{"id":599571,"date":"2026-09-14T00:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T00:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/599571\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T00:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T00:36:16","slug":"about-fairness-councils-in-nzs-most-tolled-region-back-revenue-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/599571\/","title":{"rendered":"‘About fairness’: Councils in NZ’s most-tolled region back revenue sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Councils in and around New Zealand\u2019s most-tolled city,<\/a> Tauranga, are backing an idea to receive a share of tolling revenue<\/a> to put towards wear on local roads.<\/p>\n

By Ayla Yeoman of Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n

Parliament is considering legislation that would allow toll revenue to be used to maintain free alternative routes as the Government signals tolling will play a bigger role in funding future transport projects.<\/p>\n

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils say motorists may choose local roads to avoid tolls, potentially increasing pressure on council-owned infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The Bay of Plenty already has two of New Zealand\u2019s three toll roads and is expected to gain more as major transport projects, including the Takitimu North Link, are completed.<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty District Council infrastructure general manager Brad Singh said motorists would sometimes choose local roads, but the council had not done a detailed study to isolate the effects of toll avoidance.<\/p>\n

\"Western<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty infrastructure general manager Brad Singh. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

He said local roads potentially affected by toll avoidance included the Te Puke Highway and Pacific Coast Highway for the Tauranga Eastern Link and the soon-to-be-tolled Waiariki Interchange in P\u0101p\u0101moa East, and Minden Rd in Te Puna for the Takitimu North Link, once tolling begins.<\/p>\n

He said the council could not quantify the cost of toll avoidance because it was difficult to separate it from general traffic growth and development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council is not opposed to tolling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see this as a discussion about fairness rather than opposition to tolling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singh said increased use of local roads would ultimately require greater maintenance and renewal spending.<\/p>\n

He said if future work showed tolling was creating measurable costs on local roads, authorities might explore options to allow a portion of toll revenue to contribute to those network impacts.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

A new flyover linking SH29 and the Takitimu Drive Toll Road opened to traffic, marking a major milestone in the Takitimu North Link Stage 1 project. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

Tauranga City Council transport system operations manager Shawn Geard said the council would monitor traffic patterns around the Waiariki Interchange and Takitimu North Link as tolling was introduced.<\/p>\n

He said the council did not have enough evidence to determine the extent to which toll avoidance contributed to congestion or road wear.<\/p>\n

Geard said the council had previously supported the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill, which would enable councils to receive a share of toll revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council has previously supported tolling in principle as a means of funding new roads, provided this approach is applied consistently across New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill passed its second reading in June.<\/p>\n

A NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) spokesperson said some motorists chose alternative routes rather than toll roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a factor considered as part of tolling assessments and transport modelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency said it monitored traffic volumes on toll roads and surrounding networks but did not hold data showing maintenance costs caused specifically by toll avoidance.<\/p>\n

NZTA said toll revenue currently funded the purposes set out for each toll road and was not distributed to councils for local road maintenance.<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford said the Government was making greater use of tolling part of a more flexible approach to funding transport infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"Bay<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe starting point for new roads will be to look at whether tolling is appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutherford said as more Roads of National Significance were completed and tolled, road users across New Zealand would contribute to the cost of major new infrastructure, creating a more balanced national toll road network.<\/p>\n

The Takitimu North Link is a Road of National Significance and NZTA says stage one is due to be completed in 2028.<\/p>\n

It will run from Te Puna and connect to State Highway 2 at 15th Ave, and to the already-tolled Takitimu Drive\/State Highway 29 – formerly Route K – in Tauranga.<\/p>\n

NZTA\u2019s 2024\/25 Annual Report said the Takitimu Drive made $11.4m in revenue from 5 million vehicles in 2024\/25.<\/p>\n

The Tauranga Eastern Link\/SH2 had 4.1 million vehicles and $9.3 million in toll revenue.<\/p>\n

Tolls for users of the TEL\u2019s new Waiariki interchange are expected to begin late this year.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s third toll road is Auckland\u2019s Northern Gateway, which had $21.8m in revenue from 9 million vehicles.<\/p>\n

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a coroner slams our drinking culture, Trump brushes off AI concerns, and Celine is back. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Councils in and around New Zealand\u2019s most-tolled city, Tauranga, are backing an idea to receive a share of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15656,138,219,111,139,69,112],"class_list":["post-599571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-air-travel","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}