One of the key economic drivers for a successful and prosperous city is for freight to move efficiently and safely. However, often the existing roading and rail infrastructure is simply inadequate to meet modern needs.
With a keen interest in both road and rail issues, Beca staff and our key partners are working with planning bodies to identify issues and develop strategies for freight transport. This includes identifying the scale of freight movements, key strategic routes, significant origin and destination areas, and rail-freight feasibility studies.
A recent innovation has been to combine congestion studies on freight routes to identify how freight is affected by congestion within the Auckland region.
Beca’s transport specialists collect and utilise data and are also involved in a variety of consultative techniques such as freight forums involving key interest groups (e.g. trucking operators, ports, distribution companies) to help them tackle congestion and investment issues relevant to freight transport. Freight strategies present key information that can inform councils' policies, planning and investment.
Access to this detailed congestion information will give transport planners and interest groups a better understanding of freight issues, and help them to develop policies that benefit the entire economy.
Beca has developed freight strategies for Auckland City, Auckland Region, and the Waikato Region, and is continuing to work closely with the Ports of Auckland and Auckland City Council to improve knowledge of freight movements within the region. Beca also works with major commercial clients on improving their logistic activities, and this private sector knowledge adds value to advice provided to local and regional councils in improving the operation of their freight networks.