44 Bowen Street
Private Bag 6995
Wellington 6141
New Zealand
T 64 4 894 5400
F 64 4 894 6100
www.nzta.govt.nz
4 February 2025
Stratton Albright
[FYI request #29586 email]
REF: OIA-17249
Dear Stratton
Request made under the Official Information Act 1982
Thank you for your email
of 17 December 2024 requesting the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act). I will respond to each part of your request in turn as follows:
Could you please provide me with a list of vehicle and/or passenger tracking systems
such as BlipTrack that are used by NZTA and any associated privacy assessment
documents. If possible, please provide the method of tracking used.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) does not track specific vehicles or people. Instead, we use
systems to record anonymous counts of vehicles, along with speed and weight measurements, to
analyse trends in vehicle classes that pass measurement stations on roads to assist with planning.
This information is captured by vehicle counters, in-lane and roadside weight stations, and modern
digital technology.
NZTA uses anonymised vehicle movement data purchased from sources such as TomTom, Google
and EROAD to understand the numbers of different classes of vehicles travelling on different routes
from place to place. We also engage with specific transport users to assess their travel needs and
experiences, and how NZTA can improve journey aspects such as travel times.
Furthermore, NZTA supplies data to regulatory agencies as required to assist their work. Specifically,
we capture data for regulatory enforcement and commercial operations purposes. This includes speed
management, safe load management of freight vehicles and road tolling or for parking fees by local
councils. NZTA uses anonymised data such as loading on trucks when planning, for instance, how
strong a road needs to be to carry loads.
To provide reasonable assistance, the following document, that outlines business rules regarding
privacy guidelines for NZTA staff, is enclosed:
• Attachment 1 – SSC Model Standards Business Rules (in force 30 April 2019).
If there are information sharing agreement with government or private companies, please
provide these as well.
NZTA does not have any information sharing agreements regarding vehicle and passenger tracking. I
am therefore required to refuse this part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act as the
documents alleged to contain the information requested do not exist.
Under section 28 of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to review my decision to refuse
part of this request. The contact details for the Ombudsman can be located at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
In line with NZTA policy, this response will soon be published on our website, with personal
information removed.
If you would like to discuss this reply with NZTA, please contact us by email to
[NZTA request email].
Yours sincerely
Aaron Pratley
Domain Lead – Transport and Innovation of Technology
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