Author: Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

The government’s new National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) could easily have been renamed the “highway funding project”, given its intense focus on road building. Released yesterday, the plan outlines funding priorities for the next three years. If it comes to fruition, much of the spending will be driven into major highway schemes, and steered away from sustainable transport alternatives for the main cities. The programme allocates NZ$7 billion for state highway improvements between now and 2027, most of which goes to the newest iteration of the so-called Roads of National Significance (RoNS). On top of this massive highway bill, the…