New Zealand gov't finances massive funding to boost road transport

The New Zealand government on Tuesday announced the country's largest ever land transport spending program, promoting big increases in cycling and public transport spending.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the government would spend 13.9 billion NZ dollars (9.47 billion U.S. dollars) over the three years to 2018, up 15 percent from the last three-year period.

"The program will deliver on the government's priorities of increasing economic growth and productivity, improving safety, strengthening regional transport networks, lifting investment in public transport and cycling and ensuring value for money," Bridges said in a statement.

The biggest ticket in the program was 6.3 billion NZ dollars (4. 29 billion U.S. dollars) for the state highway network, but it also included a 21-percent increase in public transport spending to 2 billion NZ dollars (1.36 billion U.S. dollars) and a tripling of the budget for cycling to 251 million NZ dollars (171 million U. S. dollars).

The main opposition Labor Party criticized the program for ignoring needed projects outside the major cities, while the opposition Green Party said the government was throwing money at carbon-polluting infrastructure.

"For the price of one expensive motorway, we could electrify the entire North Island rail network and purchase new electric trains, but instead (state-owned rail firm) KiwiRail looks set to replace the existing fleet of electric freight trains with carbon- polluting diesel trains," Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said in a statement.

"No other country in the world is going backwards and replacing its clean electric trains with carbon-polluting diesel trains," she added. Endi