If you’re not busy tonight and are interested in transport matters there’s a couple of events you might want to think about attending.
Firstly, I will be joining Mike Lee, Jacinda Ardern, Phil Twyford and Wayne Butson from the RMTU talking about transport matters – detailed below:
‘Keeping Auckland’s Transport on Track’,
from 6.30, 25 August 2011, at The Trades Hall, 149 Gt North Rd, Grey Lynn.
Speakers include Mike Lee, chair of the Auckland Council Transport Committee – ‘What the threats are to keeping Auckland’s transport on track’,
Me, ‘What Auckland needs and wants’,
Wayne Butson -RMTU, why public transport is good for Auckland & New Zealand’s workers & economy, and
Phil Twyford, Labour MP, – what Labour offers Auckland.There will be opportunity for discussion and questions.
If you’re more into cycling, then you might wish to attend the Cycle Action Auckland AGM:
Connectivity: Collaborating with designers and decision makers for Auckland’s cycling future.Cycle Action Auckland is delighted to present Stephen Town, Regional Director, NZTA as our AGM guest speaker.
Auckland’s NZTA team have been commissioning the city’s architects, urban designers and engineers to create the most exciting, innovative cycling infrastructure our city has ever seen. We can expect to see more as Mayor Len’s liveable city evolves around us. Stephen Town, the NZTA’s new Regional Director, is helping it along. He understands and works to promote connectivity – between our city’s new bodies, between transport modes, between design professionals, and between the key cycling routes we all dream to have connecting across the region. Recently, he has helped along the ‘Getacross’ proposal for cycling and walking on the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
7pm Thursday 25 August Drinks & Nibbles @ 6:45pm
Ellen Melville Hall, Freyberg Square Corner of High Street & Freyberg Pl
Maybe one day we’ll invent some transportation device that allow people to be in two places at once, but until that time I’m afraid you’ll have to choose.
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you could attend one event until about 7 pm, leap on your bike and then go to the other arriving only 15 minutes late. I briefly contemplated doing that but decided I prefer cycling. also a friend of mine is doing a lecture at uni at 5.30 pm. Choices choices!
Hmm maybe it’s time PT people and cycling people started networking!
Just got back from the ALEN meeting. I think the most important thing that came up was that Mike Lee said that there should a publicly-owned bus company in Auckland. I wonder who he could have got that idea from? 🙂
I also just got back from the ALEN meeting and finally met Josh in person. I agree in which Mike Lee’s idea of having a publicly-owned bus company is a great idea. Kind of like having a KiwiBank in Auckland’s bus market. As Mike put it: “Keeping the other bus operators honest.”
Apart from that, I actually think Labour’s commitment to Auckland’s transportation was the most important thing to note. From what I could gather from both Phil and Jacinda, it seems like they will announce their budget commitment for the City Rail Link really soon. Exciting stuff!
Kiwibus! Would be awesome. Maybe Auckland Council has the money to buy a bus company… If they did it would be great. Although it might actually be illegal given that it would probably give their company a bit of an edge over competitors for routes. hmmm, I should find out if that’s true. The cycling meeting was good too. The chap from NZTA came over as being nice although it was a little disturbing to find out he was chief executive of Tauranga City Council for years (because all I ever seem to hear about that council is they want more GREAT BIG MOTORWAYS). He said NZTA is shifting towards being customer focused which is kind of weird for an organization whose primary purpose in life is to build great big motorways (“So, do you want it in grey or grey? Underpass, overbridge, the choice is yours – the customer is always right!”). But still, good to hear him there, speaking to cyclists and being harangued – it seems that NZTA has come a long, long way since Wayne MacDonald tried to stop the great bridge crossing.
Chris, we do. Maybe we could do even more so, but that’s the problem in a world with too much to do, and goes double for volunteer groups. The CAA event was very well-attended, and thanks to Admin for putting up the post. Next time, we hope to put out the call to the wider community a bit earlier. Though we may end up needing a bigger hall then!
The presentation by Stephen Town was also interesting. He noted that with the current political-funding climate, the key will be to get cycling included in other big transport projects. He got a few hardball questions, which he answered quite forthrightly, though I was somewhat disappointed that he mentioned Waterview (the motorway, not the cycleway) as being a transformative project in the coming years, right after the rail electrification. Can’t say I agreed with that. Induced demand will remain King, until we either get a) better transport CHOICES, or b) fuel prices blow car transport growth out of the water for good.
That said, it was a good presentation, by a key NZTA ally for better transport. Not his fault that Steven Joyce puts some very hard-and-fast limits on the change he can support.
LucyJH: In theory, since Auckland Transport is meant to be operationally seperate from Auckland Council, there shouldn’t be any problem with the Council owning the bus company and AT setting the routes. Mike Lee also suggested the company could be a co-operative, or partly owned by the unions.
@Miggle – now you are talking communist treason! 😉 How do the corporations make a buck in this scenario?