Transport funding risks abound

The next government may need to hike fuel taxes or pump in more crown funds to deal with pressure on the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF).The National party has said it won’t hike fuel taxes to pay for its $24 billion transport policy, while Labour has said it will hike the excise duty by 12 cents a litre over three years, beginning next July.Officials wanted the Labour government to make bigger hikes to cover the revenue shortfall in its $20.8b government policy statement on land transport; however, the government opted to use crown f...