Yesterday the Auckland Transport Board made several key decisions at its first meeting of the 2023/2024 performance year. The board also heard presentations from four community and business groups - One Mahurangi Business Association, the Landowners and Contractors Association, Hauraki Express Limited, and Extinction Rebellion.

2023 Supplier Code of Conduct:

The Board heard that AT’s Supplier Code of Conduct needed to be updated in light of the Government’s proposed approach for mitigating the risk of modern slavery and worker exploitation in the supply chain. AT’s procurement team is also working on a Supplier Diversity Strategy and has designed the Supplier Code of Conduct so that it doesn’t disadvantage smaller suppliers. The Code was also peer reviewed by the Sustainable Business Network.

AT’s expectations of suppliers under the Code of Conduct will be clearly communicated with suppliers following the approval of the policy and reiterated at upcoming meetings with suppliers over the course of the year.

Decision: The AT Board approved the 2023 Supplier Code of Conduct

Funding Improvement Advocacy Plan and Reform:

The Board heard that AT has developed a funding improvement advocacy plan which focuses on five key areas and will help to support AT staff, the Board, Auckland Council and stakeholders in advocating on high priority transport funding issues.

The five funding improvement priorities are:

• Time of use pricing/congestion charging
• Reducing complexity in the system
• Fines and penalties (both parking and safety)
• Funding the costs of growth
• Reviewing the transport funding model

The Board also heard about the importance of longer-term certainty for funding – an example raised was the issues with funding certainty for operating public transport services.

Decision: The Board endorsed the AT Funding Improvement Advocacy Plan 2023

Tier 1 Policies:

1. Procurement
2. Privacy
3. COVID-19 Recovery

The Board discussed the potential for the COVID-19 Response Policy to be expanded to more broadly reflect how AT will respond to pandemics.

Decisions: The Board asked for the COVID-19 Response Policy to be redeveloped as a broader Pandemic Response Policy and brought back to the Board.

The Board approved the updated Procurement Policy.

The Board approved the Privacy Policy with the Customer Privacy Policy removed as an appendix.

The Board approved the shift of the Customer Privacy Policy to a tier 2 policy for any future amendments and noted the proposed updates to the Customer Privacy Policy and the AT Customer Data Opportunities paper.

Auckland Transport Purpose and Strategy:

The Board heard about the work completed to articulate AT’s Purpose and Strategy, which focuses on the tiaki role AT’s people play in working to plan for, care, conserve, and protect Auckland’s transport system.

The Acting Chair asked for further consideration of how this work reflects the benefits of decongestion across Auckland’s transport network for the freight and commercial transport sectors.

Decision: The Board endorsed the organisational Purpose and Strategy for AT.

Auckland Rapid Transit Plan:

The Board heard that the plan sets out a 30 year reference case for how AT envisages rapid transit could be rolled out across Auckland. The plan is underpinned by substantial analysis. This plan has been workshopped with both Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee and the AT Board. The plan will change as significant decisions about rapid transit projects are made.

There was discussion on delaying the endorsement of the plan until the October board meeting and post-national elections to allow for further work with Waka Kotahi teams to update the plan.

Decision: The Board agreed to reconsider the plan at a future meeting once further work has been completed between AT and Waka Kotahi.

Strategic Risks from Mega Rapid Transit Network Projects:

The Board heard about the importance of ensuring continued management of risk across mega rapid transit projects. A new risk area has been created for this for regularly reporting to the Finance and Assurance Committee.

Decision: The Board noted the addition of the new Mega Rapid Transit Network Project risk area and noted that the risk appetite for this risk will be presented to the Finance and Assurance Committee and AT Board for endorsement.

Planning for Investment in Auckland’s Transport System 2024-2034:

The Board heard about the changed processes for Auckland Council’s Long-Term Plan for the 2024-2034 period and how this relates to the Regional Land Transport Plan.

The Board discussed the timeframes and process for AT submissions/funding bids into the Long-Term Plan process.

Decision: The Board noted the item as requested in the paper. It also delegated authority to the Design and Delivery Committee to endorse a submission on the Long-Term Plan process at its meeting of 12 September 2023.

Safety Business Report:

The Board received an update about the work programme of the AT safety division. The organisation recently completed the DuPont Safety Survey – there was a 63.7% participation rate, compared with 35.3% participation for the 2021 baseline survey. The reportable injury rate has nearly halved during that period, with a measurable rise in the relative culture metric.

Violence, threats and aggression remains the predominant workplace health and safety concern. There were 611 deaths and serious injuries (DSI) across Auckland’s roads during the 2022/23 year. There is also a concerning trend with an increase in motorcyclist DSI and the team is working to understand the causes of this. There also appears to be an increase in crashes that have resulted from risk-taking behaviour from drivers.

Decision: The Board received the report.

Temporary Traffic Management Transformation:

The Board received an update about AT’s work to transform temporary traffic management (TTM) practices across Auckland. AT is leading a shift from a 20-year legacy from a very prescriptive and quite onerous TTM model to a risk-based approach. The historical approach has generally been a one-size-fits-all model with large numbers of cones and signs across the network. The new approach will see interventions targeted based on the size of the risk.

Decision: The Board received the update.

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You can find the agenda with all the details on each item here: Meetings & minutes

The next meeting of the AT Board will take place on Tuesday 26 September 2023.

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