General

• Where are the toll roads?
• How much is the toll?
• How long do I have to pay my toll?
• How is the toll collected?
• What if I don’t want to pay a toll?
• I have received a toll payment notice but I wasn’t driving, what do I do?
• I have received a Toll Payment Notice but my vehicle did not travel on a toll road. What should I do?
• What happens if I sell my vehicle or buy a new one?
• How much was the toll increased, on 1 March 2019?
• How many times have the tolls been increased since the three roads were opened?
• Takitimu Drive: Waka Kotahi took over the road on 30 June 2015 and it became a State Highway two months later. Was there a change in toll price?
• What is the rationale for the toll increase?
• What is the legal basis of a toll increase?
• What does a toll tariff pay for?
• What is the breakdown of the current toll tariff?
• How many cars, motorbikes and heavy vehicles have travelled on the Auckland Northern Gateway, Tauranga Eastern Link and Tauranga Takitimu Drive each year since opening?
• What was the final construction cost for each of the following roads: Northern Gateway, Tauranga Eastern Link and Tauranga Takitimu Drive?
• Do taxpayers pay for toll roads?
• How much in total revenue has already been collected on the three toll roads since they opened?
• Where is the money collected from the toll revenues being spent?
• Other than financing the cost of construction, what else have the toll road payments been used on?
• How much has been spent on the toll roads since they opened?
• How much debt is left to pay on each of the three toll roads?
• What is the estimated date for each project to be fully paid off and the toll removed?

Where are the toll roads?

There are three toll roads in New Zealand:

• Northern Gateway Toll Road, State Highway 1, Auckland
• Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road, State Highway 2, Tauranga
• Takitimu Drive Toll Road, State Highway 29, Tauranga

View a map of toll roads

How much is the toll?     

Toll prices vary by road and depend on the type of vehicle you are driving.

See the full list of prices

How long do I have to pay my toll?   

We ask you to pay your toll within five working days of travelling on a toll road.

If you don’t pay in this time, you may be sent a toll payment notice for each unpaid toll. There is an administration fee of $4.90 per notice issued. Avoid the extra charge by paying your toll before or immediately after using a toll road.

Find out more about ways to pay. Or, better still, open an account(external link)

How is the toll collected?

The toll is collected through an electronic tolling system. This system uses cameras and sensors with optical character recognition technology to capture an image of a vehicle’s registration plate and assign the correct toll price, based on the size of the vehicle. Internationally, the trend of toll roads is to move to electronic collection.

View the 3D tolling animation to see how electronic tolling works(external link)

What if I don’t want to pay a toll?

There are free alternatives routes available if you choose not to travel on a toll road. There are signs letting you know the alternative routes. Look for signs with this symbol (Free route pic)

View the alternative routes

If you inadvertently travel on a toll road you are required to pay the toll.

I have received a toll payment notice but I wasn’t driving, what do I do?

If a vehicle registered to you travels on a toll road and payment isn’t received within five working days, you may receive a toll payment notice from us. If you weren’t the driver of the vehicle, you are able to transfer liability to the driver by completing a Statutory Declaration form.

Statutory Declaration form [PDF, 131 KB]

The minimum information we need for the new driver is their full name and postal address. If this information is not included we will be unable to process your form.

You can return this form to us at tollroad@nzta.govt.nz or to the postal address below:

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency - Tolling
Private Bag 11777
Palmerston North 4442

Please note, we must receive this form within 28 days of the issue date stated on your toll payment notice.

I have received a Toll Payment Notice but my vehicle did not travel on a toll road. What should I do?

Please contact us with the registration plate number and reference number on your notice so we can look into this for you.

What happens if I sell my vehicle or buy a new one?

Pay & Go tolls

Pre-purchased tolls will not transfer from your old to your new vehicle. If you have pre-paid tolls you can get a refund of these tolls:

View or refund unused tolls (external link)

Account

If you have a toll account, you need to update your registration plate details immediately. These will not update automatically.

Log into your account to update your listed vehicles(external link)

If you buy or sell a vehicle, you must also ensure you’ve updated the registered person details in the Motor Vehicle Register:

Sold or disposed of a vehicle(external link)

How much was the toll increased, on 1 March 2019?

The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi Board approved the consumer price-indexed increases in toll tariffs on the three toll roads – Northern Gateway Toll Road, Tauranga Eastern Link Toll Road and Takitimu Drive Toll Road - on 1 March 2019 as below:

How many times have the tolls been increased since the three roads were opened?

Since the opening date, the tolls have been increased 3 times for Northern Gateway, once for Tauranga Eastern Link and once for Takitimu Drive.  The table below shows the dates of increases and the corresponding toll tariffs:

Takitimu Drive: Waka Kotahi took over the road on 30 June 2015 and it became a State Highway two months later. Was there a change in toll price?

Yes, there was a reduction in the toll tariffs from $2.00 to $1.80 (light vehicles/cars) and $5.00 to $4.80 (heavy vehicles/bus) when Waka Kotahi took over the Route K (and renamed Takitimu Drive) as part of the State Highway networks. Below is the summary of the toll tariffs:

What is the rationale for the toll increase?

The toll increase is necessary to keep up with inflation and ensure the tolling of the roads remains on track to repay debt as planned. The increase in March 2019 were the first for Tauranga Eastern Link and Takitimu Drive since they opened in August 2015 and the third increase for Northern Gateway since it opened in January 2009.

When the Government approved the tolling arrangements, a key assumption was that the toll price would be increased by inflation to pay off the associated loan. There were also assumptions made about the number of vehicles that would use the toll road. Tolling the road from inception at the level required to repay the debt and interest would have significantly reduced the volume of traffic on the road, further increasing the toll rate necessary to repay the debt. It would have effectively meant there would be very little traffic on a new road.

What is the legal basis of a toll increase?

An Order In Council, the legal document covering a specific toll road, allows for the tolls to be annually adjusted in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index. To date, Waka Kotahi has increased the tolls about every three years instead of annually, which has reduced the number of increases customers have been exposed to, and reduced the costs involved in having a toll increase, such as signage changes etc.

What does a toll tariff pay for?

A toll fee pays part of three separate components:

1. Goods and Service Tax (GST).
2. Toll revenue – the amount designed for debt payment (principal and interest) in the case of Northern Gateway and Tauranga Eastern Link toll roads. In the case of Takitimu Drive, the amount designated is to recoup the $65m paid to Tauranga City Council plus opportunity costs.
3. Toll operating revenue – the amount retained by Waka Kotahi to operate the toll business.  This pays for the personnel costs, transaction charges (i.e. bank charges), depreciation, information technology support, maintenance and upgrades and other operating costs.

What is the breakdown of the current toll tariff?

How many cars, motorbikes and heavy vehicles have travelled on the Auckland Northern Gateway, Tauranga Eastern Link and Tauranga Takitimu Drive each year since opening?

What was the final construction cost for each of the following roads: Northern Gateway, Tauranga Eastern Link and Tauranga Takitimu Drive?

Total construction costs were funded from the National Land Transport Fund and supplemented by the use of debt facility from the Crown.

Do taxpayers pay for toll roads?

The total construction costs were funded from the National Land Transport Fund and supplemented by the use of debt.

For example, in the case of the Northern Gateway Toll Road, to advance the project and pay for the $375.7 million construction costs, the National Land Transport Fund funding of $217.7 million was supplemented by use of a $158 million debt facility from the Crown.

The National Land Transport Fund is a fully ring-fenced transport fund made up of fuel excise duty, road user charges, a portion of the annual vehicle licensing fee and income from the sale and lease of state highway property.

All revenue collected from transport users is dedicated to investment in land transport. 

The toll revenue collected is for the repayment of the debt and related interest costs, as well as the operating costs of the tolling systems. The toll applied to the toll road will be removed once the associated debt is repaid.

How much in total revenue has already been collected on the three toll roads since they opened?

The following table provides the total cash revenue collected:

*  including interest earned

Where is the money collected from the toll revenues being spent?

The toll revenue collected is for the repayment of the debt and related interest costs.

The toll operating revenues pay for the personnel costs, transaction charges (i.e. bank charges), depreciation, information technology support, maintenance and upgrades and other operating costs.

Other than financing the cost of construction, what else have the toll road payments been used on?

The toll revenue collected is for the repayment of the debt and related interest costs, as well as for operating costs of the tolling systems. It does not fund the ongoing maintenance and operational costs of the road itself, which are funded from the National Land Transport Fund under the State Highways Maintenance activity class.

How much has been spent on the toll roads since they opened?

Waka Kotahi does not record maintenance costs specific to the toll roads and maintenance contracts are network-wide rather than specifically road-based.  The toll revenue collected does not fund the maintenance and operational costs of the roads themselves. These are funded from the National Land Transport Fund under the State Highways Maintenance activity class.

How much debt is left to pay on each of the three toll roads?

The following table provides the information:   

What is the estimated date for each project to be fully paid off and the toll removed?

The following table provides the information. 

The modelling assumes that the toll revenues collected is for the repayment of the debt and related interest costs only and does not include on-going maintenance and operational costs of the road itself (e.g. repairs, resealing, etc.). The actual repayment date may vary from the dates indicated due to further interest rate changes, CPI changes and changes in traffic volumes.

The modelling assumes every 3 years CPI increase in tariff, the last increase was in March 2019 and the next increase starting July 2022.

Current modelling assumes a reset of the interest rates reflecting updated (and significantly lower) interest rates from the Treasury and Waka Kotahi’s Monetised Benefits and Costs Manual. 

_{1. There is no debt but the $65 million paid to Tauranga City Council plus its opportunity costs would be recovered from tolls on the road to be invested to generate transport benefits over time.}