Weekly Roundup 18-October-2024
Happy Friday, and welcome to another round-up of interesting stories about what’s happening in Auckland and other cities. Feel free to add your links in the comments!
This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans.…
Comment Auckland Harbour Bridge is collapsing*
This guest post by Tim Adriaansen, an advocate for accessibility and sustainable transport, is an expanded version of a recent post on LinkedIn.
A note to readers: we suggest reading all the way to the footnote, especially if you’re new around here.…
Auckland to see biggest PT improvements in six years
In just over a month, Auckland is going to see some of the biggest changes to our public transport network since the completion of the New Network over six years ago.
The decade between 2008 and 2018 was one of the most significant for public transport in Auckland.…
First judicial review for the Minister of Transport
In September, Eloise Gibson reported for RNZ that the Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, fast-tracked changes to tailpipe emissions standards to meet a car industry deadline. Now, legal questions are being asked about the process that led to those decisions.
As reported on Monday, again by Eloise Gibson for RNZ, the minister is being taken to court by an electric-car advocacy initiative over the engagement that resulted in weakening the pre-existing standards:
The Better New Zealand Trust said it was unreasonable of Brown to direct his transport officials to consult only four motoring groups – all of which were against the standards – before making a decision.…
Who benefits from secrecy around public infrastructure?
You might have seen this video, which we received as part of a recent OIA request. It showcases the original light rail plans developed by Auckland Transport between 2014-2017.
The video was apparently produced in early 2018 by Auckland Transport, just a few months before the project was handed off to Waka Kotahi/NZTA.…
Weekly Roundup 11-October-2024
Kia ora and welcome to another weekly roundup of stories that caught our eye about cities and how they work. Feel free to share any links we might have missed, in the comments below.
As always, this post is compiled by our largely volunteer team, and your support makes it possible – so a huge Friday thank you to all our supporters, old and new.…
130 years of growth in NZ cities
All-new 2023 census data has just been released, giving a great window into: how many New Zealanders there are, who we are, where we work (and how we get there), and who still has landline phones (31% of households!).
But it’s also fun* to put things in a historical context.…
Getting the rail network up to speed
The scale of delays on our rail network was highlighted by the Herald last week – and while it’s bad, it also highlights the huge opportunity for getting our rail network back up to speed.
KiwiRail has promised to cut delays on Auckland trains, amid growing concerns about the readiness of the city’s failing rail network for the opening of the $5.5 billion City Rail Link in 2026.…
Talk Wellington takes a pause
A couple of weeks ago we reported in our Weekly Roundup that sister site Talk Wellington/ Kōrero Shaping Wellington – the hub of urbanist discussion and action for our capital – was going into hiatus after seven years. With kind permission, we’re reposting in full the farewell post by TalkWelly founder Isabella Cawthorn.…
2023 Census first look: how we travel to work and school
Last week finally saw the first major release of detailed data from last year’s Census. There are a huge number of stories to be told from this data. Over the next few weeks we’ll be illuminating a few of them – starting today with an initial look at how New Zealanders travel for work and education.…
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