Building Resilient Transport through Strategic Asset Management - Conference Paper
Auckland Transport and Asset Dynamics will present a peer reviewed paper at New Zealand’s Transportation Conference on 9 March 2026 at Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. The paper discusses Auckland Transport’s 10-year journey in enhancing its asset management capabilities, highlighting the importance of strategic asset management to getting the most from limited resources.
Presented by Auckland Transport’s Co-Director Infrastructure & Place and Chief Engineer, Myles Lind, the paper highlights the critical role of an Asset Management Framework in enabling organisations to consistently balance cost, risk, and performance. A well-defined framework provides a clear, end-to-end view of how asset management is actually delivered across an organisation, aligning teams, processes, and systems. It moves asset management from a specialist function to a shared organisational capability.
Drawing on Auckland Transport’s ten-year journey, the paper demonstrates how embedding a robust Asset Management Framework aligned with ISO 55001 can improve decision-making, reduce organisational silos, lift maturity, and build investor confidence. Measurable improvements in asset management maturity and organisational alignment show the tangible value of this approach.
The Transportation Conference is one of New Zealand’s largest transport conferences and is jointly presented by Transportation Group New Zealand, a Technical Interest Group of Engineering New Zealand, and Trafinz, the New Zealand Local Authority Traffic Institute. The theme of this year’s conference is “Working with what we have: Resilience for the Future.”
The full paper will be available on Asset Dynamics’ website after the conference.
ABSTRACT
Building Resilience Transport through Strategic Asset Management
New Zealand’s transport network is vital to the nation’s social and economic prosperity, yet it faces significant challenges, including an infrastructure investment deficit, rising costs, climate change adaptation, and workforce constraints. Addressing these issues requires a strategic approach to asset management that optimises limited resources while ensuring resilience and stability in critical transport infrastructure.
Asset management provides a coordinated framework to balance cost, risk, and performance outcomes across stakeholder groups and time horizons. The development of an Asset Management Framework is essential for transport infrastructure organisations to align their teams, processes, and systems effectively. This framework offers a precise, end-to-end description of how good-quality asset management is implemented, enabling organisations to manage risks, improve communication, and foster collaboration across diverse teams.
Auckland Transport is an integrated transport entity, spanning multi-lane arterial to single lane unsealed roads, as well as public transport services and facilities management. Auckland Transport’s 10-year journey in enhancing its Asset Management Framework demonstrates how such a tool can address resource constraints and infrastructure deficits. By clearly defining the scope, boundaries, and processes of its asset management system, AT has improved organisational alignment, reduced silos, and enhanced decision-making. The framework supports resilience by enabling better planning, lifecycle management, and continual improvement, ensuring that infrastructure investments deliver maximum value.
This Auckland case study highlights the importance of leveraging limited resources through strategic asset management practices. By embedding a robust framework, transport organisations can mature their systems, manage risks effectively, and build investor confidence, ultimately contributing to a resilient and sustainable transport network for New Zealand’s future.