NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / New Zealand

The decade-long plan to change Hawke's Bay's transport habits

Christian Fuller
By Christian Fuller
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
5 Feb, 2021 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Regional councillor Martin Williams says Hawke's Bay is "addicted to cars" and a substantial shift in transport is needed. Photo / File

Regional councillor Martin Williams says Hawke's Bay is "addicted to cars" and a substantial shift in transport is needed. Photo / File

Hawke's Bay is "addicted to cars" and a new plan to get 30 per cent of workers off the roads is needed, one of the region's transport bosses says.

Just 0.5 per cent of commuters in Hawke's Bay use public transport to get to work and it's causing "serious and fairly unique" transport problems, Hawke's Bay Regional Council regional transport committee chairman Martin Williams said.

He said the HBRC's "innovative" draft Regional Land Transport Plan (2021-2031) will be key to solving them, and will also aim to reduce road fatalities by 40 per cent in the next decade.

Last year, 25 people died from crashes on Hawke's Bay roads - the highest since the region suffered 27 road deaths in 2010.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Williams said the plan highlights three priorities: safety on roads, providing better, sustainable transport choices and ensuring an efficient and reliable transport network, particularly for freight.

The plan includes new proposed road safety measures including improved intersections and highway safety, as well as upgrades to the cycling network, road safety education and improving access to driver licensing and training.

In the 53-page plan, there's limited mentions of trains or commuter rail however, despite recent calls for a train from Central Hawke's Bay through to Hastings and Napier.

The plan notes that low demand and increasing costs ceased passenger services between Napier and Palmerston North in 2001, while a Napier to Gisborne route was cancelled after damage to the line caused by Cyclone Bola in 1988.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

HBRC senior policy planner Mary-Anne Baker said the plan noted rail's potential in helping to manage emissions and resilience in the transport network.

Williams said as a "big supporter of rail" it had not disappeared from his radar, and rail travel would complement the already busy roads in Hawke's Bay.

"It adds resilience, it's a climate change friendly mode of transport and it's efficient in terms of resource cost of sustaining."

People are encouraged to share their thoughts on the plan by February 28.

"Any death or serious injury on Hawke's Bay roads is one too many," Williams said.

"We want to get the number down by at least 40 per cent in 10 years, but we need the community's backing and support to get there."

While Napier's road death toll of nine in 2020 was one down on the 30-year high of 10 in 2019, numbers in both the Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay districts increased.

Hawke's Bay regional councillor Martin Williams says the Regional Land Transport Plan aims to reduce road fatalities in the region by 40 per cent in the next decade. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay regional councillor Martin Williams says the Regional Land Transport Plan aims to reduce road fatalities in the region by 40 per cent in the next decade. Photo / Warren Buckland

Williams said the plan will target how Hawke's Bay residents travel, with many "addicted to cars".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Hawke's Bay has a much higher private car ownership rate than it did 20 years ago, and an unhealthy dependency on private vehicles to get around.

"We're aiming to get 30 per cent of people travelling to work out of their cars, and a similar mode shift for students."

The councillor added that council need to provide "useful, accessible and affordable options" to encourage people to take up the alternatives to cars.

"Getting more people out of their cars and on the bus, biking or walking will go a long way to meet our objectives."

The plan stated that the use of public buses has declined from 799,000 boardings in 2013-14 to 645,000 in 2018-19, while nearly half of the region's rural state highway network is rated as two-star highways, meaning they have "substantial deficiencies".

The Road to Zero road safety strategy's first action plan sets out a range of key actions for 2020-22 across the five focus areas - infrastructure improvement and speed management, vehicle safety, work-related road safety, road user choices and system management.

The region did see an uptake of electric vehicles registered from 201 to 309 during 2019.

The plan has been prepared by HBRC alongside Napier, Hastings and Wairoa councils, as well as Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Williams also raised the importance of the efficient and reliable movement of freight around the region.

"Our transport network needs to be able to handle the movement of all the fruit, logs, meat and everything else that is vital to the wellbeing of our community.

"I'm encouraging the community to have their say on this – it's our future, and what you say matters. But as I see it, this plan can't be just about building more roads, or rolling out yesterday's solutions to tomorrow's problems."

Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Humbled': Stranger's heroic actions to save woman in Auckland harbour

Talanoa

Samoa's dengue outbreak claims sixth child as schools remain shut

New Zealand

Whanganui airport lands $3.35m for new taxiway


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Humbled': Stranger's heroic actions to save woman in Auckland harbour
New Zealand

'Humbled': Stranger's heroic actions to save woman in Auckland harbour

Police said they were "extremely proud and humbled" by this person's the actions.

11 Aug 04:49 AM
Samoa's dengue outbreak claims sixth child as schools remain shut
Talanoa

Samoa's dengue outbreak claims sixth child as schools remain shut

11 Aug 04:43 AM
Whanganui airport lands $3.35m for new taxiway
New Zealand

Whanganui airport lands $3.35m for new taxiway

11 Aug 04:19 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP