Potholes blight New Zealand's local roads, such as this one in Northland. (file photo) Photo: Facebook/Northland Potholes
The government is replacing "inefficient and manual" on-the-ground inspections by people with data collection vans.
Minister of Transport Simeon Brown said five vans were being rolled out across the country to better understand the condition of New Zealand's road network and to prevent potholes from forming in the first place.
The move - part of the Road Efficiency Group - would increase productivity to help rebuild the nation's economy, he said.
The vans would provide "consistent, high quality surface condition data at a scale never seen in New Zealand before".
"Manual inspections often lead to poorer data collection, variations as a result of human error, and increased risk to inspectors' safety while working in traffic."
Read more:
All sealed roads would be inspected at least every second year and high-class roads would be surveyed annually.
"Rolling out CCDC survey vans means we will have more on-demand data about our road network to early identify parts of the network that are in need of pothole prevention work.
"These vans will also enable consistent collection methods for all Road Controlling Authorities as they are rolled out and more widely used."
The vans were currently surveying local roads in Auckland, Christchurch, Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman.
Over the next 10 months, around 80,000km of local roads would be surveyed as part of plans to increase resealing, rehabilitation and drainage maintenance work.