Electrification not cancelled. Yay.
Some good news today, it has been confirmed that the government have not cancelled electrification, and will loan KiwiRail the $500 million it needs to buy Auckland some electric trains.
We don’t yet know how many trains we will be getting, or exactly when they will arrive.…
10 Comments Pet Peeves
There are a number of little things about Auckland that makes you realise how wrong we have our priorities when it comes to transport. Little things that we just get wrong, or things that show how generally public transport is looked at with disdain, or how pedestrians are seen as second-rate citizens, even in supposedly pedestrian-oriented areas such as the CBD.…
The end of the Circle Line
The excellent Human Transit blog reports that London’s Circle Line is being turned into something that more represents a “tadpole” – well at least according to Jarret from Human Transit.
The difference between the old line and the new are clearly visible in the two maps below.…
Auckland Transport Agency – structure released
The Auckland Transition Agency has released the draft structure of the Auckland Transport Agency (how annoying that their acronyms are the same). The management structure is shown in the diagrams below: And a bit more detail: At first glance I have to say “wow, it’s incredibly roads focused”.…
NZTA Fare Recovery Policy
One gets the feeling that the transport “powers to be” in Wellington are a bit grumpy with things. Their plans to shift transport policy towards greater roads-centrism haven’t exactly gone done well in Auckland, with the Regional Council releasing a draft Regional Land Transport Strategy that is the most balanced transport strategy Auckland has seen in 60 years.…
Melbourne v Toronto
A fairly significant chunk of the book “A Very Public Solution“, by Paul Mees, that I am slowly making my way through, is dedicated to comparing Melbourne with Toronto – and in particular the success (or otherwise) of their public transport systems.…
Super City structure released
I know it’s not exactly transport-related, but it is pretty big news today that the future structure of the Auckland Super City has been released. Well, by that I mean the boundaries of the different wards have been released, as have the boundaries of the local boards, and how they will be comprised.…
Two Maps
Here are a couple of aerial photographs of different parts of Auckland’s CBD. The first aerial photograph highlights the area covered by the Central Motorway Junction in red. The area highlighted is around 35 hectares in size. This second aerial photograph shows the core part of Auckland’s CBD.…
Regional Public Transport Plan
ARTA has today released their Regional Public Transport Plan. Yes, that’s right, another plan or strategy that relates to transport. This plan does get a bit more down to the “nitty gritty” than most of the other plans and strategies that have been come up with this year, although at the very same time it generally avoids the topic of “funding”, so comes across as a bit vague too.…
Worrying Rail Funding Cuts
There was a very concerning article in the NZ Herald today about possible cuts to funding for rail, and public transport in general, in the near future:
Auckland rail passengers are likely to face fare rises early next year and pensioners may have their free travel trimmed to meet a funding shortfall.…
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