Eric Crampton: The Government transport policy that gave officials a day to cost it on a Sunday

Just before 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, about a dozen New Zealand Transport Agency and Ministry of Transport officials received a weekend-ruining email. Subject: “Cabinet paper: Urgent.”

It provides a depressing insight into how policy gets made.

The agency that would have to administer a fuel tax and Road User Charge (RUC) holiday had less than a day’s notice that the change was coming.

Important detail had to be filled in after the policy was announced, which also may have prevented improvements that ran counter to what had already been announced.

Oliver Harwich: Bridges to Ukraine

International junkets for public servants are not my cup of tea. But I will make an exception for the New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi. Let’s send their infrastructure team to Ukraine.

Waka Kotahi’s trip will not be about showing solidarity with Ukraine. That is what politicians do. Justin Trudeau just visited Kyiv, so maybe Jacinda Ardern will soon follow.

Waka Kotahi will not share lessons from its ‘Road to Zero’ campaign with the Ukrainian government, either. President Zelensky would probably not spend $10,000 on two large red prop ‘zeros’ as Waka Kotahi has just done.

No, Waka Kotahi’s trip to Ukraine will focus on learning about infrastructure delivery.

Yes, you read that right.