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Acts, Regulations and Rules
There are many different Acts and regulations governing land transport in New Zealand. This large and complex body of legislation is currently being simplified.
A number of Acts have been restructured into the Land Transport Act 1998 and regulations are being converted into Land Transport Rules.
Regulations and Rules are the key second-tier legislation governing land transport registration, licensing and compliance systems.
Land Transport Acts
(Where Acts are available on the interim website of New Zealand Legislation, a link has been provided. Note that Acts on this site might not incorporate amendments and should be used with care.)
Land Transport NZ operates under the following Acts (ordered by date):
Land Transport Amendment Act 2008
The purpose of this ACT is to enhance New Zealand's transport planning and funding system established under the Land Transport Management Act 2003.
The Act proposes to achieve this aim through:
- reserving fuel excise duty for land transport purposes and changing the way that fuel excise is set to provide more certainty for future investment; and
- augmenting central government transport funding by regional fuel taxes which will allow regions to fund more projects; and
- providing for a government policy statement to set out the government's planned investment and funding priorities for the next 3 to 6 years to provide more strategic guidance to the transport sector; and
- changing to a 3-year planning cycle rather than an annual one to reduce planning churn; and
- introducing regional land transport programmes to rationalise land transport planning documents, reduce consultation, and encourage integrated land transport planning; and
- increasing the term of regional land transport strategies and the national land transport strategy to 30 years to recognise the long-term nature of transport investment; and
- merging Land Transport New Zealand, the office of the Director of Land Transport, and Transit New Zealand into a single statutory Crown Entity to achieve more integrated decision making and better accountability.
The Act implements the recommendations of the Next Steps Review of the Land Transport Sector. The Next Steps Review found among other matters that:
- central, regional, and local land transport plans are not fully aligned; and
- expenditure pressures are not being addressed strategically; and
- inconsistent planning and funding policies distort incentives within the sector; and
- the roles of the government land transport agencies remain unclear, and some functions are duplicated.
The Act also recognises the need to add to the funding tools available under the Land Transport Management Act 2003 to allow projects to proceed that are a regional priority and would not otherwise attract funding in the desired time frame.
Land Transport Amendment Act 2006
This Act amends the prohibition on drivers who have been convicted of specified serious offences from holding passenger endorsements on their licences.
Some persons who have a conviction for a specified serious offence may apply to the Director of Land Transport to have the passenger endorsement reinstated.
Land Transport Amendment Act 2005
This Act merges a number of pieces of existing land transport legislation into the Land Transport Act 1998. These include the regulation of commercial transport services and driving hours limits.
- For more on the Land Transport Amendment Act 2005, including a copy of the Act, visit the Ministry of Transport website.
- Read more information about the implementation of the Act (for which Land Transport NZ is responsible).
This Act sets out the requirements for the licensing of persons wishing to operate a railway in New Zealand. It covers monorails, and both light and heavy railways on track with a gauge of 550 mm or greater. It also includes basic safety obligations of operators and on the general public when near a railway, and the powers the railway operators have to protect and manage the railway corridor.
Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2004 - this Act merged the Land Transport Safety Authority and Transfund New Zealand to become Land Transport New Zealand. It is incorporated into the Land Transport Management Act below.
Land Transport Management Act 2003
This Act sets out the requirements and processes for local authorities to obtain funding for roading construction and maintenance, and for the funding of Police on-road enforcement.
Land Transport Act 1998 (as amended to 2006)
This Act is intended to:
- promote safe road user behaviour and vehicle safety
- provide for a system of Rules governing road user behaviour, the licensing of drivers and technical aspects of land transport; and to recognise reciprocal obligations of persons involved
- consolidate and amend various enactments relating to road safety and land transport
- enable New Zealand to implement international agreements relating to road safety and land transport.
> Read more about the Land Transport Act 1998
Transport Services Licensing Act 1989 (as amended to 1997) sets out the licensing requirements for commercial transport operators; except rail services which are now covered under the Railways Act 2005. The licensing requirements in this Act are to be replaced with amendments to the Land Transport Act 1998 once the associated Land Transport Rules are ready.
Transport (Vehicle and Driver Registration and Licensing) Act 1986 (as amended to 1997) sets out the law relating to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles, and related matters. The licensing of drivers is now covered by the Land Transport Act 1998 and the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999.
Road User Charges Act 1977 (as amended to 2002) imposes charges for the use of roads by heavy vehicles and certain other vehicles, such as those that are diesel powered.
The Transport Act 1962 (as amended to 2000) was the principal Act for general land transport safety matters. Most of its provisions were included in the Land Transport Act 1998. It still includes, however, a few sections such as allowing for some traffic bylaws and the requirements for driving hours and logbooks.
Land Transport Regulations
Regulations specify details of many aspects of land transport law. Several regulations are listed below:
- Heavy Motor Vehicle Regulations 1974 (as amended to 2004) allow road controlling authorities to restrict the movement of heavy vehicles so as to prevent damage to roads and bridges of limited strength.
- Land Transport (Offences and Penalties) Regulations 1999 (as amended to 2005) detail the offences for breaching land transport Rules and the penalties for those offences.
- Traffic Regulations 1976 (as amended to 2006) Most of the requirements in these regulations have now been converted into Land Transport Rules. Some requirements relating to vehicle noise, brakes, steering and couplings remain in these regulations
- Transport (Vehicle Registration and Licensing) Regulations 1994 (as amended to 1999) set out the specific requirements for the registration and licensing of motor vehicles.
- Transport Services Licensing Regulations 1989 (as amended to 2002) provide for area knowledge tests for taxi drivers, complaints registers, fees payable for licences and for exempt services.
To look at other Land Transport regulations, orders and notices go to Statutory Regulations on the government legislation website.
Land Transport Rules
Many older regulations have been replaced by Land Transport Rules. The Rules below set out requirements that most road users need to comply with:
- Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Rule 1999 (as amended to 2006) sets out the specific requirements for which class of driver licence is needed for each type of motor vehicle, the restrictions for novice drivers, and how to obtain a new driver licence.
- Land Transport (Road User) Rule 2004 (as amended to 2005) establishes the Rules under which traffic operates on roads. The Rule applies to all road users, whether they are drivers, riders, passengers, pedestrians, or leading or droving animals.
- Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Standards Compliance 2002 sets out the way that motor vehicles must comply with safety standards when they are new or imported into New Zealand and how they must continue to comply with those safety standards during their on road life. It includes requirements for warrant of fitness and certificate of fitness checks.
Last updated: 11 July 2006