This report was prepared to assess evidence on the impacts of petrol price changes on petrol consumption, traffic volume and public transport patronage in New Zealand. In the light of this evidence and evidence from Australia and other countries, a set of 'best estimate' petrol price elasticities for the New Zealand context are recommended. Transport fuel prices in New Zealand (as in other countries) have varied quite dramatically over the last five years. It seems likely that, in the future, petrol prices will increase further but will also continue to be volatile. Good knowledge of the likely market responses to fuel price changes is important for a number of transport forecasting applications, including forecasting for: o Government taxation revenues, including revenues hypothecated to the Land Transport Fund (and hence available for expenditure on the transport system). o Fuel import demands, and the consequent impacts of fuel imports on related macroeconomic variables, such as the current account deficit. o Transport demand and its associated energy demand. o Transport emissions, including the impact of climate change policies such as a carbon charge and the impact on the New Zealand Government's financial obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. o Traffic growth trends, for use in road investment planning and evaluation. (Current traffic forecasting practices in New Zealand are often based on a continuation of past traffic growth rates.) o Public transport planning, particularly in regard to future peak demand levels and hence rolling stock requirements. Therefore, this project was designed to contribute to more accurate forecasting processes by: o improving information on the responses of motorists to petrol price changes; o adding to the body of knowledge available for model forecasting and policy analysis.