Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport
Te Manatū Waka Ministry of Transport sought to establish a robust set of freight movement assumptions to feed into a national agent-based model. This model would be used to simulate future transport scenarios, inform investment priorities, and assess the impacts of policy changes on both people and freight.
Approach
- OD Matrix Development – Processed GPS freight trip data to create an SA2-level Origin–Destination matrix, showing the intensity and direction of freight movements between regions.
- Data Privacy Protections – Implemented strict anonymisation measures, ensuring that no customer home-base locations could be identified from the dataset.
- Integration with Agent-Based Model – Prepared and delivered the OD matrix in a format compatible with the Ministry's national agent-based model, enabling immediate scenario testing.
Key Findings
- Granular Freight Flow Insights – Provided a clear, geographically detailed picture of freight movements across New Zealand.
- Scenario-Driven Planning – Enabled the Ministry to test the effects of various future scenarios, including economic growth, infrastructure upgrades, and policy shifts.
- Strategic Investment Signals – Highlighted priority areas for infrastructure development to maximise freight efficiency and network resilience.
Impact
- Evidence-Based Policy Development – Grounded policy discussions in real-world freight movement data, increasing confidence in planning decisions.
- Future-Ready Investment Planning – Informed long-term infrastructure priorities by identifying freight corridors most sensitive to change.
- Balanced Impact Assessment – Allowed the Ministry to weigh economic, social, and environmental factors when assessing potential policy interventions.