The Government’s ambitious Road to Zero strategy has hit a speed bump with plans for the rollout of new safety cameras in Tāmaki Makaurau delayed due to the war in Ukraine
A plan to accelerate the rollout of speed cameras in Auckland has been pushed out due to the war in Ukraine.
Waka Kotahi’s Safety Camera System Programme is a key component of the agency’s Tackling Unsafe Speeds package, which comes under the Road to Zero plan.
The goal is to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 40 percent by 2030 with Waka Kotahi modelling showing with more safety cameras there would be between 85 and 140 fewer deaths and serious injuries each year.
About 135 fixed camera sites and mobile safe speed cameras currently operate across the country under an “anytime, anywhere” model. The Government has not yet revealed how many more cameras in total will be added to the network.
Waka Kotahi, along with Auckland Transport and police, had wanted to accelerate the safety camera rollout in Auckland, with the aim to start having the additional cameras installed near the end of 2022.
“To date, the acceleration project has identified 28 corridors from a long list of 71 high-risk corridors determined by the Road to Zero intervention model,” a briefing to Transport Minister Michael Wood said.
“Auckland Transport is currently confirming cellular signal strength and approval from the power supplier to install at the chosen locations and working through a detailed site design phase,” officials wrote in July.
However the ongoing war in Ukraine has forced the plan to change tack.
“Waka Kotahi has placed orders for Redflex HALO systems for use in this project. However, Redflex has advised that delivery is unlikely before June 2023 due to the war in Ukraine and compounding Covid-19 impacts.”
The project now plans to repurpose 10 fixed cameras operated by NZ Police instead.
“This interim solution would mean that enforcement capability could be enabled immediately on the 10 identified high-risk locations across Tāmaki Makaurau under the current NZ Police operating model.”
Waka Kotahi and Auckland Transport told Newsroom the cameras from police were newer models than the ones reported on by RNZ in August, which were reported to be ineffective at picking up speeding drivers.
An Auckland Transport spokesperson said construction for the 10 sites would begin in the coming weeks.
“The 10 cameras in Auckland are expected to be installed in early 2023 following site construction and testing ... Ahead of being installed, the cameras will be tested to confirm their accuracy and tested again once in situ.”
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said some of the new safety cameras had arrived but were, at this stage, only being used for testing and trials.
“No decisions have yet been made about how many, when and where the new generation cameras will be used for enforcement. We continue to work with our suppliers to mitigate supply chain risks and ensure that we have cameras available when they are required.”
Testing on the HALO cameras is expected to be finished by November with approval for use soon to follow.
Officials told Wood the first phase of the safety camera expansion plan - which has been penciled in for completion by mid-2024 - would be challenging to achieve due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
This includes timing around the transfer of speed camera functions from NZ Police to Waka Kotahi - something Cabinet signed off on in 2019.
The agency’s plan has so far identified 400 potential sites for new safety cameras across the country but notes about half of these are impractical for installing a camera.
