration organiser Peter Sutherland, of Dunedin, said the trucks involved in the Southern protest came from Otago, Canterbury and central Southland.

Trucks ranged from 44-tonne trucks to small farm vehicles.

Drivers were briefed on demonstration protocol and “stuck to the plan”, he said.

Many trucks displayed banners expressing anger at the increases in road user charges.

Police emergency response co-ordinator Inspector Alastair Dickie, of Dunedin, said it was “all hands to the pumps” for police as they coped with the clogged streets yesterday morning.

About 35 staff from stations in Dunedin and Mosgiel joined highway patrol staff and youth aid officers diverting traffic away from the main protest route to ensure roads were not blocked.

“We were very happy with the way it went, and had good co-operation from the drivers, who adhered to road rules,” Insp Dickie said.

Otago Southland RTF representative Murray Maslin, of Southland, said 140 trucks gathered in Invercargill and 78 trucks were involved in another protest in Gore.

In Alexandra, 15 trucks from around Central Otago were driven through the town at 9am.

Organiser Craig Flowers said support for the initiative was widespread throughout Central Otago, although some companies were not able to participate in the protest. -
NZPA

Below is the text of a leaflet distributed by members of the Workers Party Auckland branch at the protest earlier today by truck drivers against the recently announced increase in road user charges.

Independence from the bosses – A workers’ response required in the campaign against rising cost of living

The boss class is to blame for the recent barrage of rising costs that is hitting working people in New Zealand and internationally. The following leaflet puts forward the Workers Party’s basic position on the increase to road user chargers.

Major companies are required to pay within the market system Should the major companies pay for the costs of maintaining the roads? We think that under a market system the major companies should be forced to pay but this should not be at the expense of their employees’ wages and conditions which such companies have been driving down for decades. If they were not called to pay, then the public would be bearing costs incurred while the companies make profits. However, it should also be understood that, within a market system, the employers’ profits come from the work that their employees do for them. Therefore, even if the companies lose profits, the main issue is that workers are able to increase real incomes.

Trouble for owner-operators is caused by bosses associations

Increasingly, with the growth of sub-contracting networks, workers are becoming more vulnerable as they are not part of a fully-socialised or large workplace. This is especially true for drivers.

One of the vulnerabilities is the easiness with which the government can isolate sub-contracted workers – who currently have little class power through being self-employed. The bosses have imposed casualisation and self-employment with loss of benefits. This whole process of segmenting the workforce has been carried out by organisations of the capitalist class such as the Business Roundtable, Business New Zealand and the Employers’ and Manufacturers’ Association.

Getting Unionised

We support unionisation as a way forward for improving wages, conditions, and livelihoods of truck drivers. Historically, drivers have been a backbone of the union movement. This was eroded in the 1980s and 1990s because the wider union movement was unable to withstand attacks from both Labour and National governments. If unions are built on workers’ self-activity and workers control – rather than on relationships with the government – a union movement can be built that can withstand the attacks from the ruling class.

This is the type of union movement that the Workers Party wants to help build.

Campaign against GST for better incomes

Our position is that workers should not be concerned with the boss’s profit margins. Our position is that what is important in this situation is the maintenance and growth of workers incomes and livelihoods. As well as campaigning for better incomes through the union movement, we are also contributing to raising public awareness against GST. GST does not hurt the bosses and the wealthy like it hurts working people. Working people spend a greater portion of income on GST than the wealthy. Also, the employer’s can pass the costs of GST on to workers by putting up their prices to absorb their GST costs.

The Workers Party will be standing in this year’s general election. This will be the first time an anti-capitalist organisation has stood nationally in general elections in New Zealand.

Published by Workers Party (NZ). Email: wpnz@clear.net.nz.

Phone Jared Phillips (Auckland Branch Organiser) 0294949863.
Leaflet authorised by Rebecca Broad, 2/789 Mt. Eden Road, Auckland.

July 4, 2008, 8:22 am

They are on the move.

The nationwide protest by truckers is under way as thousands of rigs move into towns and cities to demonstrate against the unexpected rise in road user charges for diesel vehicles.

In Auckland, Queen Street is lined with trucks and the Southern Motorway is a nightmare for commuters. However, traffic is flowing fairly smoothly over the Harbour Bridge.

Dozens of trucks have headed into Tauranga and drivers appear to be getting an enthusiastic reception from motorists who are flashing their vehicle’s headlights, tooting and waving in support.

In Wellington, traffic is under pressure as two convoys hit the roads. At least 70 rigs headed down State Highway 1 from Paekakariki and a similar number travelled to the city centre on State Highway 2 from Seaview.

Rigs are also on the move in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.

More than 500 rigs left from Riccarton Race Course to central Christchurch and hundreds of people lined the streets to witness the big rig lineup.

The truckers’ protest may already have had an impact. Transport Minister Annette King has agreed to look at the way road user charges are worked out.

She says there is no doubt there is dispute on both sides of the argument as to the accuracy of the formula used to work out road user charges. A working party is being convened with input from Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander.

Mrs King says all road users must pay their fair share towards maintaining the roads, building new roads and improving passenger transport. She says she wants to make sure the formula for setting charges delivers that fairness.

The AA says it is not just truck drivers who are feeling the pinch. General manager of motoring affairs Mike Noon says the owners of petrol cars and light vehicles are certainly paying their fair share of road charges through fuel taxes, but he says the dispute between truckers and the government goes further than that and is about the lack of warning given.

Mr Noon says the AA has always thought the models used to determine road users charges were reasonably accurate, but costs do change over time. He says it is tough for all motorists at the moment.

The best advice I had from a racing driver was to look where you’re going because you’ll go where you’re looking.  Jim Hopkins  proves the lesson doesn’t just apply to the road:

We like looking back. We love the rear-vision mirror. It’s our true compass.

That’s why we’ve just bought all those trains, lock, stock and funnel – for $640 million or a billion, depending on who you believe.

And, apparently, all us good old, rear-vision Kiwis are positively chuffed we’ve got the trains back. We think it’s great that Michael Cullen’s the new Thin Controller.

No matter that we didn’t need to buy 100 per cent of Toll when 51 per cent would’ve been perfectly fine.

No matter that we’re now obliged to spend $300,000,000 on new kit. No matter that any increase in rail traffic will, paradoxically, increase the demand for better roads – to truck goods from the hinterland to the track.

Because we’re back where we were. And yesterday is such a cosy place.

Meanwhile, Kupe and Cook are in India, talking to the Tata motor company, which is busily developing a French-invented compressed-air engine that will replace the gas-guzzlers we’ve got in our cars and trucks.

And that’s just one of the innovations under way in places where people look forward.

Mark my words. Within a decade, the world’s roads will be teeming with vehicles running on air, hydrogen, fuel cells, electricity and, who knows, maybe even that weird stuff you find in your belly button when you’ve forgotten to wash it for a while.

The combination of a ubiquitous infrastructure and a propulsive revolution will make trains even quainter than they are now. And no amount of sticking up RUCs to screw the transport scrum on the very day you become Brutish Rail will change that.

If you haven’t read this yet, it’s probably because your paper’s late and that’s probably because the roads are jammed with angry truckers who’ve probably decided they’ve had enough because they probably think our great leap backwards has gone off the rails.

And we’ll all be casualties of the train wreck that results from this reckless ride back to the future on 19th century technology, fuelled by 20th century ideology and funded by 21st century tax payers.

5:00AM Friday July 04, 2008
By Mathew Dearnaley

The Auckland CBD is expected to be gridlocked as truck drivers take to Queen Street in protest.

Thousands of commuters will have to trudge considerable distances to work this morning – possibly in the rain – due to the mass protest by truckies.

Buses in Auckland will drop up to 20,000 passengers on the outskirts of the central business district between about 7am and 10am to avoid being caught up in the protest against the Government’s sudden increase in road-user charges.

Victoria Park, Great North Rd and Upper Symonds St will be the nearest many will be able to get to their offices and shops by bus.

Truckies are also planning protest rallies in 12 other cities and towns from Whangarei to Invercargill.

The MetService has forecast showers and gusty westerlies for Auckland.

The police are also warning of motorway traffic jams stretching past the harbour bridge to the north and possibly as far as Otahuhu to the south as up to 2000 trucks head for Queen St.

“We are definitely looking at gridlock. It’s just a matter of how long that gridlock lasts, and the opportunity to clear it as fast as possible,” said Auckland central’s roading police chief, Acting Inspector Ross Endicott-Davies.

Although the official time for the Road Transport Forum-organised protest is between 7.30am and 9.30am, Mr Endicott-Davies said commuters who could not leave their cars at home should set off well before then.

He also expected widespread disruption for several hours after the trucks start dispersing after circuits of Queen St and surrounding roads.

The forum is telling truckies to join their nearest motorway on-ramps at 7.30am and then enter central Auckland via the Symonds St, Nelson St and Cook St exits, before circling the Town Hall.

Transport Minister Annette King agreed late yesterday to set up a working party with industry representatives to examine the formula under which user charges are set to cover spending on roads.

But she said that did not mean the Government accepted Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander’s criticism of the formula.

And it did not intended reversing the increased charges imposed without warning on Tuesday.

She said the Ministry of Transport disputed Mr Friedlander’s estimate that heavy trucks were less than 3 per cent of the national vehicle fleet but were paying 75 per cent of the upkeep of state highways and local roads.

But she had resisted a ministry recommendation for the increase in charges to be double what was imposed, and had agreed to set up the working party to ensure the formula “delivers fairness” to all road users.

Ms King said she supported the truckies’ right to protest, but urged them not “to impede the legal movements of other New Zealanders”.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority has made unprecedented contingency arrangements with bus operators, who bring about 23,000 passengers into the city between 7am and 9am on an average week day.

Customer services general manager Mark Lambert said trains and ferries would keep normal timetables, but passengers should expect heavier loadings than usual.

Ontrack is warning of delays of several minutes to rail services because of a signals upgrading project at Wiri, which train operator Veolia hopes will not “snowball” into worse disruption.

The one consolation for transport officials is that university students have begun their mid-year break and some of the city’s 78,000 workers are likely to use today’s disruption as a chance to have a day at home.

But a group of cyclists also intends to be in Queen St today in a ride between the trucks which organiser David Benson said was aimed at persuading the public more freight should be carried by rail than road.

Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett said many businesses, including his own, had re-arranged staff hours and were letting those able to work from home do so.

Heart of the City business association chief Alex Swney said he had no gripes with the truckies’ motives, but was concerned they had chosen Queen St as their stage.

“They don’t come here in normal circumstances, so why don’t they do their protest where they do their business?

“Why don’t they do it on a motorway that taxpayers paid hundreds of millions of dollars for?”

But Road Transport Association spokesman Chris Carr said Mr Swney should accept that the disgruntled truckies would want to drive into “the heart of Auckland” to vent their anger at the Government’s move.

“We are Aucklanders, we don’t want to go to some farm paddock in Waiuku.”

Truck drivers were being urged to keep intersections clear for emergency services, and to disperse as soon as possible after 9.30am.

His message to commuters forced to footslog into the downtown area was: “Thank you very much for your understanding, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

Police are advising commuters to leave their cars at home tomorrow, or consider taking the day off, during the truck blockade planned for major centres.

The protests against a sudden increase in road-user charges on diesel vehicles are expected to hit Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and other cities between 7am and 10am tomorrow.

Inspector Simon Perry in Wellington said today: “We expect motorists will need to factor an extra 90 minutes delay into their travel time. The CBD will be gridlocked and we’re not expecting traffic flow to return to anything like normal until after 10am.”

Auckland police are encouraging commuters to either get to work before 7.30 or avoid the streets altogether tomorrow morning.

Inspector Ross Endicott-Davies said 2000 trucks could converge on the city’s streets, after travelling down the motorways, by about 7.30am.

He said there would be significant delays that will affect drivers and bus users. He said anyone catching an early morning flight should think about finding accommodation near the airport or leaving early.

NZ Road Transport Forum Waikato area manager Garry Masters said Hamilton drivers were going to come into the city from the north, south, east and west and create a ring road around the city.

Inspector Tooman said motorists not using arterial routes should be fine although if the city became very congested it would “take a considerable time to clear up”.

He said police had been assured the truck drivers would abide by all the road rules.

Tauranga police are advising motorists to avoid the Harbour Bridge between 7.30am and 9am.

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion urged commuters to leave their cars at home and take alternative routes.

He also suggested people get to work before 7.30 am or after 9 am and parents to drop school children off outside these times if possible.

In Christchurch, police said motorists should take the obvious precautions of allowing extra time, avoiding the main two routes where possible and to be patient.

Christchurch. Convoys will become broken as they progress through intersections.”

“We expect drivers will behave responsibly and comply with law,” says Inspector Derek Erasmus. “The main issue will be congestion.”

AA says ‘bus it’

AA spokesman Mike Noon said the association is taking a balanced view of the protest. He said truck drivers have the right to protest but the AA had asked for the protest to take place outside of peak travel times.

He said fuel prices are making it tough for motorists and truck drivers.

“But it’s important everybody pays their fair share,” Mr Noon said.
He said the association is advising motorists to leave the car at home, lace up the shoes, get on the bike or try the train.

“We are concerned that the congestion may be longer than the period set down for the protest,” Mr Noon said.

He said other feeder roads not on the protest routes, could also be effected.

Mr Noon said anyone who has to get behind the wheel should “take it easy’ and not take their frustrations out on other motorists.

He also advised drivers to make sure they had a full fuel tank, given that they could be sitting in traffic for a long period of time.

Auckland City Council

The Auckland City Council says it is powerless to stop freight carriers acting on their threat to send a thousand trucks up and down Queen St.

Auckland City Mayor John Banks said last night that, despite the inconvenience, he would welcome the sight of heavy rigs jamming Queen St “in the spirit of free enterprise and democratic protest”.

The former National Party police minister invited Aucklanders to consider delaying their everyday business for several hours as the truckies fill the city centre in protest against “a Government with a death-wish”.

“I love big trucks so I’ll take 10 minutes to give them some moral support and to see their big trucks rumble up Queen St,” he said.

Government defends charges

Today Transport Minister Annette King defended the road user charge increases saying they are minimal and needed to maintain roads damaged by trucks.

The nationwide protest will see 1000 trucks in the centre of Auckland, organisers have promised.

Trucking representatives say it is the first national protest taken by the industry.

Ms King announced the increase in road user charges (RUC) on Monday, and they came into effect on Tuesday.

This angered truck companies who wanted notice so they could pre-purchase charge vouchers.

Car users paid for the roading system every time they bought petrol, those with diesel only paid through the charges and these had not risen to cover the costs created by trucks, Ms King said.

The increase means that for a small diesel car it will cost $3.28 more to drive 1000km, or $32.80 more for an average year’s motoring of 10,000km.

For a larger vehicles, such as a three tonne SUV, it will cost an extra $49.20 per 10,000km.

A typical five tonne truck will pay an additional $53.80 per 10,000km, while a 23 tonne four-axle truck can expect to pay an additional $198.

Ms King said she had been advised to increase the charges by twice that amount.

The increases were minimal considering that large trucks did most damage on roads, responsible for a third of spending on road repairs.

“This is about fairness,” Ms King said.

She acknowledged that there could be changes to the system in the future.

Ms King said she did not give notice this time because when she did in 2007 there was a $17.5 million mass pre-purchase to beat the deadline.

Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander said the organisation’s members were outraged.

The minister had previously promised a month’s notice of any increases.

“I have never known members to be so angry over any issue,” he said.

Ms King said she understood the protests were being organised before the increase in road user charges were announced.

Mainfreight managing director Don Braid said he had never seen so much anger against the government in the road transport industry.

“The lack of understanding and the lack of knowledge of what is going on in the transport scene right now by this transport minister is just unbelievable. I just don’t think she understands the industry at all,” he said.

Mainfreight controls one of the largest trucking fleets in the country, typically dispatching more than 100 trucks out of Auckland a day, but participation in the protest tomorrow will be a decision taken by individual owner-drivers.

“We are as angry as they are about it but it is not for us to tell a driver to forgo revenue to be in the parade. We support them if they do,” Mr Braid said.

Toll NZ, the company which this week sold rail and ferries back to the government, is another big operator of trucks.

Similar protests have been taking place around the world as the transport sector is squeezed by higher oil prices.

* Truck drivers are being asked to join motorcades into the city at 7.30am tomorrow.

* They are protesting against rises in road-user charges which they say will average about 7.5 per cent but will rise as high as 15 per cent for courier firms.

* The Road Transport Forum says the timing could not be worse for our industry, which is facing record fuel prices and other cost increases.

- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF

Petrol is more expensive than diesel because the former has a fuel tax levied on it and the latter doesn’t. But diesel powered vehicles pay Road User Charges instead.

The chair of the Road Transport Forum, Steve Doughty told Mary Wilson on Checkpoint last night that he’d be keen on an investigation to determine if fuel tax might be better than RUCs.

My initial reaction to this is positive. RUCs are based on distance, the further you go the more you pay. That sounds fair enough until you work out that vehicles which travel further efficiently pay more than those which travel a shorter distance inefficiently.

Fuel taxes, are consumption taxes so the more you use the more you pay and there is a financial incentive to use it efficiently.

Doughty reckons that the administration on RUCs costs around $100 million a year. That sounds high but there must be a lot of paper work involved with all the vehicles each with individual RUCs which need to be purchased and processed.  It would be simpler and cheaper to pay fuel tax at the pump as we do for petrol.

Changing from RUCs to fuel tax might be more expensive for people with diesel powered cars who drive short distances. But it would definitely be easier and, by reducing the adminsitration,  possibly cheaper for every vehicle covering long distances.

It would also relieve traffic police of the task of checking RUCs are up to date and writing tickets if they’re not

(Actually that should be blockade as I see many were actually being paid by the employers) You’ve got to have some sympathy for trucking companies. It was clear the Government didn’t bother giving them notice of road user charges because obviously they would scream blue murder. Instead of deferring it until everyone had got used to higher fuel costs and things had settled down a bit, they did it anyway.

The thing about that is always missed is that although the charges are for trucking companies, ultimately the consumer is going to pay for this in increased retail prices for the goods moved via transport.

A more cynical person might think that this is the beginning of the campaign to force companies to use Kiwirail for transport. The one mechanism the government has to force up costs of road transport is road user charges, I guess they could then take the money collected and give it to Kiwirail (instead of improving the roads).

I hope as many truck drivers as possible participate and traffic is gridlocked, it will send a message – not to the government, who stopped listening to business some time ago – but to voters. This is a government who is both arrogant and out of touch.

You have to wonder what is going on with Labour – they seem to have a death wish!

Is it just a conincidence that road user charges  went up on the day the Government is congratulating itself on buying back the railways and putting Jim Bolger, the man who presided over the “failed policies of the 90s” in charge of it?

Trucking companies are furious after the increase was announced on Monday night and came into effect yesterday.

Road Transport Forum New Zealand chief executive Tony Friedlander said the group, which represents about 80% of the country’s commercial road transport operators, last year sought assurances from Transport Minister Annette King that operators would be notified of increased charges.

The forum received written confirmation members would be informed of changes.

“It is not just the increase. It’s that it came without notice having received assurances. On top of the highest fuel prices in history, increases to the accident compensation levy and wage interest costs, it will do extreme damage to industry.

“Members have said they will have to pass costs as soon as they can.

Producers, processors and consumers are already suffering from steep rises in fuel prices. The increased tax on diesel powered vheicles and others weighing more than 3.5 tonnes  increases the cost of business and living.

The increase was announced in a statement posted on the Government’s website on Monday night. No media statements were issued.

“The timing of this increase and the way it has been done mean the minister could not have done more damage to our industry if she had deliberately tried,” Mr Friedlander said.

“She should not underestimate how angry our members and the industry are.”

Mr Friedlander said the increase would inevitably mean higher costs for businesses and higher prices in supermarkets.

However, Ms King said the impact would be “relatively insignificant” and she did not expect any noticeable effect on consumer prices.

Is Labour trying to self-destruct or are Ministers so out of touch they don’t understand the financial strain businesses and households are facing? When your budget is already overstretched you notice every cent.

Ms King said the increases were introduced to defray costs of the national land transport programme. Under the programme, $2.7 billion was allocated for transport activities in 2008-09. This included about $791 million for state highway construction, $325 million for passenger transport services and infrastructure and $273 million for road policing.

“Without all road users paying their fair share, this level of investment cannot continue to be sustained,” she said.

Does any of that passenger transport component include the trains and ferries her Government just bought? Does it matter that in the provinces we don’t have passenger trains and only cities have buses?

Charges for a 44-tonne truck and trailer unit which travelled 100,000km a year would increase to about $56,000, about $4000 more for operators, Mr Friedlander said.

Road user charges for transport operators in New Zealand were already 200% higher than those paid by Australian businesses using comparable trucks, he said.

Another day, another tax increase, another reason why living or doing business in Australia becomes more attractive.

Bus and Coach Association chief executive Raewyn Bleakley said members were “shocked and angry”. The “highest level of feedback” about the charges had been from tourism operators, she said. “Tourist operators negotiate rates for services months in advance, and this increase will leave them screaming. This will be noticeable in places like Queenstown.”

You can’t take a train or ferry to Queenstown. But this wouldn’t have anything at all to do with the fact that the Government spent $690m buying the railways, would it?

[Update: have just found a comment on Keeping Stock from getstaffed raising this issue]