New Zealand unveiled on Friday a NZ$31 billion ($22.4 billion) transport infrastructure package for its largest city, Auckland, as it looks to address years of investment backlogs on public transport and lower emissions.
The package, which will be rolled out over the next 10 years, will invest NZ$1.5 billion for walking and cycling initiatives, and NZ$1.3 billion to boost public transport trips by 91%, Transport Minister Michael Wood said in a statement.
"For the first time we're turning around transport emissions rising in Auckland," Wood said.
Wood said the package would result in a 13% fall in emissions per capita compared with the previous package and could prevent up to 3.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions in Auckland over the next decade.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Peter Cooney)
