Announcements

Road Controlling Authorities Forum event

Tuesday 6 September 2022, 9.00am-4.00pm in Wellington

This is your chance to hear from Hon Michael Wood on
funding challenges, greenhouse gas emissions and inter-regional public transport.

Read more...

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency are undertaking engagement with the local community about current speed limits along State Highway 56, within the Manawatū-Whanganui and Horowhenua Districts.

Public engagement for the SH56 Palmerston North to Ōpiki speed review is now live until 5pm on Monday 11 July 2022.

For further information about this speed review or to use the interactive online feedback map, please visit www.nzta.govt.nz/pn2opiki

Waka Kotahi’s Asset Management Data Standard (AMDS) team have released a number of provisional and stabilised assets classes.

The output files for these asset classes are available on the AMDS website. Please send the AMDS team feedback by email

Waka Kotahi will continue to build out data classes that support the operation of their network in collaboration with the sector.

Implementation of the Asset Management Data Standard (AMDS) will be Road Controlling Authority (RCA) led. This approach recognises that RCAs are different and have individual operating environments. It provides RCAs with flexibility about how they manage their AMDS implementation.

AMDS implementation is phased over five years starting 1 July 2022 and completing by 30 June 2027, when it is expected that all RCAs will have adopted AMDS.

There are a number of activities RCAs and sector partners can do now to prepare for implementation.

Join our May webinars to learn about programme progress, Tranche 1 and 2 planning updates, and how you can prepare for implementation.

To support RCAs, Waka Kotahi will provide an Implementation Playbook which includes guidance, tools, and templates to use during the adoption of AMDS.

Waka Kotahi is directly contacting all RCAs to discuss the implementation of AMDS.

We are excited to confirm the next Forum will be on 21 April 2022 via Zoom from 08.30 to 12.30pm.

Do you think about how reforms will impact your Council?

Do you think about how you will respond to these changes?

Do you think about how these reforms can be brought together as a cohesive whole?

If you do, register for the April forum now.  Registrations close 18 April.

Amendment 4 to the 3^rd edition of the Waka Kotahi Bridge manual has been drafted. The majority of the changes being proposed are technical in nature, conform to appropriate best practice in New Zealand and overseas and will have a generally neutral cost implication. There are however some changes that will have an effect on the cost of building or maintaining bridges and other highway structures.

The amendment has been developed in conjunction with the industry and is offered here for comment.

Waka Kotahi is developing new guidance for temporary traffic management to keep people safe on Aotearoa New Zealand’s roads.

Waka Kotahi has released the draft New Zealand guide to temporary traffic management with an emphasis on a risk-based approach to prioritise the safety of all road users including people walking, on bikes, driving vehicles and the many New Zealanders who work on our roads.  It has been developed with  input from across the sector and international practices to help contribute to Road to Zero, New Zealand’s road safety strategy, where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.

Waka Kotahi are leading the build of Aotearoa New Zealand’s first collaboratively developed voluntary open data framework for the transport sector.

The framework is being designed so it’s relevant for the whole sector—individuals, community groups, academia, private sector, government, and more.

Consultation has closed, but you can still check it out:  https://nzta.mysocialpinpoint.com/transport-open-data-framework#/

The Land Transport Act 1998 (LTA) has been amended in  response to COVID-19 to allow notices required to be sent under the LTA, to be sent electronically by email, on a temporary basis.

For more information, go to https://www.knowledgehub.transport.govt.nz/topic-hubs/local-government-hub/.

WasteMINZ is looking at developing a guide around management and disposal of coal tar in the road corridor. The guide is intended to provide direction on identifying coal tar embedded in asphalt or sub-base materials within the road corridor, options for managing it and disposal. From the work AT has done in Auckland (and presented at the RCA Forum a couple of years ago), we know that AT rarely finds coal tar during road corridor works.  We also know that Christchurch does identify coal tar more frequently as a result of the earthquakes, and management/disposal of the material is a concern.

What we don’t know is the prevalence of coal tar in the road corridor across NZ and whether other RCA members have an issue with it – either as an asphaltic material or in sub-base layers. The working group is keen to understand the prevalence and whether the proposed guide is likely to be useful to NZ RCAs.

Join one of the end of year sessions to learn about Waka Kotahi AMDS programme updates.

Times and dates:

• Tuesday 30 November 2021, 10am – 11am
• Thursday 2 December 2021, 3pm – 4pm

Location: Zoom

Register to attend one of the sessions

This is to advise you of the upcoming annual general meeting of the members of the Road Controlling Authority Forum (NZ) Incorporated.

The meeting will be held Via Teams Meeting on Friday, 26 November 2021 at 2.00 pm to 2.30 pm.

Email the RCA Forum to advise of your attendance and to receive the agenda and calendar invite with the teams link.

Waka Kotahi M23 is a specification document for road safety hardware, including road safety barriers.

M23 is being updated and Waka Kotahi are seeking feedback by 4 November, from Traffic Engineers or people working with safety hardware installations who use the specification.

The main changes to M23 from the previous 2009 are:

Waka Kotahi has published an updated version of the Standard Safety Intervention toolkit.  This toolkit provides guidance for road safety practitioners on the effectiveness and value-for-money cost range of proven safety interventions to reduce the number of people killed and seriously injured on Aotearoa roads.

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Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has recently published research report 680 Dynamic clustering and transport appraisal.

Research snapshot
Transport projects are increasingly used to transform places, rather than just to increase or improve transport links. One example is the ‘dynamic clustering’ (increased density) of businesses, residences and people in areas affected by the project, which should be included in its appraisal.

The Te Ao Māori Transport Knowledge Hub is a forum to share information/knowledge about Te Ao Māori matters within the transport sector.

This Hub provides a platform for iwi and hapū Māori partners, government stakeholders, academics and Māori organisations to identify and prioritise the main evidence gaps relating to Māori in the transport sector, and to collectively work towards addressing these gaps through further research.

WorkSafe (with input from industry and Waka Kotahi)  has drafted good practice guidelines for road and roadside worker health and safety.  This draft is now out for industry consultation.  If you would like  to review the draft and submit feedback, please see the following link.  The consultation period closes 13 September 2021.

Road and roadside worker health and safety good practice guidelines.

RCAF members are invited to provide feedback on draft versions of two key environmental standards and tools Waka Kotahi uses to guide the implementation of their infrastructure projects.

The Screen and Standard are a requirement for any projects funded by the NLTF.

To help with the planning process for upcoming RCA forums, a short survey that asked forum members to indicate their level of interest for nine different topic areas (and 53 proposed individual topics) was sent to all forum members (identified by RCAF).

As part of the Government’s commitment to taking action on climate change, the Minister of Transport released Hīkina te Kohupara – Kia mauri ora ai te iwi – Transport Emissions: Pathways to Net Zero by 2050.

The Ministry of Transport’s document sets out potential pathways to design out emissions across our transport system and move Aotearoa towards a net zero carbon transport system by 2050.

It was wonderful to see those of you who could make it to the 4 June 2021 RCA Forum (check out our photo gallery for photos of the day).

Thank you to members who provided us with feedback. Here are a few quotes about the day:

“Great range of topics and speakers and
chance for networking/hearing others’ issues”

“Was very informative”

 “Excellent speakers”

A new Road Rail Working Group is being set up to address some of the issues facing the sector and we are looking for representatives.

The purpose of this working group is to identify, prioritise and seek to address a range of road-rail issues that currently impact local government.

Future-Fit Aotearoa:  Unlocking our Potential

It’s on 7-9 September in Auckland and registrations are now open.

More info on the conference can be found here https://www.futurefitconference.co.nz/

There is currently a vacancy on the New Zealand Utilities Advisory Group Board to represent the RCA Forum.

Expressions of interest is open to all RCA members.  Please email [email protected] for consideration.

Waka Kotahi are reviewing speed limits on 11 corridors in Northland and North-Auckland, and from 3 May through until 14 June they are actively seeking people’s feedback on ways they can improve safety on these roads.

Online drop-in sessions will be taking place on Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 May, 2021 to answer all questions – Register today to attend one of these sessions.

We are delighted to confirm the next Forum will be on 4 June at Rydges Airport hotel in Wellington. Register for the June Forum now.

The theme for the Forum is GPS2021 – Working together to meet our future funding challenges.

We are pleased to announce Steve Mutton is the new Chair of the RCAF.

The survey is now closed.  The Executive Committee will meet on the 21st of May to discuss the results of the survey and future work programme.

The RCA Forum Executive is keen to hear from you. COVID-19 has put a halt to the networking programme during 2020 and the plan is to gear up to deliver a rich and interesting programme over the next three years. If you haven’t already, please engage in a short survey that will help us develop the programme to meet your needs. You can access the survey here if you haven’t already received it.

Our website is now refreshed and designed to provide easy access to the resources you need to make better decisions in your roles.