Just How Much Will Electric Trains Cost to Run?
One of the things that PT opponents and especially rail opponents like to bring up is the operating costs that are needed to run the services. Those costs can be quite high so I thought I would have a look at how things are now and compared them to what is likely to happen in the future.…
11 Comments AMETI – getting the staging right
The next Auckland Council Transport Committee meeting is on April 5th (next Tuesday), and the agenda for that meeting was published today. Within the agenda is a report on the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI) – a large transport project that I’ve discussed on quite a few occasions before.…
Top economist questions RoNS
It was heartening to open up the newspaper this morning in Wellington and read this opinion piece on the poor economics of the “Roads of National Significance” (RoNS), prepared by Dr Michael Pickford, the former chief economist at the Commerce Commission and now an independent economic researcher.…
PT use at a 60 year high
Finally Auckland Transport have officially released patronage data, showing that PT use is now at its highest level in the city since the 1950s. Here’s the press release:
Auckland Public Transport Figures Highest in 60 Years
Almost five million extra journeys were made on public transport during the last calendar year, with big increases in passengers pushing numbers to the highs of the 1950s.…
Wellington – and its RoNS
Well I’m in Wellington for most of this week, at the New Zealand Planning Institute conference for the next three days and then staying on at the weekend to check out the city a bit. It should give me the opportunity to ride a suburban Wellington train on the weekend, which I haven’t ever done before (I wonder if I can try to catch one of the new Matangi trains).…
My thoughts on the proposed bus changes
The NZ Herald, both in the form of a general article and an opinion piece by Brian Rudman, have picked up on the proposed changes to bus routes in inner Auckland. Rudman in particular provides some useful feedback on the changes – supporting parts of them while having concerns about other bits.…
Draft Annual Plan: my submission
As promised last week, I have done a model submission on the transport elements of the Draft Annual Plan. Submissions are due by this Friday, so it would be good to ensure everyone gets theirs off reasonably soon. Unfortunately, with the Annual Plan containing a massive lack of information on where the council will actually be spending its transport money, a lot of my submission is dedicated to the need for more information and more detail on what is going to be funded.…
The world has changed
You probably wouldn’t notice, at first glance, how the world of transport in Auckland has changed so dramatically over the past three years. Perhaps you might, if you caught a train and noticed that it was jam-packed instead of half-full; or a bus down the northern busway and struggled to get on it instead of having it to yourself.…
Is the government insane?
The Herald today has put out a stunningly great editorial on the lack of vision the government is showing with its 1960’s thinking about transport needs for the future. Of course I should think it is great as even though the words used are slightly different the theme and arguments in it is pretty much identical to a piece I sent them a week and a half ago (not that I’m complaining as the whole point is to the message out there).…
Big changes to city buses proposed
Auckland Transport has announced some pretty big changes to the central city buses – consultation on the changes runs from now until April 15th. The changes affect a whole pile of different routes: The LINK
City Circuit
004 or 005 – (Herne Bay, Westmere
006 – (Newmarket – St Lukes – Unitec)
007 – (Pt Chevalier – St Heliers)
010 or 011 – (Ponsonby – Onehunga)
015 to 018 – (Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Westmere)
024 to 028 – (Richmond Rd, Westmere)
034 or 035 – (Westmere, Williamson Avenue)
042 to 045 – (Pt Chevalier, Unitec, Mt Albert) Here’s a map showing how the new routes will work (a bigger map is here): There’s a lot to like about most of the proposed changes.…
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