RUC on Rails Releases Future RUC Consumer Expectations Research

Today, RUC on Rails has publicly released its Future RUC Consumer Expectations Research, one of the most extensive studies undertaken into how ordinary New Zealand light-vehicle owners view the transition to Road User Charges.

The research was presented to the transport industry at T-TECH 2026 and has previously been provided to the Ministry of Transport and NZTA. The new public-release edition is now available free for anyone to read.

The project was created to address a fairly obvious gap.

There is already significant research into commercial fleets and the RUC system as it operates today. Far less attention has been paid to the millions of petrol-vehicle owners who may eventually enter the system and who, in most cases, have never purchased RUC before.

“We wanted to understand what the future RUC consumer actually expects, rather than designing a system around assumptions made by people already inside the industry,” says Adam Johnston, founder and CEO of RUC on Rails.

“This research is about listening to ordinary drivers before the system is built around them. Their expectations on privacy, cost, control, payment flexibility, and technology need to be taken seriously if this transition is going to work.”

Research built from real consumer behaviour

The report draws on several independent research streams rather than relying on a single survey.

At its centre is a face-to-face survey of 1,098 New Zealand drivers conducted across eight cities and towns. Approximately 80 percent of respondents were regular light-vehicle owners who do not currently drive a RUC-liable vehicle.

That research was supported by:

• A behavioural sample of approximately 10,000 sessions across RUC Hub and RUC Compare.

• Analysis of 219 social-media posts and around 25,000 public comments across five platforms.

• Mapping of 634 RUC-related search terms and 132 questions asked by New Zealanders.

• Focus groups, inbound enquiries, and dedicated field research.

The strength of the programme is not any single statistic. It is the fact that the same concerns repeatedly appeared across surveys, platform behaviour, search demand, and public discussion.

What future RUC consumers are telling us

The research presents a consistent picture of a future consumer who is not necessarily opposed to RUC itself, but is highly sensitive to how the system is designed and explained.

Consumers strongly favour software-first services over compulsory in-vehicle hardware. They want control over when money leaves their account, clearer pricing, flexible payment options, and a genuine ability to comply without continuous location tracking.

Among the headline findings:

• 68 percent preferred managing RUC through a phone app rather than an app connected to a plug-in telematics device.

• 64 percent were uncomfortable with continuous, real-time GPS location tracking.

• 74 percent wanted the fixed 1,000-kilometre purchasing system changed.

• 72 percent preferred smartphone odometer-photo verification over a plugged-in GPS device.

• 86 percent expressed concern about long-term records showing where and when their vehicle travels.

The report also found that cost concerns are closely tied to trust.

Many drivers are less worried about the principle of paying per kilometre than they are about hidden fees, fuel prices failing to fall when fuel excise is removed, and losing control over when or how payments are taken.

“The clearest message is that consumers want a system that is simple without becoming intrusive,” says Johnston.

“They are open to digital services, but they do not want convenience used as an excuse for compulsory tracking, automatic withdrawals, or unnecessary data collection.”

A public resource for the wider RUC market

The report includes detailed analysis of consumer psychology, technology preferences, billing behaviour, privacy expectations, public misinformation, search demand, and the design implications for future RUC services.

It is intended to be useful not only to government agencies and future RUC providers, but also to retailers, payment companies, technology businesses, researchers, media, and members of the public trying to understand what the transition may require.

RUC on Rails funded and conducted the research independently. It was not commissioned by the Crown and is being released free of charge.

“We are a commercial company, but this transition is much bigger than any one provider,” says Johnston.

“Making the research public gives the wider market a better starting point. We would rather see the industry build around evidence than have every organisation separately guessing what consumers might want.”

Public-release edition

The public edition contains the report’s consumer findings, analysis, methodology, and system-design recommendations.

Some operational detail relating to specific system-evasion methods has been redacted from the public version. Those sections were originally prepared to help agencies and system architects understand potential vulnerabilities, but publishing step-by-step evasion material would obviously defeat the point.

The wider non-compliance findings and risk conclusions remain available, including the report’s overall assessment that most credible threats are limited, detectable, and better addressed through targeted auditing and system design than by imposing intrusive technology on every compliant driver.

The full Future RUC Consumer Expectations Research report is available now, free to access:

[Read the full public research report here.]