The Importance of Co-Ordination
Well I have finally managed to finish Paul Mees’s excellent book – A Very Public Solution. It is certainly the most comprehensive book solely on public transport that I have ever come across, and if it wasn’t out of print (there’s currently one used copy available on Amazon for around $US 320) it would be an immediate addition to my book collection.…
5 Comments Newmarket West Station
There has been quite a lot of talk over the last few days about the future of the Newmarket West Train Station once the new Newmarket station opens in January next year. Brian Rudman wrote a fairly lengthy article on the matter in today’s herald, while another article on transport issues also mentioned the ‘up in the air’ future of this station.…
Further details on electrification
The latest KiwiRail newsletter has some interesting insights into Auckland’s electrification project – and specifically the announcement of funding for that project’s trains last week. A couple of extracts: A few thoughts. Firstly, it is disappointing that a contract won’t be awareded until the end of next year.…
Regional Public Transport Plan – submission
As mentioned in a previous post, the Auckland Regional Public Transport Plan is open for submission until December 24th. This plan will be very useful in guiding the structure of Auckland’s public transport services over the next few years – and involves a pretty big shift in the structure of the public transport system.…
October 2009 Patronage – the lockout hits home
The effects of the bus lockout, which took place in early October, on patronage statistics shows through clearly in ARTA’s October 2009 Monthly Business Report. Bus patronage is down a whopping 18% on the October of the year before, although rail did certainly pick up some of the slack – meaning only a 12% decline in patronage over all.…
Rudman on Pedestrians
In a similar vein to the post I made a couple of days ago, Brian Rudman has written an excellent article in today’s Herald about how little Auckland seems to care about its pedestrians:
What about the walkers? A few days ago, the blueprint for the Auckland Transport Agency was unveiled.…
Draft NZTA Farebox Recovery Policy – my submission
Following on from my post on NZTA’s Draft Farebox Recovery Policy, here’s the submission I have put together. Details on how to submit your submission are here (basically just email it off to chad.barker@nzta.govt.nz). Submissions close on Monday, so be quick!…
Bus Dispute Finally Over
It was with great relief today that I read the industrial dispute between drivers and NZ Bus is finally over. ARTA seem highly relieved too, in their press release:
ARTA pleased stability returned to bus customers
The Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) says it is very pleased that stability and certainty has been returned to Auckland’s bus passengers today with notification that agreement has now been reached between NZ Bus and the Auckland Combined Unions.…
People Friendly Spaces
A fairly common theme of annoyance with the way Auckland operates that was raised in my “Pet Peeves thread” seemed to be the lack of respect paid to pedestrians within Auckland’s CBD. A few examples of comments in that thread:
From rtc:
I think one of my biggest peeves in Auckland is the free left turns that almost all roads in the city have, and of which maybe 2% have zebra crossings.…
More Details on the Electrification Announcement
Well interestingly enough the more I dig into today’s electrification announcement, the better the news is that I come across. As I outlined in my very brief previous post, the long-awaited funding for Auckland’s electric trains has finally been approved – as a loan to KiwiRail from the government.…
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