File photo. Speed camera in Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The network of speed safety cameras planned for highways has been slashed from 800 to 250, but the cost per camera has doubled.
A larger network had been expected to cut deaths by 130 a year by 2030, and a smaller one by 57.
But a Treasury report shows the price was high - an 800-camera network would have cost $2.5 billion over 20 years.
Instead, NZTA has now cut that back to an estimated $1.677b, but deploying less than a third of the cameras it promised a year ago.
"The updated detailed business case for safety cameras (recently approved by the NZTA board) reflects a reduced number of cameras - around 250," the agency told RNZ this week.
"The operating costs will be significantly lower.
"We have aligned our proposal to reflect the priorities and fiscal constraints" of the new government policy statement (GPS) on land transport.
The government told RNZ the 800-camera network had been unfunded.
The new costs work out at $6 million per camera, compared to $3m in the larger network.
The cutback was revealed when RNZ queried why Treasury was ranking the cameras as the country's sixth most expensive project. Treasury said it got the information from NZTA, which said it was outdated.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the previous government had announced the business case for it, "but this was not funded".
"Ultimately, business cases do not save lives on our roads, and this government is delivering what has been funded and targeting the highest contributors of deaths and serious injuries on our road network so that we can improve safety on the roads," Brown said in a statement.
NZTA approved a business case in 2022 for a network that extended not just to high-risk corridors, but medium-risk ones, too.
The country had too few cameras, in the wrong places, the $10m business case said.
"NZ has the lowest number of safety cameras on its network compared with other jurisdictions, which limits our ability to reduce DSIs [death and serious injuries] effectively."
It estimated the 800-camera network would return $1.5b in net benefits to society.
The business case blanked out how many cameras were envisaged - NZTA a year ago said 800 - but stated, "Not enough cameras will be rolled out initially to make a difference across the road network in the first two years. It will likely take five years to see a measurable difference."
It also blanked out the cost-benefit ratio, though the larger network was estimated to cut death and serious injury by five percent by 2030.
Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
NZTA internal reports had said the expansion of the camera network could triple the number of speeding tickets issued to drivers, but as a deterrent also depended on raising the fines for speeding.
The government's new road safety strategy is based less on combating speed, and more on combating drugs and alcohol, including a new $72m incentive payment police get if they meet checkpoint and other targets.
NZTA is taking over the existing network of somewhat under 200 old cameras from police, with $20m at least spent doing that so far.
The plan now was to "install a limited number of new cameras", the agency said.
The new cameras can detect speeding between two points, and see inside cars, if drivers are using their phone or not wearing their seatbelt. Law changes are needed to prosecute these via camera.
"Affordability risks" around the network had already emerged by 2022. The detailed business case was meant to deal with those, with hopes pinned in part on the fancier cameras being more automated, reports show.
An earlier annual review referred to total safety camera project costs of just $116m.
The new National Land Transport Plan said $249m would be spent on it in the next three years.
Most of the network expenses are in operating costs in later years, including from leasing - not owning - the cameras. Reports refer variously to using between 100 and 400 staff to run the network.
The transport agency, under pressure over cost blowouts, has said it was "taking steps to make sure that all our work ... provides good value for taxpayers".
The first speed camera operated by NZTA rather than police began issuing tickets in June, on State Highway One near Kawakawa in Northland. It is not a smart camera - these were trialled around Auckland in 2022 and spotted a lot of drivers on their cellphones.
Waka Kotahi has renamed them as "safety" not speed cameras. They are being added into its existing network of over 2000 cameras for managing roads.
The business case showed the speed-safety cameras had to integrate with a lot of other speed management plans; these have been changed a lot under the new government.
Brown said the road policing investment plan had targets focused on the highest risks, especially alcohol and drugs, and this had boosted the number of breath tests already by 850,000 in 2023-24 over the previous 12 months, "saving 37 lives across the country".
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