With 20 key note speakers, the Transport New Zealand Summit and Expo held in Auckland at the end of May took ‘collaboration’ as its theme and focused on the continuing development of the multi-modal approach in the transport industry. Senior industry representative’s covered developments in government policy, infrastructure management, communications, integration and strategies to meet the future demands of the industry and the environment.

Resolve Group’s Mark Armstrong attended the conference, and was impressed at the number of case studies cited showing how many international cities have developed multi-modal transport solutions using current key infrastructure, best practice and lessons learned. For example, re-evaluating assets and pedestrian patronage, can allow the more efficient movement of people using all modes of transport and bringing a number of additional benefits to local communities.

The importance of a multi-modal approach to the distribution of freight around New Zealand was a particular focus of the conference. Here, the industry is looking at both asset and information systems to improve efficiencies from arrival points at ports and airports through to delivery at the customer’s premises. The collaborative approach shows all industries partners must understand the bottle necks and work together to provide appropriate and effective solutions and that this will bring benefits and efficiencies to current layout and assets.