Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee has welcomed the release today of an interim report from the cross-sector Road Maintenance Task Force.

The Government set up the task force in July last year to drive value for money and seek opportunities to reduce costs for road controlling authorities around the country.

Task force membership is drawn from the NZ Transport Agency, Local Government New Zealand, Roading New Zealand, road controlling authorities, the NZ Contractors’ Federation and the Association of Consulting Engineers NZ.

In the interim report the task force has identified four general areas for improvement:

• Adapting the business models currently used to deliver maintenance, renewals and operations;
• Improving procurement practices, which will also support the new business models;
• Improving prioritisation and optimisation of activities through level of service differentiation, and;
• Introducing consistent advanced asset management practices across the country among road controlling authorities.

Mr Brownlee said the report would now be shared with the wider roading sector for feedback before being finalised later in the year.

As part of the feedback process, the task force is organising a series of roadshows for local authorities and industry to help shape the final report.

Further information about the task force’s interim findings, including questions and answers, are available at www.nzta.govt.nz.