Restructuring land transport in New Zealand

Restructuring of governmental activities in New Zealand calls for public enterprises to operate in competitive environments. This has created problems for highways and urban passenger transport. Whereas the national airline has been privatized and railways corporatized, legislation for land transport has created a Crown agency that is expected to operate commercially within funding and policy constraints. The problems are assessed as Transit New Zealand attempts to allocate state funds between competing projects using commercial criteria. New roles have been legislated for regional agencies and local governments: they are expected to either privatize service delivery or create public corporations to maintain highways and operate passenger transport. Principles underlying restructuring are examined, and suggestions are made on how agencies might take advantage of opportunities.