Auckland, New Zealand’s bustling economic hub, is choking on more than just traffic—it’s drowning in the cost of temporary traffic management (TTM). Road cones, signage, and detours are bleeding ratepayers dry, with Auckland Transport (AT) shelling out over $63 million last year alone on these orange obstacles. Nationally, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has blown $786 million on TTM for state highways over three years. These eye-watering figures, often dumped onto councils and taxpayers, have sparked outrage and demands for accountability.
The frustration is palpable. Online forums like Reddit buzz with gripes about TTM costs fueling record council rate hikes—some as high as 15%. On X, Aucklanders mock projects like the $5 million Three Kings pedestrian crossing, where fresh pavement was torn up and TTM likely ate up a chunk of the budget. One cheeky post suggested hiring vigilante painters who slapped a rainbow crossing down in an hour for $500, no cone circus required. Insiders whisper of “preferred contractors” inflating prices for NZTA and Kainga Ora, with TTM extras turning modest jobs into goldmines. Auckland’s TTM spend hit $140 million a few years back, and the meter’s still running.
Fueling this fiasco is a wave of industry consolidation. In June 2025, Australia’s Altus Group snapped up All Traffic Management Services (ATMS), a major TTM player, after gobbling up ProTraffic and Road Safe Traffic Management in November 2024. Earlier moves include Asplundh’s 2024 purchase of the Chevron Group and Altus’s 2023 acquisition of Traffic Management NZ. These deals shrink competition, letting big players dominate contracts and potentially jack up prices. Meanwhile, TTM businesses are cashing in—one North Island outfit with a $1.8 million EBITDA is on the market for $3.5 million, proof the cone game is absurdly lucrative.
This points to a core issue: a regulatory system ripe for abuse. Shady tendering, cozy supplier deals, and zero scrutiny on TTM add-ons let contractors and councils run wild. Aucklanders, stuck in traffic and slammed with rates, deserve better.
It’s time to pull the emergency brake. Policymakers must tighten regulations with transparent, competitive bidding for TTM contracts, caps on markup gouging, and independent audits of council spending. NZTA and local authorities need to crack down to ensure safety doesn’t come with a side of profiteering. The recent TTM business sales are a flashing red light—let’s fix the rules before Auckland’s next million-dollar cone job.
