As the year draws to a close I have been having a few discussions with friends about whether 2010 has been a good year for public transport or not. There are probably arguments either way.
On the bright side first
- Perhaps the biggest boost was the results of the Auckland Council local government election, and in particular the election of Mayor Len Brown on a very strong public transport platform. As well as the final result of the Super City election, I was also heartened by the emphasis we saw throughout the election period on the necessity to improve Auckland’s public transport system. For example, we saw survey results in the NZ Herald showing rail to the airport was the project most people thought we should prioritise.
- We’ve also seen the CBD Rail Tunnel business case released, showing an excellent cost-benefit ratio of 3.5 – once you include employment-related wider economic benefits (which, contrary to what Steven Joyce says, are also included in all the BCR calculations of the roads of national significance).
- We saw a number of railway stations open: including Newmarket, Grafton, New Lynn and perhaps most satisfyingly, Onehunga. 2009 was a bit of a ‘hard slog year’ when it came to PT: much work done but not many results to show for it. In 2010 we saw the results of that hard work, which has been great.
- The ARC came up with the 2010 Regional Land Transport Strategy, just before they disappeared. This is probably the best transport strategy Auckland has had in 60 years – although it remains to be seen to what extent it’s implemented.
- Patronage continued to boom: particularly on the rail network and on the Northern Busway. It’s only a matter of time before we achieve a million rail trips a month: perhaps in March next year, perhaps in September or October when the world cup is on.
Of course not everything has been great. On the down side:
- Steven Joyce’s reaction to the CBD tunnel business case was disappointing and exceptionally hypocritical considering his illogical support of the Puhoi-Wellsford “holiday highway”.
- The relentless pursuit of the Puhoi-Wellsford “holiday highway” has been disappointing, especially considering its cost-effectiveness seems to become worse and worse the more it’s analysed.
- The farebox recovery policy didn’t get much news, but over the long term could prove to be exceptionally destructive to public transport in New Zealand. Once again, it seems that this was an arbitrary decision from Steven Joyce to impose a 50% requirement with absolutely no supporting research.
- The emergence of a $30 million rail funding gap – entirely caused by the policies of (you guessed it) Steven Joyce.
- The whole bus lane ticketing saga. While Auckland City was certainly acting a bit daft, the Herald’s general crusade against bus lanes may end up being particularly damaging to the cheapest and fastest way of dramatically improving public transport in Auckland – extending the bus lane system.
On balance, I do think we’re in a better place than we were this time last year. Electrification is about to kick into its next phase and become visible, integrated ticketing (despite its many flaws) looks like it’s going ahead. We have a Mayor and Council who are willing to take the fight to the government’s transport policies if need be, and who appear to be strong PT advocates. This year could have a been a whole heap worse, that’s for sure.
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Thank the Gods Banks didn’t win! Otherwise Auckland’s PT would have ended looking like a scene out of the new US Thriller “The Walking Dead”!
Now we just need our PT Representatives – Gareth and Jacinda – to gather their ammunition from these blogs and frag Joyce’s Arse!
I think that when balanced up it has been a pretty good year, the bad points that you mention are luckily all ones that can be pretty easily changed in the future when we get a more balanced transport minister. Probably the most important overall though is that PT is now starting to be widely accepted and called for by the public.
Some things you missed off the good things list, double tracking was completed out west, there was also a new station at Avondale, Steven Joyce backed down on the PTMA changes he had planned.
Yes true. The completion of double-tracking was the most woefully under-celebrated achievement ever.
Weird for a $420 million project.
You could probably summarize the downsides with as “1. Steven Joyce”
Yep, 2010 has been a good year for PT!
But I think it’s misleading to blame Joyce for all the anti-PT blocking that occurs (much as he deserves it). Recall these delays happened just as much before Joyce became a Minister (and under a Labour govt) – Onehunga rail was perpetually stalled, Airport rail and CBD tunnel were ignored as too expensive (while Cullen spent up on motorways), etc. The key is transport ‘civil servants’ (in ARTA-AT as much as NZTA) who decide what will get funded and what won’t – the Minister just rubber stamps their reports mostly.
Big 2010 thumbs down have to go to Kiwirail ceo Jim Quinn, for what seems staggering lack of confidence in his own company staff to do the job (building new wagons, new EMUs, keeping viable rural lines open, etc).
I would put West line doubling as the top good outcome, and shuffle electrification down. EMUs have been pushed as a panacea, but DEMUs appear to offer similar traction gains for lower up front cost. Whole life cycle costs may drag that back, but I question whether other projects offer better and faster patronage gains than the $1bn being spent on electrification. Could have Airport rail operating and spare change for extending past Manukau towards Botany…
Second place downer is Manukau City spur line, which is disrupting East line services, and in fact halving train frequency south of Wiri. Madness, all to serve a catchment population of under 1,000 people! Ego trip writ large for ex-Manukau mayors.
Wishes for 2011 – quick gains would be motorway bus routes (buses running along motorways with stops only at offramps before bus gets straight back on at same location’s onramp. Oh, and longer multi-stop ferry routes. You know, ferries that travel between multiple stops, not just shuttle back and forth to CBD. Say Birkenhead-Northcote-CBD-Devonport-HalfMoonBay, for seamless travel that would be quite a quick East-West QTN service.
One can dream 🙂
With oil prices high and expected to keep climbing, continuing down the non-electric route is a recipe for big pain in future. We’ve been lucky that diesel prices haven’t eaten their way into fares yet, but we cannot continue relying on luck.
Also, nothing beats electric for acceleration and braking. Certainly nothing powered by internal combustion. If we’re going to get sub-10 minute frequencies, diesel has to go. Electrification is a long-term investment in ongoing running costs and network service levels. It’s never been about patronage gains in the short term.
KR is building new wagons, and lots of them. I disagree with the decision not to build EMU bodies here, but I do understand the rationale. As for the rural lines, you don’t think that’s maybe being pushed from a higher power: aka the Minister for Trucks, who confirms his dislike of and disdain for rail with every utterance. Quinn’s public statements are very much of the “I don’t like this, but my boss is making the rules” persuasion.
If the EMUs were built in NZ they would have taken 2 years longer. We need our electric trains ASAP.
The main justification for electrification is that over 30 years it is cheaper than buying and operating new DMUs.
Don’t forgrt EMUs are the only way we’ll be able to get a CBD tunnel, without a CBD tunnel we’d not have the capacity for an airport line, or a southeastern line, or a north shore line in the future. We’d also miss out on the 3-4 billion in benefits expected from the construction of the CBD tunnel. Electrification is a no brainer, and essential for the network to keep growing.