Resources

This research draws on learning from New Zealand and other countries to meet the following research objectives:

to assess the need for health impact assessment (HIA), in the context of the New Zealand Transport Strategy and relevant legislation
to evaluate the role of HIA in land transport planning to date in New Zealand and explore barriers to the use of HIA
to understand the best point(s) for application of HIA within the New Zealand transport sector
to produce recommendations for better integration of HIA with other development processes in the transport context. Three data collection components were undertaken between September 2008 and January 2009:

an international literature review
a descriptive review of transport planning processes in New Zealand
four case studies examining application of HIA transport in New Zealand. Findings indicate deficiencies in current assessment processes and a need for HIA.

This study carried out in 1999–2002, attempted to demonstrate and quantify benefits of an integrated approach to traffic signalisation and management of urban street networks that straddle boundaries of Transit New Zealand and Local Authority jurisdictions. A methodology based on two traffic simulation computer models, TRANSYT11 and AIMSUN2, was tested. Salient aspects of the methodology are discussed and relevant issues identified. The methodology was applied to an assessment of the performance of a street network in the Auckland region (Manukau City), New Zealand. The analysis predicted potential improvements were achievable when one of the traffic management improvement techniques was used.  However, because of the large number and complexity of developmental issues, and the incompatibility of the two programs, the methodology was assessed as unsuitable as a practical tool for local road controlling authorities. Keywords: AIMSUN2, modelling, New Zealand, road, safety, traffic, traffic control, traffic models, TRANSYT11, VISSIM, VISUM

This project aimed to develop analytical methods for assessing energy risks due to a peak and decline in global oil production. Additionally to develop modelling capabilities to link these analyses to urban form. The aim was to provide a new capability for long term development planning. The need for communication between members of the community, councillors and practitioners with diverse backgrounds and interests are realised. Thus, the goal in modelling was to provide accurate risk assessment and clear visual-based communication of results. Keywords: energy, urban form, transport policy, modelling.

This research, carried out in 2003–2004, aimed to facilitate the recycling of asphalt mix, recycled asphalt pavement (RAP), and crumb rubber (CR) from waste tyres into New Zealand roads. The objectives were to allow for the revision of the appropriate specifications to encourage recycling of these materials and to use field trials to prove the performance of recycled and crumb rubber modified mixes in practice. Keywords: asphalt mix, crumbed rubber, hot mix, recycled asphalt, recycled rubber, roads, trials

An investigation into the feasibility of increasing the legal loads for heavy vehicles on New Zealand roads was begun in 1993. Roads carrying major flows of heavy vehicles in both the North and South Islands were identified, and those that have potential to be used as heavy transport routes were selected. These are routes that carry significant flows of heavy vehicles, and that have a clear purpose (eg mill to port). To evaluate the potential for increasing the legal gross weight of heavy vehicles that could be carried on these heavy tranport routes, the route between the wood-pulp mill at Kinleith, near Tokoroa in the centre of the North Island, and the Port of Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty, was taken as a pilot. The main concern was to evaluate the road geometry and vehicle weight constraints of the pavements and bridges along the pilot route.

This paper analyses the relationship between the multi-factor productivity of New Zealand businesses and the effective employment density of the areas where they operate. Quantifying these agglomeration elasticities is of central importance in the evaluation of the wider economic benefits of transport investments. We estimate that firms in an area with 10% higher effective density will have productivity that is 0. 69% higher, once we control for industry-specific production functions and the sorting of more productive firms across industries and locations. We present separate estimates of agglomeration elasticities for specific industries and regions, and examine the interaction of agglomeration with capital, labour and other inputs.

This report is of market research into the perceptions and views of road users about the state highway system in New Zealand. The research involved group discussions, a household survey and a survey of commercial road users. It investigated users' rating of the importance of 24 attributes of the state highway system and their assessment of the performance of the existing system against each attribute. It covered perceptions both of the state highway system as a whole and of particular routes. The report highlights those road attributes which users rate as important but for which, they consider, the present system performance is inferior. These are the attributes that warrant high priority for attention by Transit New Zealand.

This report describes the 2008/09 reformulation of the 2004–07 Ongoing New Zealand Household Travel Survey trips database into trip chains and tours. The reformulation required us to re-create programming sequences for key elements of the new datasets (segments, trip chains, tours, main mode and main purpose, and three different tour classification schemes) based on previous reformulation of the 1997/98 New Zealand Household Travel Survey dataset. The reformulated datasets permitted us to compare New Zealanders’ travel patterns in 1997/98 and over 2004–07. Thus, we can comment on some trends in New Zealander’s travel behaviour. Comparing the 2004–07 and 1997/98 datasets revealed that:

The mean number of trip chains per day (2. 3) and the mean number of tours per day (1. 3) were essentially unchanged. Both trip chains and tours were increasingly likely to have fewer segments.

Since 2000, the benefits of walking as a mode of travel have been recognised by the New Zealand government in a raft of policy statements and strategies. However, the Ministry of Transport acknowledges that there are a number of issues to overcome to encourage more walking. This research focuses on one of the key issues: namely, the delay experienced by pedestrians at traffic signals. Historically, New Zealand's approach to pedestrian delay has been minimal, with pedestrian issues considered primarily from the point of view of safety, rather than level of service or amenity. At traffic signals, pedestrians are often accommodated in a way that causes the least amount of interruption to motorised traffic, and signal cycle times can be long, leading to excessive pedestrian waiting times. This can lead to frustration, causing pedestrians to violate the signals and use their own judgement to cross, resulting in safety risks.

Bridge damage, especially due to pounding and unseating at expansion joints has been observed in almost all major earthquakes. It is the result of large relative displacements of girders, in excess of the designed gap width and seating length. Research shows that relative displacements of neighbouring bridge segments depend on the fundamental frequencies of the adjacent structures, spatially varying ground motions and soil-structure interaction (SSI). To evaluate the significance of the influence of these factors, three identical bridge models with a scale ratio of 1:125 were tested using shake tables. Another study involved one of these models pounding with movable abutments. Lastly, another scaled model of 1:22 was field tested to study the SSI effect in comparison with the fixed-base results. The scaled models were designed in accordance with the principles of similitude.