Our Transport Minister
I can’t say that I’ve been particularly generous in my opinion of Steven Joyce over the last 10 or so months since he became the Minister of Transport. But perhaps I was starting to feel a bit less grumpy about what has happened to transport matters – as a lot of the mess he created in March has subsequently been cleaned up.…
13 Comments Letter to the NZ Herald published!
Well a letter to the editor I wrote at the end of last week got published in the NZ Herald today. As they don’t publish their letters to the editor online, I shall copy it out in full:
All the announcements of roading projects to be completed by the 2011 Rugby World Cup, such as the Victoria Park tunnel and the Newmarket Viaduct, make me wonder if tourists here for that event are expected to bring their cars with them.…
June Patronage – a pleasant surprise
The June 2009 ARTA monthly business report is out, and as always provides an interesting insight into the development of Auckland’s public transport system. What’s particularly interesting are the patronage statistics, which show the following: The yearly patronage statistics are of less interest to me than the month versus month data – June 2009 versus June 2008.…
25 year high for Public Transport
The Herald reports today that public transport use is at a 25 year high for the Auckland Region, and also that the results of a survey show that people’s experiences of public transport are improving – which bodes well for the future:
Use of public transport in Auckland has hit a 25-year high, with commuters reporting increased satisfaction with the service on offer.The…
Bring back trams?
Until the 1950s Auckland had one of the best public transport systems for a city of its size in the world. Our usage of public transport was also very high on a per-capita basis. The vast majority of public transport users during the early 20th century were those who caught the tram.…
Labour and Public Transport – a dilemma
I’ll be up front about my past voting in general elections. In 2000 I turned 18, so I’ve voted in three different elections. In 2002 and 2005 I voted for Labour, while in 2008 I voted for the Green Party. Probably the most significant factor in my change of heart was the respective transport policies of the Greens and Labour.…
Kids and Public Transport
There was a Dad and his three or four year old daughter on the bus with me today, and it got me thinking about how rarely we see this kind of situation – a parent taking their child with them on the bus to work.…
Through-routing buses: an update
Last week I put together a proposal to revolutionise Auckland’s bus system by focusing on through-routing the buses. Basically, this involves linking up bus route that come from either side of the city with each other – so that it’s possible to have buses actually travel through the downtown area.…
Grafton Bridge – bus only?
The Central Connector is a critical public transport project providing continuous bus lanes between Britomart and Newmarket. According to Auckland City Council, the project has the following benefits:
The Central Connector forms a crucial part of Auckland’s expanding transport network, linking into the Northern Busway at Britomart and connecting future bus improvement projects on Great South, Manukau and Remuera roads.…
Peak Oil. Now.
An excellent article in The Independent on peak oil, based around an interview of top International Energy Agency official Fatih Birrol. I think I will have to post in full it’s so good:
Warning: Oil supplies are running out fast
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Catastrophic shortfalls threaten economic recovery, says world’s top energy economist
The world is heading for a catastrophic energy crunch that could cripple a global economic recovery because most of the major oil fields in the world have passed their peak production, a leading energy economist has warned.…
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