Frequently Asked Questions
- Length of variable speed limits for schools on high-volume roads
- Length of time the variable speed limit operates before and after school
- The implementation schedule timing i.e. changes to be introduced early or later in the 2024-27 period
- Future areas proposed for speed limit changes
- Changes to proposals for rural road speed limits
- The function of the road, i.e. is it a quiet residential street or a main arterial route
- Speed thresholds for crash survivability
- The number of people using the road who are outside a vehicle
- Assessments of road safety risk
- Any plans for installing road safety infrastructure to reduce the risk of harm for people outside vehicles, for example, bike lanes or raised crossings.
What is the Healthy Auckland Together (HAT) Safe Speeds scorecard report? Where can i read it?
Healthy Auckland Together is a coalition of groups advocating for safe and healthy environments. This independent group has carried out the analysis of the Katoa, Ka Ora safe speeds proposal and produced the scorecard.
Read the safe speeds scorecard report here.
Listen to The Panel with Wallace Chapman interview with Dr. Alistair Woodward of HAT here. (at 11:15 minutes)
Why is my street/school not included in Katoa, Ka Ora 2024-2027?
The Auckland road network has approximately 7,500 kms of roads. This is too large to change speed limits all at once, so changes are planned and introduced in stages, or phases.
Between June 2020 and February 2023 three phases of the Safe Speed Programme introduced safe and appropriate speed limits to approximately 39% of the network.
Katoa, Ka Ora 2024-27 proposes to introduce safe speed limits to another 24% of Auckland’s roads, making a total of 63%. Remaining roads will be included in future phases of the Safe Speed Programme.
Our priority is to install safe and appropriate speeds outside all schools by the end of 2027. Schools that have not been included in this round of proposed changes, or previous phases of the Safe Speeds Programme, will be included in the next phase of the programme.
How can I request to have my street/school added to the proposal?
Requests for speed limit changes on streets or near schools that are not included in Katoa, Ka Ora 2024-27 can be made through the consultation survey on the project webpage. These requests will be considered for including in a future phase of the plan.
Or, you can send feedback in writing, and a case will be issued to track your request. Please email -
ATspeedprogramme@AT.govt.nz
Why are zones different sizes for permanent and variable limits? And why are some changes so far away from school locations?
The proposed permanent speed limit zones are different sizes and shapes as the roads inside a zone are usually quieter residential streets that are bordered by higher traffic roads where it is more appropriate to have a higher speed limit.
Two different types of changes are proposed for schools:
Permanent speed limits - these would operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Usually they are used in groups of roads in residential neighbourhoods or in town centres where there are lots of people outside vehicles walking and cycling. For urban areas 30 km/h is the limit proposed.
Variable speed limits - these only operate at certain times of the day and are “on” when the speed limit is displayed on an electronic sign. Variable speed limits are usually used on urban or rural roads with higher traffic volumes.
AT’s customer research tells us that parents are so concerned for the safety of their children that they feel they have to drive them to the school gate. For children to feel safe walking, or biking, to school, they need to be safe for the whole journey from home to school, not just around the school gate area. If more children and parents felt safer to walk or bike to school everyone would benefit from the reduction in school pick-up and drop-off traffic.
Will the new school speed zones only operate before and after school?
Permanent safe school zone changes will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Permanent speed limits are used in groups of roads in residential neighbourhoods or in town centres where there are lots of people outside vehicles walking and cycling. For urban areas 30 km/h is the limit proposed.
Variable speed limit zones usually operate when children are going to and from school at the start and end of the school day. But they can also operate at other times when the variable speed limit sign is turned on. This could be when school is finishing early or there are a lot of children getting on or off a bus parked on the road to go on a school trip.
The Katoa, Ka Ora consultation survey asks for feedback on a proposal to standardise the operating times of variable speed limit signs. Currently, variable speed limits are individual to each school and are not consistent for all of Auckland.
What sort of signs will the new school zones have?
Permanent safe school neighbourhood zones are proposed to have static signs with a permanent 30 km/h limit.
Schools where a variable speed limit is proposed will have electronic signs displaying the speed limit when the speed limit applies. When these signs are off permanent signs indicate the speed limit.
Variable speed limits proposed on less busy roads may have a static variable speed limit sign, as they are cheaper than electronic signs.
Image: Static variable speed limit sign example.
Will my street or school get infrastructure like a speed table or raised pedestrian crossing to lower speeds and help children cross the road?
Katoa, Ka Ora is a speed management plan which focuses on setting safe and appropriate speed limits, especially around schools.
Any request for new infrastructure will be recorded and considered separately from the Katoa, Ka Ora consultation. Installation of infrastructure is dependent on funding being available.
There are already speed bumps to slow drivers down on roads in my area. Why does the speed limit have to change as well?
Speed tables or bumps are an effective way to reduce speeds by slowing the vehicle down to cross the ‘bump’. This helps protect all road users, especially on roads where vehicles travel faster.
Where physical speed calming (e.g. speed tables or bump)s is already installed, a lower speed limit is often set, so the speed limit matches the slower vehicle speeds.
What decisions are the public able to make as part of the consultation?
Central Government Legislation says that road controlling authorities must use reasonable efforts to implement safe speed limits around schools by 31 December 2027.
By consulting on the draft speed management plan, AT is seeking local knowledge and insights from the community that may change the final proposal that is put forward to the Regional Transport Committee for approval.
Changes influenced by the public could include:
It is important to note that while all feedback will be reviewed and considered, this consultation is not a public vote.
AT will make the final recommendation to the Regional Transport Committee in line with their statutory and regulatory responsibilities as a Road Controlling Authority.
When will the speed limits change?
Public feedback on the proposed changes will help us prioritise when they will happen over the three-year period between 2024 and 2027.
When speed limits are scheduled to be changed in any area, local residents and businesses will be informed.
How will the new speed limits be enforced?
Auckland Transport can set speed limits, but we rely on our road safety partners, the NZ Police, to manage enforcement.
Research shows that reducing speed limits has a positive effect on reducing driver speed and improving safety. Drivers already usually drive at sensible speeds in the residential areas around schools. These areas are mainly where lower speed limits are proposed and we don't expect heavy enforcement will be needed. AT monitors vehicle speeds after any changes have been made to see if targeted enforcement is necessary.
However, we understand that some drivers will continue to travel at inappropriate speeds. We will work closely with the NZ Police to identify any problem areas where increased enforcement may be needed to help with compliance.
Why is 30kmh the new speed limit in so many places? Who decides what is a safe and appropriate speed?
The Setting of Speed Limits Framework provides the guidance for identifying the safe and appropriate speed limits for all streets and roads in New Zealand.
The guidelines consider many factors before recommending a speed limit, including:
The focus of Katoa, Ka Ora draft speed management plan for Auckland is to install safe and appropriate speeds outside all schools by the end of 2027. Some town centres, where there a lots of people moving around outside vehicles, and other areas requested by Local Boards, are also included in the plan.
It’s not speed, it’s drunk drivers/ drugged drivers/hoons/not wearing seatbelts that’s the problem. Why are you targeting safe drivers?
Evidence shows more than 70 per cent of fatal crashes in Auckland involve speeding. Even when speed doesn’t cause the crash, it’s what determines whether anyone is killed, seriously injured, or walks away unharmed from that crash.
Speeding is not just travelling above the designated speed limit, but also driving too fast for the conditions (wet weather, curves, gravel roads, traffic, areas with lots of pedestrians).
An AA NZ study has found that reckless behaviours are involved in slightly less than half of fatalities, and only 29% of serious injury crashes. While some deaths and serious injuries are related to reckless behaviours, the majority are law abiding citizens who make a mistake, misjudgement or have lapse of concentration.
Auckland Transport runs a range of training programmes for young drivers. Learn more about these programmes in the Young Drivers section of the AT website.
The evidence shows safe speeds is working. We know that where safe and appropriate speed limits have been implemented injuries and deaths have reduced. Data from the first phase of speed limit changes made in June 2020, showed a 30 percent reduction in deaths and a 21 percent reduction in serious injuries. In comparison, across all Auckland roads for the same time period (24 months), road deaths increased by 9 percent – so using speed as one lever definitely works in reducing death and serious injuries.
We have had the current speed limits for years and there’s never been a crash on my street. What evidence is there that the speed limit needs to change?
Speed limits in New Zealand were set almost 100 years ago at 100kmh and 50kmh. They were the same as those used in the United Kingdom and did not consider the types of roads common in New Zealand.
Setting safe and appropriate speed limits is about keeping everyone safe, healthy, and well on our roads and streets. New Zealand road death and serious injury statistics are very high, especially when compared to other countries. We need to do more to keep everyone using our roads safer, especially people who are outside a vehicle.
Data from international research shows that for people using the road who are outside a vehicle e.g. people walking, cycling, on a scooter or a mobility scooter or a motorbike, a reduction in vehicle speed from 50km/h to 30km/h translates to a 90% chance of surviving a crash.
We have looked at the road network as a whole, so that the proposed changes are consistent, make sense and avoid speed limits changing too frequently.
Find out more about the reasons for speed limit changes at this link.
Is speed that much of a factor in crashes?
Speed is a factor in around 70% of injury crashes in New Zealand.
Speed causes some crashes, because going faster makes it harder for the driver to take in everything going on and we travel further before we stop.
But even when speed hasn’t caused a crash, it’s the single biggest factor in whether someone lives or dies.Two out of three road deaths and serious injuries in Auckland involve someone outside a vehicle. When we’re not in a large metal box, small changes in the speed of vehicles are the difference between being hit or not, and if hit the difference between life and death.
Find out more about the reasons for speed limit changes at this link.
Why don’t you just fix the road - fill the potholes and seal the roads?
When setting speed limits the focus is on data and evidence. You can read more about the guidelines used for setting speed limits in New Zealand in the Speed Management Guide.
Speed is a factor in around 70% of injury crashes in New Zealand. Potholes are a factor in less than 0.1% of crashes.
Potholes are a maintenance matter and are funded separately to the safe speed programme. You can log a request to have a pothole fixed via the Contact Us section of the AT website. Click the "Roads" icon to log your request.
What else is AT doing to make Auckland’s roads safer for everyone?
Auckland Transport has a wide safety progamme to improve road safety and reduce the number of people killed or injured on Auckland roads.
Setting safe speed limits is only one part of the safety programme. Other areas of work to improve safety for everyone using Auckland roads includes making changes to infrastructure, for example making intersections safer, partnering with the NZ Police, running a range of driver education, and installing safety cameras.
Learn more about the range of road safety programmes run by Auckland Transport in the Road Safety section of the website.
Why is AT continuing with speed limit changes when the Government has changed the approach to speed management?
The central government announced recently that the State Highway speed management plan has been narrowed in scope. Auckland Transport does not manage state highways and this change does not affect AT’s legal obligation to complete a regional speed management plan for Auckland.
Under the Government’s Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022 (the Rule), all road controlling authorities across New Zealand, including Auckland Transport, are required to develop speed management plans. Katoa, Ka Ora is the name of the draft speed management plan being developed for Auckland.
Where is the evidence that lowering speed limits prevents or reduces death and serious injuries? Is it working?
In the Auckland areas where speed limits were changed on 30 June 2020, road deaths have decreased by 30%, compared to a 9% increase on roads where speed limits were not changed. (Calculated over the 24-month period July 2020 to June 2022).
In the same timeframe Injuries also reduced. If this saving of death and serious injuries is projected forward over the next decade, this equates to saving of over 200 lives and serious injuries.
Further information is available on the Safe Speeds webpage.
How is slowing traffic consistent with Climate Change and Emissions reductions plans?
While safety is the reason for speed management, it also helps with reducing emissions.
Recent research shows although changes in vehicle speed can affect emissions, the overall impact in Auckland is expected to be small.
To reduce vehicle emissions, we need to encourage more use of public transport, walking and cycling. By making it safer to walk and cycle, speed management is a critical component of our emission reduction pathway for Auckland and New Zealand.
Read the summary of the Emission Impossible Limited research report.
Further reports are available on the Safe Speed webpage in the Environment and Climate Change section.
Won’t lowering speed limits just increase journey times and create congestion?
We acknowledge that lowering speeds will create slightly longer journeys. On average, this is likely to be seconds or minutes, depending on the journey length. The scenarios we tested were for urban areas around schools and/or town centres where 30kmh limits are proposed. For these “average” trips in urban areas there is only about a 15 second increase in travel time.
Auckland Transport thinks this is a small price to pay to save lives and reduce the chances of people being seriously injured. And, two in three Aucklanders agree with us (see page 29) saying that they would accept up to a 3–5-minute increase in their travel time if it helped improve safety.
Congestion is created by the number of cars on the road at one time. Lower speed limits will help smooth travel as there will be less braking and acceleration and more consistent journey times.
Where speeds have been lowered near schools, parents say it feels calmer and they feel more confident letting their child walk independently. Children say they feel less scared and overwhelmed without speeding cars right next to them. Watch the video from Freemans Bay Schools in the video section to hear rom the kids themselves.