Supply curves slope upwards. Demand curves slope downwards. Are we accounting for this?
In a number of recent posts I’ve taken a look at both the demand for new roads (tends to be lower than expected) and the cost to build new roads (tends to be higher than expected). This has led to a bit of trouble for road builders in many developed countries – it’s getting harder and harder to find good projects.…
23 Comments Dominion Rd Interchange construction
While I was working on this morning’s post about the Dominion Rd Interchange I came across a lot of photos of it from during construction from Whites Photography. Here is a bit of a pictorial history of its construction.
19 November 1963 – before the destruction started.…
Engineers versus … everyone else?
How do you define “optimal conditions” in a transport sense? The graphic below paints a stark difference in opinion on what constitutes “optimal conditions” for different professions:
Now I’m both an engineer and an economist, so feel I have some insight into the motivation for whoever developed this graphic.…
Tearing down the Dominion Rd Interchange
The herald yesterday highlighted an idea we’ve long championed, removing the eyesore that is the Dominion Rd Interchange and developing the land freed up by it. Cash-hungry Auckland Council leaders are eyeing a proposal to replace the complex Dominion Rd interchange with traffic lights to free valuable land for housing and commercial development.…
An urban development agency for Auckland
Last week Auckland Council announced that it would be combining two of its council-controlled organisations, Waterfront Auckland and Auckland Council Properties Limited, into a new urban development agency:
The new entity, called Development Auckland, will have a key role in helping deliver the council priority of quality urban living and will have the mandate to deal with the challenge of Auckland’s rapid growth through regeneration and investment.…
Predicting Future Transport Demand
We have long criticised the Ministry of Transport as being horribly outdated in their thinking on transport matters. It’s always difficult to know the extent to which the Ministry is just reflecting the government’s political direction or whether they truly believe what they’re saying, but in more recent times there have been a few signs that the Ministry might be getting its act together.…
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