Smarter Buses Series – Pt 6 Dwells and Bus Management
This is part six of my series looking into how we can make big improvements to bus journeys through relatively small changes. In part one I looked at Khyber Pass and the need for us to be more flexible in providing better bus lanes.…
40 Comments Kiwibuild: the good, the vague and the ugly
Labour’s Kiwibuild policy was first announced in 2012, and is now a flagship housing policy of the new Labour-led government. The key points haven’t changed much since 2012, although the detail has been fleshed out a bit since then. Those key points are: The government wants to build or facilitate 100,000 new homes over 10 years
At least half the new homes will be in Auckland
All Kiwibuild homes will be “affordable”
All Kiwibuild homes will be for first home buyers only The good
There’s a lot to like about the Kiwibuild program; I like the aspiration behind it, and I like the focus on affordable homes.…
Flashback – EMU production photos
This post was originally published 5 years ago, in March 2013.
The first of what I’m sure will be our superb new electric trains is under construction in Spain. The body shell for the first of the carriages has been completed and have already taken a trip to the paint shop to get its colours with details like logo added later in the process.…
The Marsden Point Rail Link
A few months ago I outlined the opportunities for Northland rail upgrades. After doing some more research I have found some more interesting information that backs up the case. For this post, I will focus on the Marsden Point line and log traffic.…
Mar-18 AT Board Meeting
Yesterday was the latest AT board meeting. Here are the items from the reports that caught my attention.
Closed Agenda
There’s only one item that is of interest, Downtown Works Package. I assume it relates to this comment in the main business report
Within the city centre work is focussing on the optimal staging programme for various overlapping projects in the Downtown area ahead of the America’s Cup as well as the commencement of the procurement to develop a more detailed business case for the Wellesley Street bus improvements project.…
Jan-18 Ridership
The ridership numbers for January are available and they’ve got a lot in common with the December results. Overall ridership was up 6.6% on January last year, although there was an extra working day this year. That growth is all coming from buses though as both rail and ferries saw the number of trips decrease.…
Auckland’s Untold Growth Story
Today I’m officially launching the New Zealand Local Population Database. This brings together a huge amount of population data for the first time, showing how different parts of New Zealand have changed over 1891-2013. The database covers all council areas (regions and territorial authorities), as well as 260+ towns and cities (“urban areas”).…
Is “Let’s Get Wellington Moving” biased against light-rail?
Last year the Wellington’s semi-equivalent of our Auckland Transport Alignment Project was released for consultation. The work, known as “Let’s Get Welly Moving”, was done as a result of the declined consent for the Basin Reserve Flyover which required Central and Local Government to go back to the drawing board.…
Bike and Buslash or just bashing
Auckland is congested and unless something disastrous happens, physically or economically, it always will be. Unfortunately, congestion is something that comes part and parcel with an attractive, successful and growing city. There is no silver bullet that will suddenly make our roads the free flowing drivers paradise like we see in the car commercials.…
Mill Road Quick Fix
Yesterday opposition transport spokesperson Judith Collins continued her recent focus on the Mill Road project: This is Mill Road at 7.05 am this morning. This is the alternative way from Drury, Pukekohe, Papakura North when the Southern Motorway is in gridlock.…
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