New train timetables

A series of new train timetables have been released, and will take effect from Sunday September 19th – the day the Onehunga Line starts running. The timetables are here: Southern Line Eastern Line Western Line Onehunga Line (yay – it actually exists!)…
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Customer feedback: an interesting comparison

A few weeks ago I had a rather annoying bus experience, with at least a couple of buses not turning up or being exceedingly late. Usually that would be just somewhat annoying, but on this particular occasion my daughter’s parent-teacher interviews were set down for 6.10pm and because of the exceedingly late bus I was only able to make it there for the last couple of minutes of our alloted time.…
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Electrification works begin

After a few months of managing to generally avoid works to the rail network that require weekend closures, it seems that from this coming weekend things will swing back into action. Veolia’s website outlines the train disruptions over the next few months, with perhaps the most interesting thing being the reason behind these disruptions: it seems like electrification works will finally be beginning in earnest: In order to continue the upgrade of Auckland’s rail network, there are times when train services need to be cancelled to allow work on the network that can only be done when the trains are not running.…
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Last chance to give feedback on Dominion Rd

There are just a few days left for people to make submissions on Auckland City Council’s proposed changes to Dominion Road – submissions close this Sunday (August 29th). To give a brief history, back in June the Council’s Transport Committee considered a report on Dominion Road – which largely focused on changes to the long-standing designation.…
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Vancouver’s “Buzzer” blog

While browsing through a few North American transport blogs I found myself looking at the “Buzzer blog”, from Vancouver. The interesting thing about Buzzer, is that it is a blog run by Translink – the organisation which operates Vancouver’s public transport system.…
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B.Line: where to next?

I have been hearing that ARTA’s “b.line” initiative, which actually amounted to little more than putting up a few signs at bus stops and on buses, has led to significant increases in patronage, in the region of 20% according to some, on Dominion Road and Mt Eden Road bus routes in the last couple of months.…
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Public transport’s health benefits

Todd Littman of the Victorian Transport Policy Institute has released a fascinating study into the health benefits of public transport. Here’s a brief summary of the study and its findings: This report investigates ways that public transportation affects human health, and ways to incorporate these impacts into transport policy and planning decisions.…
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Mike Lee starts a blog

ARC Chairman Mike Lee has started a blog, in the run up to the Super City elections where he’s standing in the Waitemata and Gulf Ward for the Auckland Council. The blog has backdated some interesting posts, and also has a great little piece on why Steven Joyce is a bit of a hypocrite asking for local politicians to be more cautious with their rail promises – while he goes and blows a billion and a half dollars on a holiday highway.…
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Auckland Transport finally has a CEO

The Auckland Transition Agency is finally got around to naming an interim CEO for the Auckland Transport council-controlled organisation, which is only a couple of months away from coming into existence. Rumours had been flying around that we might get some high-flying transport visionary from overseas, but that hasn’t happened.…
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