Scaling up RUC ‘major challenge’
The “whim of politicians” will continue to be a key factor in shaping the direction of road user charging (RUC) and other transport schemes, conference delegates in Auckland have been told.
Scott Wilson, RUC client service leader for Australia and New Zealand at CDM Smith, a global engineering and construction firm, spoke of some of the issues around RUC in a speech at T-Tech 2025.
He was among a number of guest speakers on the opening day of the event run by Intelligent Transport Systems NZ (ITSNZ) at the University of Auckland this week.
Wilson, pictured, has more than quarter of a century of experience in transport policy and regulation, much of it centred around RUC. He told the audience at T-Tech 2025 that politics could not be escaped when it came to transport matters.
“Most of us pay fuel tax. It’s set by politicians who decide what the rate will be and where the money will be used when it’s collected,” he said.
“That’s the opposite to most services we use. We pay the telephone company, the power supplier and our internet provider directly. They decide on the investment strategy but transport remains a game played at the whim of politicians.”
He explained New Zealand was no different in this respect and faced the same falling fuel tax revenues as the rest of the world.
“Yet New Zealand raises about $2 billion a year, with most of that coming from heavy vehicles,” continued Wilson.
“RUC has replaced diesel taxes. It operates on a weight and axle basis that is efficient but quite expensive to run because it is a manual system. At the same time $750 million is collected automatically using RUC at no cost.”
Scaling up the existing 1.2 million units subject to RUC and capturing all New Zealand’s vehicles was identified as a major challenge.
“But we are seeing progress in Europe, and the US is rapidly adopting RUC, so the momentum will not slow,” said Wilson.
“That means the question is can we, and if so how, scale up New Zealand to follow Iceland’s model, where electric vehicles now pay and all others will soon follow?”
He said New Zealand was better-placed than Australia to make such a change after Victoria’s 2021 EV RUC laws were overturned as unconstitutional by the courts.
“We have two choices, enhancing what we do now or becoming future price-orientated through moving away from our manual systems and mandating data use as RUC is phased in.”
