Transport Evidence Base Strategy Te Rautaki Whai Taunakitanga mō ngā Take Waka

Availability of transport resources (infrastructure and vehicles) and services can affect individuals’ ability to access economic and social opportunities and essential services (such as education, healthcare and employment). Inequalities in such provision can have material impacts on the wellbeing of individuals and communities. Individual and household characteristics, transport and housing costs can all influence location decisions of households, the transport modes available to them and their ability to take up low carbon transport option(s) or to alter their travel patterns or demand. 

This research aims to (i) conduct a literature review of the distributional impacts of climate change or climate policy by user type and other characteristics; (ii) using IDI data to examine the interrelationships between transport and housing costs, commuting needs, access to jobs and other opportunities and hence with emissions outcomes, by individual or household characteristics and location; and (iii) to support the Ministry building its capability in IDI research and analysis.

The TEBS Implementation Plan sets out the actions required by the sector to deliver the key evidence activities.

The Evaluation Programme provides an overview of our anticipated evaluation activities for the 3 year period starting 2021/22.

The TEBS Progress Report provides an update on progress in implementing the TEBS from 1 July 2019 to December 2020. This is the second report published.

The Evaluation Programme provides an overview of our anticipated evaluation activities for the 3 year period starting 2020/21.

The Evaluation Strategy, published as part of the TEBS, is a key accompanying document for this Evaluation Programme.

While this document specifies our anticipated evaluation activities between 2020/21 and 2022/23, the Evaluation Strategy outlines the approach to develop a culture that embeds evaluation into our policy life cycle, and improves the quality and efficiency of evaluation activities. 

The Evaluation Programme will be reviewed and updated as needed to ensure it continues to align with the Government’s strategic direction and is responsive to new evaluation requirements.

In 2017, we identified the need to collate transport-related research under the Research Strategy. The transport-related research register captures what research is underway and completed in New Zealand. It is updated twice a year.

The research register will be superseded by the New Zealand Research Information System (NZRIS) in the future.

The TEBS builds on the 2016 Domain Plan and Research Strategy and introduces an Evaluation Strategy, to recognise that evaluation forms an important part of the evidence base. It also captures the Government’s updated priorities for transport and incorporates our Transport Outcomes Framework developed in 2018.

It has a comprehensive approach consisting of complementary strategies and ongoing work programmes that collectively ensure the sector delivers an evidence-based transport system. To support the generation and use of the transport evidence base, 5 enablers were identified:

• Improve access.
• Improve governance.
• Invest in the right activities.
• Facilitate collaboration.
• Develop capacity and capability.

The TEBS also ensures we have:

• a framework to recognise Māori values in the collection, management and use of evidence relating to Māori
• a coordinated approach to delivering the right data, information and research and a framework to evaluate transport system policies and processes
• a shared understanding of the future challenges facing the transport sector from economic, social, cultural and environmental changes and our ability to respond to these
• a common set of evidence base enablers that describe the actions required to support generation and use of transport evidence.

Implementation of the TEBS is the responsibility of the government transport agencies in consultation with Local Government New Zealand and other key stakeholders from the wider transport sector.

A joint action plan will be developed to implement the recommended initiatives and identify individual and collaborative responsibilities.

In 2020, we awarded 6 graduate research scholarships to help outstanding students to complete research in fields deemed important to New Zealand’s transport sector.

The successful recipients were:

• Alice Evans, University of Canterbury.
  Research topic: Assessment of tsunami risk, exposure and evacuation capacity of remote coastal communities on the lower East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand.
• Lucy Groenhart, University of Auckland.
  Research topic: Valuing the costs and benefits of active mobility: A case study in Māngere, Auckland.
• Sienna MacArthur-Beadle, University of Otago
  Research topic: An educational narrative intervention targeting children’s pedestrian safety around railway level crossings.
• Lily McSweeney, University of Canterbury.
  Research topic: Scenarios for incentivising use of alternative transport in New Zealand: Travel demand management in Wellington and Christchurch.
• Yvonne Mitchell, University of Otago.
  Research topic: Perspectives of young New Zealanders on driver licensing and road safety.
• Fred Smithers, University of Auckland
  Research topic: Investigating the relationship between changes to urban density and transport patterns in Auckland since 2000: An in-depth analysis.

As part of the Research Strategy, Dr Debbie Hopkins from University of Oxford participated in an academic secondment from 2017–2019. She attended a series of workshops with New Zealand-based transport researchers and policy teams at the Ministry of Transport.

Her research took place from June to September 2018 and aimed to:

• better understand how our policy teams design policy options and learn about new topics, including the role of academic research
• develop awareness of the processes that some researchers used to try to make their research ‘policy relevant’
• identify points of (potential) overlap and synergy that could better facilitate communication between academic, research and policy transport communities.

Dr Hopkins published the report in December 2019.

This report provided an overview on the progress made since 2016 to put in place the Transport Domain Plan and Transport Research Strategy.

In particular, it provided an update on the 9 overarching initiatives and 23 high-priority data, information and research initiatives identified in the Domain Plan.

As part of the 2018/19 Evaluation Programme, we commissioned Schiff Consulting to evaluate New Zealand’s graduated driver licensing system (GDLS).

The evaluation:

• safety outcomes of the current Class 1 (driver) and Class 6 (motorcyclist) licensing systems
• safety-related effects of selected recent changes to the GDLS, including changes to penalties for driver licensing breaches, raising the minimum age, strengthening the practical tests, and the introduction of Competency Based Training and Assessment.

As well as the evaluation report, we published a technical report that provides more information about the methodology, including analysis and findings. Contact us to request a copy. Email evaluation@transport.govt.nz 

The plan and the strategy documents provided the strategic direction to ensure the transport sector had the right data, information and research to support evidence-based decision-making.

It took a coordinated approach to identify and fill important knowledge gaps. It also promoted greater collaboration between agencies to enable more efficient use of data collection, analysis and research resources.  

The Transport Domain Plan work was led by the Ministry of Transport, Statistics New Zealand, the New Zealand Transport Agency, the Civil Aviation Authority and Maritime New Zealand.

The Research Strategy was developed with input from across New Zealand’s universities, research consultancies and central and local government authorities.