How to become a traffic controller

Official title: Traffic controller

Also called: Traffic management operative, Site traffic management specialist, Traffic management worker, Road maintenance traffic controller, Road traffic controller

Traffic controllers guide or control vehicle and pedestrian traffic at places like streets, schools, railroad crossings and construction sites.

Main tasks

• Direct vehicle traffic
• Guide pedestrians through traffic safely
• Monitor traffic and pedestrian flow
• Position traffic safety equipment
• Warn people about safety risks
• Explain traffic changes to the public
• Report incidents to supervisors
• Maintain traffic control certifications

How to become one

You usually learn on the job to become a traffic controller and experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: a driver licence. Other requirements: to complete a training course; experience in similar work.

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Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $53,000 to $86,000 a year (median $68,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Upper: $108,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 2,700 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group Other Miscellaneous Labourers, 27% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group Other Miscellaneous Labourers work (2023 Census): Auckland 27.4%, Canterbury 15.8%, and Waikato 10%.

Related jobs

• Bicycle mechanic
• Heavy truck driver
• Roading construction worker
• Driving instructor
• Railway track worker
• Delivery driver

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Questions people ask

How do I become a traffic controller?

You usually learn on the job to become a traffic controller and experience may be useful. You usually don’t need specific NCEA levels for this job. Required: a driver licence. Other requirements: to complete a training course; experience in similar work.

How much does a traffic controller earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $68,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $53,000 to $86,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a traffic controller grown in New Zealand?

It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a traffic controller?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026