Northwest Light Rail Thoughts
In the Congestion Free Network 2, we floated the idea of Northwestern Light Rail along State Highway 16, rather than a Busway. We did this for a few reasons: Aspirational: We suspected that like the Northern Busway the Northwest Busway would also be a victim of its own success.…
97 Comments Making the most of Mt Eden Station
Last week I wrote about how there are two crucial changes needed to ensure the huge opportunity of the City Rail Link isn’t wasted. While I consider those the most crucial changes needed, they’re not the only ones that should be considered.…
It’s time for some tweaks to MMP
Now that the outcome of the 2017 Election is known, it’s a good time to reflect on what could work better in our parliamentary democracy.
A small share of National supporters, plus some nitwit political columnists, are grumpy about the fact that National won the most votes of any individual party but nonetheless finds itself out of government.…
A Light Rail Pipeline
Last week, as the new government were being sworn in, Infrastructure New Zealand (INZ), the lobby group representing infrastructure builders and financiers, were holding a conference about …. infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, INZ and many of their members have been some of the strongest supporters of the previous government’s massive road building programme and from reports were quite glum last week.…
Sunday reading 29 October 2017
Welcome back to Sunday Reading. Here are articles and media we’ve collected over the last week. Please add your links in the comments below.
Here’s a great interview with author Peter Walker on the unintended consequences of the cycle helmet law.…
A collection of thoughts on a regional fuel tax
There was plenty of talk about the introduction of a regional fuel tax yesterday following an announcement by new Transport Minister Phil Twyford that one would be introduced in a matter of months. I thought I’d pull together a couple of my thoughts about aspects related to a potential regional fuel tax.…
Accelerating Regional Rapid Rail – Jump straight to Stage 2
In what seems like a lifetime ago now but was only August we released Regional Rapid Rail to much fanfare. It was quickly adopted by both the Greens and Labour and appears likely to become a cornerstone of the $1 billion per annum Regional Development (Provincial Growth) fund that is central to the Labour/NZ First coalition agreement.…
Phil Twyford Comes Out Swinging on Housing and Transport
Phil Twyford had not even been formally sworn in as Minister but that did not stop him from getting on with it and what were two seriously big announcements on Housing and Transport. Transport – Light Rail to both the Northwest and Airport Confirmed
Phil Twyford confirmed to the Herald that the new Government intends to build Light Rail from both the Wynyard Quarter to the Airport as well as the Northwest.…
Twyford’s opportunity to enhance the CRL
Yesterday Phil Twyford was confirmed as the new Transport Minister with Julie Anne Genter as an Associate – a powerful team to change transport in NZ. Twyford also picked up the role of Housing and Urban Development. Given housing and transport are two sides of the same coin, it’s great that we might finally be able to see some co-ordination and integration between these two critical portfolios.…
Fixing the National Land Transport Fund
As discussed in this morning’s post, the Labour/Green confidence and supply agreement will lead to major change in transport investment priorities going forwards. Especially the following:
National Land Transport Fund spending will be reprioritised to increase the investment in rail infrastructure in cities and regions, and cycling and walking.…
Processing...