My Thoughts on the Royal Commission’s Report
I’m slowly getting through reading the entire report by the Royal Commission on Auckland’s local government, and I have also read quite a few articles giving differing opinions (and a few nice summaries of the important bits) on the Report as well.…
0 Comments RMA Amendment Bill Submission
Here’s my submission on the RMA Amendment Bill. Might be a chance to speak at a select committee too!
I make this submission in general opposition to the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill. There are some aspects of the bill that I support, but in general I oppose it on the grounds that it will lead to significant adverse effects on the environment and reduce the opportunity for the public to be involved in protecting the environment.…
A Good Day
Today is a very good day for Auckland. Firstly, it’s Leila’s birthday – happy birthday!
Secondly, the Royal Commission has recommended a single city for Auckland’s local government future. It has also recommended some excellent stuff for public transport. Everything is available to read here.…
The Importance of Integrated Ticketing
If one thing annoys me more than anything else in all the transport announcements we’ve seen over the past week or two – removal of the regional petrol tax, creation of a national petrol tax, news the government will pay for Auckland’s new electric trains, unsurprising news that the government is investing billions in state highways at the cost of everything else – it has been what has happened to Auckland’s integrated ticketing project.…
Government Roading Policy… I mean Transport Policy
So the government has decided to review its transport policy, and fairly unsurprisingly the result is masses of money for roads and bugger all for everything else.
Thanks to g.blog I have tracked down the 2009-2019 Amended Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding.…
A Day in the Life of an Auckland Public Transport User
Occasionally I do ask myself whether Auckland’s public transport is that bad after all. Perhaps it’s because I’ve had a few buses turn up on time, not take forever, I’ve caught a train that provided me with a pleasant trip, or something along those lines.…
Jim Hopkins – the 1950s man
I just about choked on my coffee this morning while reading Jim Hopkins’ opinion piece: Supporters of rail are on the wrong road. With such proclamations as “…the fact there’s more voters in one Auckland electorate than there are in the entire South Island” I was certain this was just a joke, some funny sarcasm perhaps in there to just show what dinosaurs the supporters of roads-centric transportation policies are.…
National’s Nationally Important Rrrrrrrroads
Steven Joyce, Minister of Transport, is certainly having a busier week. After the myriad of media releases surrounding a new national petrol tax, the end of a regional fuel tax, confirmation that electric trains for Auckland are going ahead, more money for State Highways, less for local roads, walking cycling and public transport….…
More Petrol Tax Shennanigans
The wild swings in transport policy on a daily basis continue to happen, with a national fuel tax of 6c a litre (introduced over the next two years) taking the place of the 9.5c a litre regional fuel tax that was to be imposed in Auckland.…
The Public Transport Roller-Coaster
Wow. What a crazy few days for public transport in Auckland. Firstly, on Friday we get what appears to be the worst news possible from Wellington, that the Regional Fuel Tax is likely to be scrapped. As electrification of the rail system, integrated ticketing, new ferry wharves and the PenLink road all depend upon regional fuel tax money, this threw everyone into a spin about how these things would be paid for.…
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