The cost of driving in NZ

[MotherBear]

ARC promises public consultation before fuel tax
5:00AM Wednesday May 23, 2007
By Mathew Dearnaley



Auckland local body councillors concerned about a new regional fuel tax are being assured the public will be consulted before decisions are made.

Some councillors expressed concern to the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee yesterday that it would be difficult to persuade their constituents to accept a new tax of up to 10c to pay for transport benefits that might not flow directly to them.

Franklin District councillor Jill Morris said the tax boundary should be north of her area "because we won't be getting much in the way of public transport".

Her concern was shared by North Shore City councillor Julia Parfitt, who said many of her ratepayers were unable to see benefits from the proposed tax, up to two-thirds of which is expected to go towards repaying loans to be raised for a $1 billion-plus rail electrification project.

More here .

[MotherBear]

Insurance won't stop boy racers
5:00AM Wednesday May 23, 2007
By Audrey Young



The insurance industry says the Government is mistaken if it believes compulsory third-party car insurance will stop boy racers.

Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven, who backs compulsory third-party insurance, has officials working on proposals to take to the Cabinet which he believes will change the behaviour of drivers.

Since the death of 20-year-old Scott Finn in Mt Maunganui on Saturday in an illegal car race, the Government has come under pressure from a mayoral task force pushing for alcohol bans and a review of car licensing and purchasing laws.

Mr Duynhoven said countries such as Australia, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands all had less of a problem with street racers because people needed insurance to buy a vehicle, and having affordable insurance depended on having a good driving record.

Insurance Council chief executive Chris Ryan said insurance companies would find a way to implement the policy, at a profit, if it became compulsory. But he said the industry had already told Mr Duynhoven it might not achieve the outcome he wanted.

More here .

[MotherBear]

New clean-car rules too costly, say dealers
5:00AM Monday May 28, 2007


The Government wants to set new emission standards.

New measures to tighten emission standards for imported vehicles will not work as most people cannot afford the approved cars, the Motor Trade Association says.

The Government wants to update existing standards for new vehicle imports, tighten standards for used imports and to test used vehicles when added to the national fleet.

The new standards would not affect vehicles already registered.

But MTA communications manager Andy Cuming said the proposal would not achieve what the Government wanted.

"Simply put, most of the people looking to update their older cars could not afford the cars being allowed in. There is an enormous number of vehicles that must be replaced so that our national fleet is at what is now deemed to be the acceptable standard.

"This is the result of close to 20 years of a virtually total deregulated vehicle importing environment. There are 2.6 million vehicles registered, and their average age is 12 years."

More here .

[MotherBear]

Fuel tax up to 5c backed for rail
By ADAM RAY - The Dominion Post | Saturday, 2 June 2007

Local authorities are preparing to sting motorists with a petrol price rise of up to five cents a litre to pay for urgent upgrades to Wellington's crumbling rail network.

Regional mayors and leaders have begun negotiations over the Government's fuel tax proposal, which will let regions levy a charge of up to 10c a litre to help pay for major road and public transport projects.

Greater Wellington regional council chairman Ian Buchanan said a tax of up to 5c a litre could be in place early next year, with revenue going into improving the reliability and frequency of rail services.

"We will take the earliest opportunity to use (the fuel tax) to bring our rail network up to the necessary standard."

Upgrading the network was the top transport priority in the Wellington region, he said.

"Everyone knows the big roading programmes are going to take a long time to get worked out. In the meantime we need to do something on the rail corridor."

The Government announced extra funding for Wellington rail upgrades in the Budget and has increased its share of funding for such projects, but more money was still needed, Mr Buchanan said.

A regional petrol tax for rail upgrades would be between 2c and 5c a litre.
"There's a reasonably high probability of it going ahead," he said.

This would leave up to 5c a litre available for roading - the maximum the Government proposes.

The levy would have to be paid by anyone buying petrol within the Wellington regional boundaries, including Kapiti and Wairarapa.

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast said the city was facing gridlock from increased traffic congestion and the best way to avoid this was by improving public transport.

"The public feedback has been strongly that we need to upgrade rail," she said.
All told, regional fuel taxes totalling 10c a litre would raise $35 million a year and support a $430 million loan.

The roading share could go toward a range of major projects, such as Transmission Gully, improvements to the Ngauranga-airport corridor, and better links between Porirua and the Hutt Valley.

"If you look at what is available from the regional fuel tax (for roading), you would have to say it's bugger all," she said.

The Government has told regions that the tax should be used for projects that would not be built under normal funding arrangements and that legislation to support the levy could be passed early next year.

Green Party Wellington transport spokeswoman Sue Kedgley agreed that rail upgrades were the top priority for the capital.

"Even with the extra money allocated in the Budget to assist with rail infrastructure in the Wellington region, years of neglect have taken a huge toll on the network."

The Green Party has threatened to withdraw support for fuel tax legislation if the Wellington region fixes the levy at 5c a litre to raise money solely for Transmission Gully.

From here .

[MotherBear]

Rich drivers switch to scooters
Sunday Star Times | Monday, 11 June 2007

Motorists are turning to two-wheeled transport because of rising fuel prices, traffic congestion - and a desire to be fashionable.

More than 17,000 mopeds and motorcycles were registered in New Zealand last year - a 65 per cent jump on 2004 figures. Over that same period, the price of regular petrol rose 35 per cent and diesel prices went up 48 per cent. Auckland had more bikes registered than any other region last year (7565) followed by Canterbury (2773), Wellington (2113) and Waikato (1546).

Sales manager Miles Allpress, who works at Retro Scooter in Auckland, says the rise is partly due to a bigger range of cheaper brands, many from China.

Vespa shop owner Goetz Neugebauer says students used to push sales, but the typical customer is now a high-earning professional in their late 20s to mid-40s.

"The people who come to me have got a Porsche or a big motorbike and use the Vespa for town."

Aucklander Kristian Larsen, 50, bought his 1500cc four-speed motorscooter three years ago when he moved to the inner city. He is a "dry weather scooter rider" and drives a car on rainy days. It costs $7 to fill up the scooter's tank, which takes him 250km.

"It's absolutely fantastic for commuting or doing anything in the central city because you can park it anywhere and manoeuvre it in places that you couldn't do a car."

It reaches speeds of 110km/h and can be ridden on motorways. He has avoided major accidents, although he has had "a couple of altercations" with other drivers.

"It does tend to sharpen one's survival instincts. Your attention span has to be 250 per cent."

The price of 91 octane petrol peaked at $1.76 a litre in July and August last year and has been fluctuating since then - prices reached $1.60 last week.

From here .

[MotherBear]

Small cars zoom over big ones in crash tests
Page 1 of 2 5:00AM Wednesday June 13, 2007
By Derek Cheng

Small cars like the Ford Focus outperformed bigger cars like Holden's Commodore in the latest crash tests.

The latest car crash-testing results dispel the myth that you have to be in a tank to be safe from harm on the road.

Six out of seven small cars earned the maximum five-star ratings and outperformed many larger vehicles in the latest tests from the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) and the European equivalent, EuroNCAP.

The results suggest a person is safer in a Mini Cooper or a Toyota Corolla than in a four-wheel-drive Grand Vitara or Hyundai Santa Fe (both four-star).

The five-star small cars - Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla hatch, Toyota Corolla sedan, Renault Clio, Mini Cooper, Peugeot 207 - also outperformed bigger brothers such as the Toyota Camry and the Holden Commodore (both four-star).

Ratings are based on tests which include a frontal-impact test at 64km/h and a side-impact test at 50km/h.

More here

[MotherBear]

They're giving this one another airing.

Oil recycled from fish and chips to fuel cars
5:00AM Thursday September 20, 2007
By Angela Gregory

What better than to fuel vehicles and machinery in a recycling plant with recycled oil - even if it does smell like fish and chips.

That was the view of a Waiheke Island trust which yesterday officially launched its own biodiesel production facility.

The operation, run out of an old farm building at Ostend, will produce enough first class fuel to run the adjacent recycling depot's trucks, diggers and machinery.

John Stansfield, director of Cleanstream Ltd which is a subsidiary of the Waste Resources Trust, said the biodiesel production was the culmination of two years work and research.

More here .

[MotherBear]

Petrol price war set to lure shoppers
Page 1 of 3 5:00AM Sunday September 30, 2007
By Chris Daniels

The latest round in the Battle of the Supermarket Titans has broken out - and the nation's petrol pumps is where the fighting is fiercest.

Shoppers are being offered a 10 cents per litre discount off fuel - if they buy more than $70 of groceries at either of the nation's two big supermarket chains.

The offer was first made by Progressive - the owner of Woolworths and Foodtown stores - with vouchers redeemed at Shell stations.

Foodstuffs - Progressive's rival in the national grocery duopoly - quickly responded with the same deal, allowing shoppers to get the same discount on fuel bought at either its own pumps or other BP stations.

Both of the deals end today, meaning shoppers have been given just a few days to take advantage of the new-style fuel price war.

More here .

[KiwiHopeful]

The big Pak 'n' Save in Chch usually offers a 10 cent voucher with $80 of groceries, but you have to buy the petrol at Pak 'n' Save's station. This week they've dropped it to $60, I guess in reply to the offer by the grocery stores.

[MotherBear]

Diesel vehicle prices 'likely to double'
5:00AM Monday October 01, 2007
By Steve Hepburn

The days of cheap diesel-powered vehicles appear numbered, with motor vehicle dealers saying proposed Government rules will in effect wipe them off New Zealand roads.

The Government is introducing new rules to help clean up vehicle emission standards and has signalled it intends to ban Japanese-imported, petrol-powered vehicles from 2000 or earlier when the rule becomes law next year.

But Frank Willet, technical services manager of the Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association, said the association believed the ban on petrol vehicles was to be softened while diesel vehicles were being clamped down on.

Now only some diesel-powered vehicles manufactured from 2003 onwards would be imported and Mr Willett said in effect this would double the price of these vehicles.

More here .