“Why economists tend to be in bad odour …” – Cycleways in Christchurch
In an 1879 essay, Francis Walker tried to explain “why economists tend to be in bad odour amongst real people.” Walker, who went on to become the first president of the American Economic Association, argued that it was partly because economists disregard “…the customs and beliefs that tie individuals to their occupations and locations and lead them to act in ways contrary to the predictions of economic theory.” …
54 Comments Western Line Cancellation Reasons
As regular readers or train users will know, the service offered recently hasn’t exactly been great with many cancellations and delays. When it comes to cancellations the Western Line has been hit the hardest and in March 6% of all services on the line failed to reach their destination (reliability) – that’s 181 services all up.…
A New Ferry Wharf for Half Moon Bay
Some good news for residents of Eastern Auckland with news that AT now has plans for a new ferry terminal for Half Moon Bay, something I know the local board and local councillors have been pushing for some time now. A new Half Moon Bay ferry wharf will provide passengers more shelter and improved access to buses.…
Are Aucklanders paying too much in rates?
Aucklanders (and, I suspect, people in general) complain about high and rising property taxes. But are our rates actually too high? Compared to what?
An article last year reported on what ratepayers are paying in each of New Zealand’s territorial authorities:
Not surprisingly, rates in the most sought-after areas are also high.…
Graduate Opportunity
This is a guest post from behalf of the T² engineers which we’re posting as we know there are a lot of readers who may be interested in working in the industry.…
Stats Commuter View
I was poking around the Stats NZ site the other day (unrelated to my post on central city employment) when I came across this neat interactive visualisation of the Journey to Work data from the last Census. By clicking on any Area Unit it will show how many people commuted to and from it from every other Area Unit.…
The “Interim Transport Programme”: a game-changer
The big news to come out of last week’s Long Term Plan announcements was a big boost to transport spending over the next three years to be funded through a “transport levy” of $99 per household and $159 per business per year.…
Sunday reading 3 May 2015
Every week we read more than we can write about on the blog. To avoid letting good commentary and research fall by the wayside, we’re going to publish weekly excerpts from what we’ve been reading.
Stephen Moss, “End of the car age: How cities are outgrowing the automobile“, The Guardian:
Stephen Bayley, who has written several books on car design, is convinced the age of the car is coming to an end.…
What to ask at the next Census
Statistics NZ have announced that for the first time they’re seeking public input into what questions should be asked in the next census and have launched a discussion forum so people can have their say.
For the first time, New Zealanders are being encouraged to go online to say what they think should be asked in the next census, with a new online discussion forum on the Statistics NZ website.…
‘here began all my dreams’
*This is a guest post by bike romantic Maria Majsa, and cross posted from our sister site CAA with thanks*
On Valentine’s Day this year I didn’t get roses, I got a bike. A handsome, shiny black upright. You might think that a bike isn’t a particularly romantic gift, but I disagree.…
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