By Theresa Wells, Relationship Manager, Waka Kotahi, NZTA, GHD

Over the past few months, we’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Compass IoT, exploring how connected vehicle data can offer new perspectives on New Zealand’s transport network. From tracking speed profiling patterns and evaluating the impact of safety camera zones, to measuring how effective speed interventions really are and understanding driver behaviour at tricky level crossings, we’ve been deep in the data.

More recently, our focus has shifted to how drivers move through dense urban spaces, particularly around schools, parks and busy town centres. It’s here that the potential of connected vehicle data really starts to shine – not just as a technical tool, but as a way of seeing how drivers experience our road infrastructure day to day.

So, when the government recently announced its plans to move towards technology-enabled road user charging (RUC), phasing out the current manual system for diesel vehicles, it struck a chord. Because the potential goes far beyond billing – it’s a chance to reshape how we fund, manage and invest in the roads infrastructure we rely on.

The data revolution is already underway

Thanks to partnerships like Compass IoT’s integration with vehicle manufacturers, and retrofit solutions from providers like EROAD, we already have access to connected vehicle data for about eight per cent of New Zealand’s fleet. And that number is only growing.

Much of this connectivity stems from European legislation proposed in 2016 and effective from 2022 on vehicle safety (EU Regulation on Vehicle Safety and Type Approval – Regulation (EU) 2019/2144), which required vehicles to have advanced safety features, including data loggers. What began as a safety initiative has since evolved into something far more powerful – a near real-time picture of how, when and where vehicles travel, across the country.

It’s about more than collecting fees

While automated billing for RUC is an obvious application, the real value of this data lies in how it can reshape knowledge and the approach to our roads system.

1. Smarter, simpler billing

The current diesel RUC system is clunky. Vehicle owners have to estimate mileage, buy kilometres in advance, and manually keep track – creating extra work and compliance challenges for both users and regulators. With connected vehicle data, we could move to the same type of seamless, pay-as-you-go charging that is used for toll roads, reflecting real-world use without the admin burden.

2. Fairer funding for local infrastructure

Here’s where it gets interesting. In a recent conversation with someone from Gisborne, they shared a challenge familiar to many rural areas: heavy freight vehicles are essential to the economy, but they cause disproportionate damage to local roads – damage that local ratepayers are left to cover. The pain is shared by freight operators; when roads are damaged, freight moves slower, drivers are on the road for longer, and logistics costs rise.

With connected vehicle data, we can go beyond simply tracking distance. We can see where vehicles travel, what they’re carrying and the kind of impact they’re having on infrastructure. That opens the door to a more equitable funding model – one where road maintenance funding can be targeted into the locations of greatest use, in direct proportion to the number and types of vehicles using these roads. We can also understand what freight operators need while on the road, where rest stops make sense, and how we keep the cost of road freight down.

3. Designing better, safer networks

Perhaps the most exciting insight we’ve gained from working with this data is how it can support smarter network planning. We’ve seen how drivers respond to new infrastructure, where conflict zones emerge in multimodal areas, and how behavioural patterns shift over time. These kinds of insights can help planners design safer, efficient roads and evaluate whether interventions are making a difference.

The road ahead

New Zealand’s vehicle fleet is older than many other countries, and not all cars come equipped with connected tech. Privacy is key, and it’s critical that data use is guided by ethics-based transparent frameworks.

These aren’t insurmountable issues. Retrofit options exist, and many of the use cases for this data already use anonymised derivatives of Compass IoT’s data, complying with the European GDPR data privacy regulations.

New Zealand also has some advantages. While connected vehicle data is emerging globally, in other countries, the data growth is organic as new vehicles come into our roads. RUC means that more of our vehicles could be providing data we can use to benefit our road users, and more data provides better system insights.

Rethinking what’s possible

The government’s move towards technology-enabled RUC is a promising step towards a smarter, more equitable transport system – one that aligns funding with real‑world use and economics, supports rural communities, and helps build infrastructure that reflects how New Zealand moves.

Our experience so far has shown us that the technology is ready. What’s needed now is a shift in mindset – away from viewing this as a billing solution, and towards seeing it as a planning, equity, economics, and safety tool.

The data is already flowing. The only question is, what are we going to do with it?