National revives EVsinbuslane proposal
WELLINGTON: The National Party is returning to its controversial proposal to allow electric cars in bus and highoccupancy lanes to quadruple the number on the roads.
If elected, it would also exempt electric cars (EVs) from fringe benefits tax and road user charges and make a third of the Government’s lightvehicles fleet electric in the hopes of driving the secondhand market.
National leader Judith Collins unveiled the policy yesterday with transport spokesman Chris Bishop and environment spokeswoman Erica Stanford, promising to have 80,000 EVs on the road by 2023.
Ms Stanford said by encouraging businesses to transition their petrol fleets, it would have the knockon effect of significantly bolstering the secondhand market where most Kiwis buy their cars.
Kiwis would also be incentivised to buy electric cars for the perk of being able to use bus and highoccupancy lanes, she said.
National would bring in the rule immediately on state highways and ‘‘work with councils’’ to encourage the scheme being employed in cities.
National would introduce a licence plate for electric and hybrid cars to make them easily identified.
National has attempted this policy before.
In 2016, it passed legislation which set the framework for EVs to use bus lanes but left it up to local governments to adopt it.
ThenTransport Minister Simon Bridges ignored officials’ advice to consult with councils because they would likely be uninterested in adopting the rule as it would slow down public transport.
Transport Ministry officials also warned bus lanes might not offer realtime savings to car drivers ‘‘given the stopstart nature of buses operating in them’’ but the perception of priority access could still be an incentive.
At the time, Auckland Transport voted against allowing EVs in bus lanes, in favour of supporting a trial of allowing them in T2 and T3 lanes. A spokesman yesterday said its position hadn’t changed.
In 2018, a yearlong trial by the New Zealand Transport Agency was dropped because it found EV owners cared more about environmental concerns, lower running costs and the perception of being an early adopter than driving in bus lanes.
Slightly more than 80% of owners said access to special vehicle onramps didn’t factor into their decision to buy an EV, but many said expanding access to more onramps and lanes would make EVs more appealing.
Ms Stanford said National was confident letting electric cars in bus lanes wouldn’t slow down public transport networks because there were too few vehicles in New Zealand for it to be a problem.
Rapid transit networks, like Auckland’s Northern Busway, would not be included in the scheme — though Wellington’s Mt Victoria bus tunnel would be considered.
A National government would allow the NZ Transport Agency to borrow more money than now.