public transport Archive

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  Better transport planning needed in Christchurch - by Eugenie Sage

  
  
  
  This week in Christchurch I attended a breakfast lecture by visiting planning consultant Todd Litman from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, British Colombia.  He was advocating the benefits of “multi-modalism” transport planning – which basically means modern transport planning that spreads the focus over several forms of transport options – cars, public transport, cycleways, and [...] read more
  May 17, 2013 1:44 pm - 2 Comments
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  Buses can be sexy - by Julie Anne Genter

  
  
  
  Leave it to the Danes to make the best public transport ad I have seen so far.   The ad essentially uses the same techniques ubiquitously applied to sell cars, and applies them to the bus. Given that car ads seem to be about one out of every three or four shown on television, and [...] read more
  September 17, 2012 1:25 pm - 18 Comments
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  Transport news round-up - by Julie Anne Genter

  
  
  
  So much is happening in transport that it’s a bit hard to keep up and put out an informed post on each happening, so here’s a round-up: First, the bad news: The Napier—Gisborne line is hanging by a thread after being washed out. This is a huge blow to the regional freight line, which thanks [...] read more
  March 27, 2012 6:09 pm - 34 Comments
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  On housing affordability and transport: it’s the parking, stupid. - by Julie Anne Genter

  
  
  
  There are two parallel debates going in Auckland that really need to be combined. On the one hand, we have a housing affordability crisis. The solution, we are told, in the very disappointing  Productivity Commission draft report, is to free up more land for development on the fringes of the urban area. This will presumably bring down [...] read more
  March 7, 2012 10:52 am - 53 Comments
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  Why won’t National listen to Auckland on CBD rail link? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I was astonished that a few weeks back Auckland MPs voted against inviting the Auckland Council to submit on the CBD rail link debate. I can only talk about it now because the report containing my minority report was tabled in Parliament today. The Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee was discussing my petition to [...] read more
  September 8, 2011 4:52 pm - 11 Comments
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  Greater Wellington failing regional economy - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The roll-out of real time displays — screens that tell passengers when their bus or train will arrive — has been delayed yet again, Greater Wellington Regional Council reported yesterday. This is yet another setback in a long line of setbacks and broken promises stretching right back to the year 2000. European bus and train [...] read more
  June 17, 2011 5:11 pm - 23 Comments
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  Budget 2011: Gareth Hughes’ speech on transport - by frog

  
  
  
  Kia ora, Mr Assistant Speaker. It is a privilege to take a call in this Budget debate, and I intend to focus on transport issues. When it comes to transport, this Government, under Steven Joyce as transport Minister, is simply on the wrong track. This Government is creating monuments in concrete and asphalt to 1950s-style [...] read more
  June 10, 2011 4:02 pm - 11 Comments
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  People-powered train - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I’ve just alighted from a 100-person walking train I organised down Queen St in Auckland, travelling the route of the proposed, but as yet unfunded, CBD Rail Loop. We stopped at the site of the possible Aotea Square rail station for speeches next to the statue of Mayor Dove Myer-Robinson, which was appropriate considering this [...] read more
  May 14, 2011 7:49 pm - No Comments
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  Flash mob for CBD rail loop - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Budget is fast approaching and so far the government has shown no sign that they will fund the CBD rail loop. In fact, their latest Government Policy Statement on transport funding shows that over the next 10 years they’re planning to spend $7 on roads for every $1 they spend on sustainable transport options [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 1:00 pm - 19 Comments
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  Fuel tax deferral won’t help - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Kiwis are feeling the pain at the pump, and the Government’s grand “solution” is to defer a 1.5c increase in the petrol tax until next year. Let’s put this in perspective. 1.5 cents a litre will save the average driver less than $1 when they fill up their tank. It’s about 0.6% of the total [...] read more
  April 27, 2011 3:42 pm - 24 Comments
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  Will Auckland ever get new trains? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  While Auckland’s public transport systems are getting seriously overcrowded, we are still waiting to find out which company has been awarded the $500 million contract to build the new Auckland electric rail cars (aka Electric Multiple Units or EMUs). The trains, themselves, won’t be operational until 2014 at the earliest. As motorway, after motorway, finishes 6 months [...] read more
  April 19, 2011 5:00 pm - 28 Comments
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  Paying for CBD rail and Christchurch - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Lately I’ve had quite a few people ask me whether it’s realistic to continue pushing for the government to fund the CBD rail loop in the after-math of the Christchurch earthquake. I can understand what they’re thinking. After all, the CBD rail loop is an expensive project and the reconstruction of Christchurch will also cost [...] read more
  April 13, 2011 11:05 am - 1 Comment
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  A balanced approach to transport funding? - by frog

  
  
  
  Graphs of the day.. This graph shows the  growth in traffic on state highways over the last 20 years as reported by the transport agency. The pink line is heavy traffic (trucks) and the blue is all traffic. As you can see it grew pretty steadily up to about 2005. It then plateaued, dropped a bit in 2008 [...] read more
  March 19, 2011 11:07 am - 11 Comments
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  Cool animated video of Auckland transport - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s a cool video doing the rounds on the blogosphere right now which shows the Auckland public transport network working over a 24 hour period. An animated map of Auckland’s public transport network from Chris McDowall on Vimeo. Watching it really highlights to me how radial the public transport network is. There are a lot of [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 1:53 pm - 20 Comments
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  New Auckland motorway causes congestion - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Herald has carried another story today about how building a motorway has made congestion worse in Auckland, not better. Suprised? The New Zealand Transport Agency has admitted that they seriously under-estimated how much traffic their upgrades of State Highway 16 (SH16) to form the Western Ring Route would create. Motorists are now experiencing delays of up [...] read more
  December 21, 2010 1:10 pm - 47 Comments
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  Support for CBD Rail link strong and growing - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s a poll on the Herald site asking if you think the Government should contribute to the CBD Rail tunnel. At nearly 15,000 votes, the vast majority (77%) say yes. Given that the Herald readership and online poll results tend towards conservative and business-oriented, there’s no reason to think that the popular support for this [...] read more
  November 30, 2010 9:56 am - 12 Comments
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  Auckland CBD rail loop business case stacks up - by frog

  
  
  
  The long awaited Business Case for the CBD Rail Link was finally released on Wednesday this week, and it makes a compelling case for central government investment in the project. Just through traditional analysis of transport benefits, which usually underestimate the long term benefits of public transport projects, the economic case does stack up. But [...] read more
  November 26, 2010 3:10 pm - 27 Comments
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  Who’s slowing Auckland down? - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  The skirmish that has broken out between Mike Lee and Steven Joyce could well herald the opening of an all out war. Len Brown came into office on a platform (among other things) of advocating strongly for public transport investment, with a key project being the CDB rail loop to open up the ‘dead end’ that is Britomart, which will reduce the congestion in the inner city area that imposes significant cost on businesses as well as compromising the ability... read more
  November 10, 2010 3:23 pm - 33 Comments
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  What would you spend the fuel tax on? - by frog

  
  
  
  So, you might have missed it in all the fuss about GST but the government tax on petrol rose by 3 cents/litre on of the 1st of October. I wouldn’t mind paying this increase if it was going to improve our rail, bus, walking and cycling options. But instead it will mainly be used to pay for [...] read more
  October 6, 2010 5:02 pm - 15 Comments
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  New Lynn opens with new hope for Auckland - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I attended the opening of the New Lynn transport hub last Friday. I always enjoy attending the openings of great transport projects but this one was particularly fun. It wasn’t just a lot of boring speeches but included a troupe of dancing dragons, a Maori kapa haka group performed and Govenor General Anand Satyand, made [...] read more
  September 27, 2010 9:13 am - 6 Comments
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  Dominion Road and the North-Western Busway - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Those of you who have read some of my recent blog posts about Dominion Road should be pleased to hear that we saved the busway! After a fiery meeting  Auckland City Council agreed it would be foolish to allow cars with 2 passengers into the busway. This is great news as this is one of the [...] read more
  September 14, 2010 12:04 pm - 4 Comments
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  Tuakau sits-in to get rail in - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  As the Herald reports, this weekend three communities in the Waikato – Huntly, Tuakau and Te Awamutu, staged sit-ins at their local train station. They were there to show their support for a passenger rail service between Auckland and Hamilton. You can see some footage of the sit-ins here. The sit-ins had huge support with over [...] read more
  September 13, 2010 2:51 pm - 23 Comments
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  Last chance to get Dominion Road bus/cycle way - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Just a reminder that the last day for submissions on the redesign of Dominion Road is this Sunday, 29th of August. I’ve commented on this issue before so will be brief.  Auckland City Council is planning to redesign Dominion Road, one of the busier roads in central Auckland. Their plans for redesign currently involve letting [...] read more
  August 26, 2010 4:13 pm - 5 Comments
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  Auckland rail about to overtake Wellington? - by frog

  
  
  
  Rail service management in Wellington and Auckland seem to be experiencing a bit of a role-reversal lately. Wellington has a long history of (relatively) good public transport, starting with electrification of the regional rail line in the 1950s, and the highest bus and train mode share in the country.  This has no doubt contributed to [...] read more
  August 13, 2010 5:42 pm - 8 Comments
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  Trains are cheaper than helicopters - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Recently Steven Joyce, our Minister of Trucking Transport, claimed it would cost less to fly somebody by helicopter from Hamilton to Auckland than it would to subsidize a commuter rail service between the two cities. Luckily, Hamilton City Councillors quickly responded, pointing out that the actual cost of subsidizing a commuter rail service is hundreds [...] read more
  August 4, 2010 3:50 pm - 24 Comments
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  Banks’ bus-lane plan utter madness - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  If you’ve been reading the Herald lately you might feel that anything anybody could ever want to say about bus-lanes has been said already. To summarise, right now a lot of people in Auckland are being ticketed for moving into a bus-lane more than 50 meters (the legally allowed maximum) before they need to turn [...] read more
  July 29, 2010 10:53 am - 11 Comments
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  Fast-track the CBD rail loop - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Keith and I launched our Fast-track the CBD Rail Loop campaign today at Britomart – we had some great speakers and  I’m stoked to be promoting such an awesome transport project. I also had a chat to Sean Plunket about the loop today on Morning Report which was great. I’ve written a piece about the [...] read more
  July 26, 2010 8:11 pm - 43 Comments
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  Next Harbour crossing must include rail, walking and cycling options - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  The Aucklander reported today that the Minister of Transport has asked consultants to conduct a study into whether the next Harbour crossing for Auckland should be a bridge or a tunnel.* Parallel tunnels for road and rail going under the Harbour are the preferred option that was selected by various stakeholders  (including the New Zealand [...] read more
  June 25, 2010 5:34 pm - 27 Comments
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  Auckland gets trams - by frog

  
  
  
  As TVNZ reports, last week the Auckland Regional Council announced that they’re bringing trams back to Auckland. I didn’t have a chance to comment at the time but this is significant news. If you’re familiar with our transport history you’ll know that back in the 1950s Auckland had an extremely high rate of public transport [...] read more
  June 11, 2010 2:33 pm - 39 Comments
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  Auckland says sustainable transport, National says motorways - by frog

  
  
  
  I hopped along to the launch of the Auckland Regional Land Transport Strategy last week. I’ve blogged about the strategy before so won’t say much. Basically it sets a different direction for transport in Auckland than that favoured by the National government. It prioritizes major sustainable transport projects like the CBD rail loop for funding [...] read more
  May 25, 2010 9:00 am - 4 Comments
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  Holiday highway or a new rail link for Northport? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I had an awesome trip to Whangarei on Monday. I drove up there for 2 reasons. First, I wanted to look at the part of State Highway 1, from Puhoi to Wellsford, which the government is keen to spend $1.4 billion on upgrading. Second, I was keen to promote the idea of a new rail [...] read more
  May 19, 2010 9:54 am - 9 Comments
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  Why ignore an 11,000 strong petition for commuter rail? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  As the Campaign for Better Transport reports, last week the National Party members on the Transport and Industrial Relations select committee where I sit, voted to not even consider the petition for a commuter rail service between Hamilton and Auckland. Putting aside the fact that in most countries you might expect to find a commuter [...] read more
  May 6, 2010 2:54 pm - 62 Comments
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  Stop trying to privatise our public transport Mr Joyce - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Last week the Waikato Times ran a worrying article about a review of public transport effectiveness that the government is currently running. There aren’t many details of the review publicly available yet but I’ve obtained this briefing from officials to the Hamilton Regional Land Transport committee about it. The briefing states that the Minister’s primary [...] read more
  April 23, 2010 1:11 pm - 29 Comments
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  Positive transport news from Auckland - by frog

  
  
  
  Sometimes life under this government can be a bit of a downer. Money losing motorways here, cuts to benefits there… It’s easy to lose sight of the positive.  So here’s some good transport news from Auckland: 1. The Wiri rail link opened a few weeks ago. This rail line runs from Port of Auckland (down [...] read more
  April 13, 2010 9:00 am - 5 Comments
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  The Nubrella and other cycling news - by frog

  
  
  
  Tip of the pen to the Cycling Advocacy Network who provided me with most of these links. First off – welcome to the Nubrella – a hands-free umbrella you can wear while cycling. So long, as CAN says, “you don’t mind looking like you’ve been partially devoured by a giant transparent caterpillar”. So will the [...] read more
  March 18, 2010 9:00 am - 9 Comments
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  Auckland’s CBD rail loop gets one step closer - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  A preferred alignment for an underground rail loop to run through Auckland’s CBD was announced yesterday by ARTA. This is exciting news as it means this crucial project is coming one step closer to completion. You can see that there will be three stations, one near Aotea Square, Karangahape Road, and Symonds Street. ARTA estimate [...] read more
  March 12, 2010 4:48 pm - 26 Comments
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  Submit to save the Stratford to Okahukura Rail Line - by frog

  
  
  
  Kiwirail is considering closing the Stratford to Okahukura Rail Line because of damage to the tracks after a derailment last year. Kiwirail has told the media they are asking for submissions from the public before making a decision. Although, in practice, I can’t see any mention of the submission process on their website… Anyway, if [...] read more
  February 10, 2010 5:36 pm - 15 Comments
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  Obama makes liveability central to transport funding - by frog

  
  
  
  President Obama’s administration has recently announced progressive new changes to the way future transport projects will be funded. Obama’s administration is now adding “liveability” to the measures used to evaluate new transport projects. “We want to base our decisions on how much transit helps the environment, how much it improves development opportunities, and how it [...] read more
  January 27, 2010 9:13 am - 9 Comments
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  Copenhagen Diary #3 - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Copenhagen has a public transport system to die for. With a population similar to greater Auckland, although covering much less space, it has a new (2002) metro that is very fast and I’ve never had to wait more than 4 minutes even though I’m near the end of the line. read more
  December 16, 2009 3:27 am - 5 Comments
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  National Out of Touch on Transport? - by frog

  
  
  
  I’ve blogged before about the gap between what Steven Joyce wants for Auckland (more roads) and what the average Aucklander wants (more public transport). It’s nice to see the Herald agrees with me (for a change). They rate Joyce’s performance as a Minister 6 out of 10 – not because he isn’t an effective Minister – [...] read more
  November 6, 2009 12:10 pm - 6 Comments