High speed rail – the solution to Auckland’s growth?
The post I wrote a week or so ago, asking the question of whether Auckland should grow at the pace, or to the extent, of current projections, generated more comments than any other post on this blog ever. There has also been an ongoing flow of letters to the editor in the NZ Herald questioning whether it’s in New Zealand’s best interest, including Auckland’s best interest, to see such a significant chunk of the country’s future population growth in one city.…
47 Comments How Sprawly is the Unitary Plan?
There has been a great deal of emphasis on the zones where higher buildings will be allowed in the media coverage of the Unitary Plan. Especially giving voice to those who see this as unwelcome. Yet the plan isn’t by any means only about Auckland ‘growing up’, it also includes the quite substantial expansion of the current city limits.…
The REAL cost of congestion
There has been quite a lot of discussion recently about the “cost” of congestion, as well as pretty dire future projections in relation to levels of congestion 20-30 years in the future. But, compared to other elements of transport costs, how does congestion actually stack up?…
Government Misleads on Public Transport Spending In Auckland
A Herald article last month highlighted strong support for more Government spending on public transport improvements in Auckland. It included the following quote:
But a spokesman for Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said that with $890 million budgeted for public transport in Auckland over three years “it would be grossly unfair to suggest the Government hasn’t given this mode of transport the priority it deserves”.…
Should the speed limit on motorways be increased?
The AA is calling for some of the newly built motorways to get a speed limit increase to 110kph. Stuff reports:
Speed limits should be bumped up to 110kmh on the newest and safest roads, the Automobile Association says – and the Government is not ruling out the idea.…
Integrated Transport Programme Approved
At today’s Board Meeting Auckland Transport approved the Integrated Transport Programme – a 30 year strategic transport document for Auckland which gives effect to the relevant matters of the Auckland Plan. Here’s the press release:
For the first time Auckland has a comprehensive programme outlining action for delivering on the city’s transport issues.…
Why are we still building suburbs like this?
I want to make this clear right from the beginning, this post is not about sprawl or intensification, it is about how we develop. This is especially important as the unitary plan proposes that quite a bit of the development that is to occur, will happen in greenfield areas.…
Feb 2013 Patronage
I imagine that there are a few staff not looking forward to the AT board meeting today when it comes time to discuss patronage as the results for Feb certainly aren’t pretty. The highlights, if you can call them that, are:
Auckland public transport patronage totalled 69,516,680 passengers for the 12-months to Feb-2013 a decrease of -1,147,482 boardings or -1.6%.…
Progress on Symonds Street, plus Piece of Cake #2
Here is some good news on the walkability front. Reader Luke C brought a problematic pedestrian signal timing issue to AT via Twitter and it was improved within a few days. Here is his account: I saw the mass of students trying the cross the Symonds St crossing outside the engineering building.…
The (rubbish) Integrated Transport Programme
Aside from the rather depressing patronage news, the most interesting report on the March agenda of the Auckland Transport Board is the Integrated Transport Programme (ITP). We saw some snippets of this document at last month’s Board meeting, but this is the first time we’ve seen a document that seems fairly critical in filling in the details of giving effect to the transport section of the Auckland Plan.…
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