Driverless cars, sprawl and density

This is a guest post from reader Frank McRae The emergence of driverless vehicle technology has created much excitement, and speculation about how these vehicles will affect the development of cities. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal claimed that a major consequence of driverless vehicles will be the outward sprawl of cities (Driverless cars to fuel suburban sprawl): Here is the weirdest thing about this hypothetical future: where you live….you…
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September 16 AT Board Meeting

The monthly Auckland Transport Board meeting is on again next week so I’ve take a read through the main reports to pull out the bits that interest me. Closed Session Agenda Some of my thoughts about them in italics. Items for Approval/Decision CRL – PTA & QS Contracts Road Stopping Execution of Deed of Lease of Land Route Protection for Roading Projects CPO – Surrender of LRT Easements – Britomart was designed so it could also have light rail but our existing network has been too successful so is not a possibilty now Transport for Future Urban Growth (TFUG) Programme Business Case – Business cases are now needed to support all of the projects needed to support the sprawl enabled as part of the Unitary Plan AT designations for the Unitary Plan Items for Noting Deep Dive – Rail Infrastructure MRT/Light Rail Update – I see AT are already using the Mass Rapid Transit name from ATAP Rail Development Bus Services March Capacity – A hint about what this is later in the post.…
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August-2016 Patronage

Auckland’s public transport patronage results for August are now available and there are some decent numbers on show. This was partially expected thanks to there being two extra business days in August this year compared to August last year but even accounting for that, numbers are up.…
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IPENZ Transport Careers Evening

Are you passionate about cities? Interested in transport? Want to find out about potential careers in the transport industry? Then come along to the IPENZ Transportation Careers evening. Come listen to speakers from a broad range of backgrounds talk about how they fell into a career in transport.…
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Postcard from Bogota

Following a few days in Mexico City, I’ve had the pleasure of staying a week in Bogota, Colombia. Bogota is both the federal capital and the capital of Cundinamarca state, and while it probably doesn’t yet figure as a world capital of culture or clout, it certainly is a thriving mega city of regional importance.…
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Time to do K Rd station properly

Last week we had two important announcements with the Government finally confirming they’ll pay for half of the City Rail Link (CRL) and the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) finally seeing the council and government aligned on the future of transport in Auckland, including agreeing on the need in the future for a number of big PT investments. …
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