9. Question No. 9—TransportHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green—Rongotai) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 9—Transport9. Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green—Rongotai) to the Minister of Transport: Will it be possible for the New Zealand Transport Agency and councils to deliver integrated transport projects that include other improvements such as busways bus lanes public transport stops and footpaths as part of larger road or highway projects under his draft Government Policy Statement on transport?Hon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Transport): Yes.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Has he received any advice on whether the statement on page 25 of the Government policy statement (GPS) regarding State highway improvements—and I quote—The Government expects that funding in this activity class will not be used to make multimodal improvements i.e. cycleways and busways"—what impact that statement will have on the cost-effectiveness and delivery of integrated transport projects?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Well there is also another activity class called public transport improvements and if the New Zealand Transport Agency or a council would like to make an investment which includes improvements to the roads they would apply for funding under the State highway improvements. If they also want to make investments around public transport improvements they'd apply for funding under the public transport investment activity class.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Is it his expectation that the New Zealand Transport Agency will futureproof for public transport and safe walking and cycling access when building the new priority urban highways that his Government has promised?Hon SIMEON BROWN: It's my expectation that the New Zealand Transport Agency and road controlling authorities will give effect to the Government policy statement on transport and that outlines the activity classes what they will be used to fund and our expectations around what the priority projects are.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Is he aware that no previous Government policy statement including under the last National Government ever treated transport funding and delivery in this way—there was no comparable statement in previous GPSs that excluded multimodal funding from State highway projects?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Well this is a very new Government and a very focused Government and we're focused on outcomes. So when we say that the State highway improvement activity class should be about focusing on building roads we don't expect that that money will be spent on then building a cycleway. The last Government in their last draft GPS wanted to use the road maintenance budget to build cycleways. Well that's not what this Government's priorities are. It's to fix potholes. So we have a very focused draft GPS and I just say to the member: submissions are open until 2 April; I encourage her to make a submission.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does his expectation for the transport agency and road controlling authorities set out on page 25 and 26 of the GPS to prioritise reliable travel times and investment decisions apply to users of public transport or does it only apply to motor vehicles?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Well our expectation is that the New Zealand Transport Agency and road controlling authorities would focus on reducing travel times reliable travel times so that people can get where they need to go quickly and safely. Under the last Government there was no consideration for people's time. We want to make sure the transport system is working to reduce travel times so that people get where they need to go quickly and safely regardless of what mode they choose to take.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Point of order. Mr Speaker my question was very specific about whether prioritising reliable travel times applied to all users of the transport system or whether it only applies to travel times for motor vehicles private motor vehicles.SPEAKER: The answer was pretty clear that the expectation is that people will be able to travel as quickly and speedily as possible. I don't think you could take anything else out of that answer.Hon Julie Anne Genter: So—SPEAKER: I'm not arguing with you and you shouldn't argue with me. Any further questions? Then we'll move now to question No. 10 in the name of Tom Rutherford."