Has 2010 been a good year for public transport?
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. …
8 Comments First visible signs of electrification not far away
KiwiRail’s last newsletter before Christmas describes some of the work that is going to be taking place on Auckland’s rail network over the summer break. The entire rail network will be closed down for quite some time, with all of the network closed until January 9th and much of the network (the eastern line and the southern line, south of Otahuhu) closed until January 16th.…
A solution to the Quay Street problem?
Continuing the Auckland tradition of digging up roads as much as possible, we learned a couple of days back that necessary works by Vector to upgrade power cables under Quay Street will result in that street being narrowed for quite a few months in the near future.…
The Hobson & Nelson streets idea
One of the ideas within the “Transport in Auckland: 2011-2016” plan I helped the Campaign for Better Transport present to the Auckland Council Transport Committee on Monday that seems to have captured the imagination of a lot of people, is the idea to ‘humanise’ Hobson and Nelson streets by turning them from one-way de-facto motorways into normal two-way boulevards.…
The Queens Wharf Cruise Ship Con
Queens Wharf is one of the jewels of Auckland’s crown, it is a huge space at over 2.5 hectares right in the heart of town at the end of Queen St. Up until now most of the debate has been around using it for party central for the RWC and whether we should keeping or removing the sheds that were on there (the back shed has been removed and the front one will be done up). …
Another ‘hit’ for the road addict
A truly depressing article in yesterday’s NZ Herald indicating that NZTA are planning to spend another $160 million (which they can somehow whip out of a hat) on two previously unplanned motorway upgrades in Auckland. This comes at a time when public transport and cycling projects in particular are struggling for each and every dollar available to spend on them.…
Review of CBD tunnel business case – but why not of holiday highway?
Today’s announcement that government agencies, in conjunction with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport, will be undertaking a good in depth analysis and review of the Auckland CBD Tunnel business case is most probably a useful step forwards – as it at least represents a step further along the process to making this proposal a reality.…
Integrated Ticketing Project Update
At yesterday’s Transport Committee meeting perhaps one of the most interesting things we learned was through a presentation by Fergus Gammie from Auckland Transport on what progress is being made on the integrated ticketing project. There have been a number of media releases to do with this project in the past that have told us next to nothing about the details of this project – so it was good to finally get a few answers to the questions I have.…
Auckland Transport: so much for openness and transparency
The Auckland Transport CCO has promised a lot about being open and transparent in its operation – and in some respects there have been good signs. The board papers from last month’s board meeting are now (finally) online, anyone who likes can rock along to the December meeting of the CCO’s board tomorrow (9am in the old Waitakere City Council chambers if you’re interested).…
Transport in Auckland: 2011-2016
As I briefly noted in my previous post, I helped make a presentation on behalf of the Campaign for Better Transport at today’s meeting of the Auckland Council Transport Committee. The presentation can be read in its entirety here, and a powerpoint presentation of what I showed the Transport Committee (which is a summary) can be read here.…
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