Transit New Zealand's first State Highway Satisfaction Survey indicated that commercial truck drivers were significantly less satisfied with New Zealand's state highways than other road users. This finding was of great concern to Transit as revenue from road user charges, generated mainly from trucking operations, account for around fifty percent of the total funding for state highways. Consequently, Transit commissioned AC Nielsen to undertake targeted market research into commercial truck drivers' views of state highways and their management. This project comprised both qualitative and quantitative market research components. It aimed to examine: (1) in detail the specific features of the state highway causing commercial truck drivers' dissatisfaction; (2) the improvements that the drivers would like made to state highways; (3) their views on how Transit currently allocates expenditure on New Zealand's state highways; (4) their willingness to pay for the improvements they had identified; and (5) whether or not better communication by Transit could assist in improving the satisfaction levels of the truck drivers. This paper outlines the methodology for this unique research project, and the findings from the preliminary focus group sessions and the quantitative survey which involved face-to-face interviews with 300 truck drivers. Transit's response to the survey results and its commitment to implementing measures to address the drivers' concerns are also discussed. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205861.
Abstract