Why it's important to submit
The new Government's Draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (PDF, 2.3MB), known as the draft GPS, is a big disappointment for pedestrians. Newsroom covered some of the key problems:
“Funding for walking and cycle paths is set to nearly half from next year, while a change to the funding source for roadside footpaths could stretch that bank account even thinner.
“In his ... draft government policy statement, Minister of Transport Simeon Brown simultaneously decreases funding for walking and cycling while restricting all footpath construction to this newly-limited part of the budget.”
In Living Streets Aotearoa’s media release commenting on the draft GPS, we said:
“A GPS that was truly focused on economic efficiency and safety would include much more investment in walking. We’re concerned that the Government is putting the lives of pedestrians - especially children and elderly and disabled people - at greater risk to promote its car-focused transport agenda.
“For the sake of our communities, for the sake of our health, and for the sake of our climate, New Zealand needs pedestrian-friendly transport policies.”
How to submit – and some suggested points to make
Submissions on the draft GPS are now open. They close at 12pm on 2 April 2024.
The Transport For All coalition has produced an excellent submission guide which does a lot of the work for you in creating your submission. But we suggest you also:
1) Talk about your own experience, and that of your whānau or family, and your community. What makes walking good for you? What are the barriers? How could and should the Government making walking better? If you're a parent, what do your children need, in terms of vehicle speeds and safe footpaths, to be able to walk safely to school and around your community?
2) Include some specific submission points about walking, such as:
- Walking and cycling should not be lumped together into the "walking and cycling improvements" funding category. Each is important and each should be funded separately. The Government should create a separate "walking improvements" funding category.
- Walking funding (and cycling funding) should be increased, not slashed. Walking should receive at least 10% of the overall transport budget.
- The proposal that new footpaths can only be funded from within the walking & cycling improvements category is a huge backward step. Footpaths alongside new roads should be provided and paid for out of the roading budget, and footpath maintenance shoiuld be paid for out of the road maintenance budget.
- Increasing vehicle speeds will put pedestrians crossing the road at greater risk of death and serious injury. The recently-introduced measures to reduce vehicle speeds were a step in the right direction, and should be maintained and strengthened. Roads should be made safer for all road users. (Please talk about what safer speeds mean for you and your family.)
- The increased prevalence of very large vehicles are making roads less safe. These vehicles have been found in the US to be more likely to be driven into pedestrians, and more likely to kill them. New Zealand needs to adopt measures to deter the use of these vehicles in urban settings.
We encourage everyone to submit strongly in support of funding walking well and including walking as a central feature of all transport projects.