Bike Auckland has organised a ride in honour of Levi James, the 19-year-old who was killed last weekend while riding his bike on Manukau Road. If you’d like to join the ride, meet in Cornwall Park near Hadyn Ave at 11am this Saturday.
Bike Auckland invites Auckland’s wider community to join us in a ride of respect for Levi James. pic.twitter.com/7FGmS6CJZy
Student project investigating barriers to low-carbon travel
20-year old twin sisters Breanna and Alyssa Greaney spent their summer researching barriers to active modes in their hometown, Oamaru. Their research found that safety was the biggest barrier for walking and cycling, and many young people drove, or were driven, to school – distances often 3km or less.
Using Ministry of Education data, Breanna and Alyssa found each year, 24,953kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) — the equivalent of flying from Christchurch to Wellington and back 164 times — was emitted by people who drove their children to school when they lived within 3km of it.
‘‘Another interesting result was that even if parents lived less than 1km away from school, they still drove their children to school. This is because they perceived the car-dominated environment as unsafe,’’ Breanna said.
We know this pattern exists all over the country, in cities, small towns and rural areas. School trips are a big cause of short avoidable car trips – and the solutions are usually straightforward.
Tamariki on bikes in Hawkes Bay
This is super cool: a local cycle safety group is training kaiako at Irongate School in Hawkes Bay to spread bike skills amongst the students. By bike, tamariki and teachers can more easily get around – more kids can get to their local marae if they go by bike, and the school doesn’t have to organise a bus for other nearby trips. Irongate School looks like a perfect candidate for some safe-around-schools cycling infrastructure.
Ihumātao community welcomes the independence a new bus service will bring
Public transport will soon be coming to the whenua at Ihumātao, The Spinoff reports. Although Ihumātao residents are nervous that their road will once again become a shortcut for drivers heading to the airport, they are welcoming the news of a new bus service, noting that it will bring freedom, independence, and a cheaper way to get around for many of their hāpori.
“Are we happy? Of course. Public transport offers independence to our people, relieves pressures from families sharing one vehicle, gives some independence for our elderly and, probably more importantly, opens up access to new educational and career pathways for the next generation.”
Puhoi to Mangawhai coastal trail
Bike Auckland writes about a planned new walking and cycling trail network that will eventually stretch 117 kilometers, connecting Puhoi to Mangawhai. The project is being steered by the Matakana Coast Trail Trust, a group of local volunteers. Founding chair Allison Roe wants to get people out of cars and onto their bikes:
“I’m passionate about the benefits of cycling and how well-planned trails connect communities and have a truly measurable impact on our health, road safety, local economies, and the great Aotearoa New Zealand environment. Getting people out of cars has got to be good for them and the planet,” says Roe.
The project will cost just $50m, and some funding could come from Auckland Council’s Climate Action Targeted Rate. A network of bike-able trails will be a fantastic asset for people in the growing communities of Matakana, Warkworth, Snells Beach, and north to Mangawhai.
Stages one, two and three of the Matakana Coast Trail network. Image from MCTT
The original business case believed around 7000 to 7500 people would use the trail in the first year. However, the actual figure is eclipsing those estimates, with 62,560 people using the track since it opened in May – just under ten months ago.
New Zealanders love a recreational ride. And recreational rides are good for local communities, too.
Jeffery said the trail has had a significant impact on the region, and is helping to support business. “You can see the impact of what’s happening around Cromwell and Clyde…it’s crazy busy some days.”
One News dove into the story of our lapsed passenger rail network, with an appearances by writer of ‘Can’t Get Here from There’, Dr. Andre Brett, and Dr. Paul Callister from Save Our Trains, who we linked to in last week’s roundup. The article looks at how connected New Zealand once was by rail, and why that network has all but disappeared in the last few decades, before arriving at the solutions passenger trains could provide to our transport emissions problem.
Emeritus professor of sustainability at Massey University Ralph Sims, who has been a lead author on transport for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says rail has a lot to offer.
“It could take hundreds of cars off the road and that’s the key thing because roads are getting more congested, but every car is producing a lot of carbon dioxide, around 50 kilograms for a 300 kilometre journey, just in that time, whereas a train would be a fifth of that,” he said.
Remembering the Rotorua Express
This seems the right place to share an image of the Rotorua Express leaving Auckland in 1909. The two buildings to the left of the train are still there, facing onto Takutai Square.
People in Wellington can now apply for a free parklet permit! The initiative allows for ‘mini parks or outdoor eating spaces’ to be constructed in carparking spaces as part of the city’s pandemic response plan. The information page lists benefits of parklets, including:
good for businesses because they bring more life to the street
slow traffic and make the street safer
provide more outdoor space for businesses and their customers to safely spend time during the Covid-19 pandemic.
An example of the Wellington parklet opportunity. Image from Wellington City Council.
We think this is awesome. Anyone can make an application; they just have to provide a simple set of design drawings to council for approval. Parklet spaces will be free until March 2023. Can’t wait to see some cool parklets pop up in Pōneke!
Picnics in Parks, all set up outside the barber on Cuba St in Wellington. Image by Jonathan Coppard, via Twitter.
But can they get across the road??
Meanwhile, there is a ridiculous stoush brewing in Wellington over the construction of a single pedestrian crossing at Evans Bay, across four lanes of traffic that head to/from the airport. It could be heading in the direction of Wellington Airport taking its 1/3 shareholder, Wellington Council, to court. Georgina Campbell writes about the saga in The Herald.
Let’s give the crossing a chance and save our energy for the bigger debates to be had about the transformational changes to our city’s transport network. It is after all only one pedestrian crossing.
Head to Pukekohe for your Tāmaki parklet
A handful of parking spaces in Pukekohe Centre have been repurposed as a parklet for people, with decking, picnic tables, umbrellas and planters combining to create a great little outdoor hangout space. This is a follow-up to a first try via Innovating Streets last year, and it’s great to see Eke Panuku and local businesses giving it another try and really making it work.
The parklet in Pukekohe extends the footpath without obstructing space for people walking. Image from Eke Panuku. Check out the video here.
The week in flooding makes it to Sydney
After last week’s storms battered Queensland, the rain rolled south, creating dramatic scenes of waterfalls off bridges and flooded streets in the wider Sydney area. These images of cars floating in floodwater on a bridge are terrifying.
The European Union’s version of the NCAP is different and obviously better. Vehicles receive a five-star review only if they can demonstrate an ability to come to a complete halt — or at least slow down — before colliding with a pedestrian or cyclist.
Maybe the new rules will help slow the growth of SUVs, which are much more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists than smaller cars.
The correlation between vehicle design and pedestrian deaths is pretty clear. The most popular types of vehicles, SUVs and pickup trucks, are typically the most dangerous. While people driving SUVs are slightly safer, the number of pedestrians killed by those drivers has skyrocketed by 81 percent in the last decade, according to a report released a few years ago by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The cost of sprawl vs. the value of intensification
A great new video by Not Just Bikes dropped this week. It tells the story of how suburbia (or what we might call “sprawl”) is subsidised by the more productive parts of the city.
It features some very sexy 3-D visualisations showing the cost of a given spot (infrastructure, mainly) versus the revenue it produces. Long story short: classic walkable-bikeable traditional mixed-use neighbourhoods are the most valuable. They not only pay for themselves many times over, they support sprawl.
Best of all: Auckland gets a walk-on, at around eight minutes in. Are we ready for our close-up?
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
How to get around when the cost of petrol goes north
Yes, we do know how to win the ultimate boss battle
When Elon Musk tweeted that ‘even the most powerful humans in the world cannot defeat traffic’, well, the two-wheelers of twitter were ready and waiting…
Some of you may enjoy reading this essay from Noēma Magazine in the weekend. A criticism of aspects of the IPCC report’s imagined futures, it’s an expansive essay about how to describe the possible worlds ahead of us, and what gets lost when the scenarios presented are ‘merely different flavors of extractive capitalism’. What follows is a fascinating history of the technique of ‘scenario planning’, and an argument for wilder, more creative predictions.
The cinematic grotesque of black comedies was at the very heart of the scenario-planning technique. Play, fun and comedy were essential elements in imagining different worlds. Kahn “masked his stories in the bloodless dialect of probabilistic risk assessment, but they were stories nonetheless,” as the historian Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi writes in a biography of him.
The week in bollards
As the streets of the capital returned to normal (what a clean-up!), the question of how to keep streets free of vehicular intrusion was top of mind. This article in Stuff delves into the issue of “smart” bollards – retractable electronic sentries, to activate as needed – with Isabella Cawthorn, convenor of TalkWelly, neatly summing up the potential:
“The bollard is our friend. They can enhance the streetscape for people, while also ensuring no-one can weaponise a vehicle.”
Feedback time…
Remember the Safer Speeds (Tranche 3) consultation is live until 3 April – you can drop pins on the map to support survivable speeds on streets around the city, and/or suggest other streets that need them.
And our friends at Generation Zero along with 350.org have put together a quick guide to submitting on Auckland Council’s Climate Action Targeted Rate, which you can check out here. That consultation closes on 28 March.
Another classic cartoon by local treasure Chris Slane, as spotted on Twitter.
Kia pai, kia haumaru tō wikini. Hope you have a happy and safe weekend.
In 1973 the Netherlands was hit by an OPEC oil boycott. To save gas, the country introduced car-free Sundays. People took to their #bicycles and they never looked back. Today, more #cycling means we don’t need to buy Russian oil and gas. #StandWithUkraine️pic.twitter.com/OaAGSNjdqL
I remember the original Rotorua Railway station and it was quite close to the CBD. Sadly it is now replaced with the shopping malls and carpark. The railway line is still there but it is replaced with the grass.
I was wondering if there are full maps available of Auckland in that NJB video. It would be good to see other areas of the city. There are certainly less dense sprawl areas around than the isthmus.
Auckland Transport gardeners have been working at Otahuhu station. They have removed flaxes and laid plastic weed mat on quite a large area. Wood chips are spread over the areas. There are many articles on why not to use PLASTIC weed mat. The mat only stops weeds for a short time. Wind born seeds will grow in the wood chips. The humus will gradually build up from falling leaves. The mat kills all the worms, insects and microbes under the mat and the soil becomes acid. The areas would be better planted out in very colorful native hebes or caprosma a which don’t need ongoing care. AT will probably return each year and spray glyphosate on the mulch adding to their 10 000s liters sprayed each year all round the city. The gardeners didn’t remove a large Pampas plant at the main entrance. Pampas is one of Aucklands worst weeds
They should be a special tax levied on garden centres to mitigate all the damage they have done. It could be spent getting rid of pampas, agapanthus, rainbow skinks, tui trees (that Japanese cherry thing), and goodness knows how many others.
I am getting a little annoyed at seeing Te Huia dragging around a dead DF locomotive to make reversing direction at Hamilton and the Strand a simple operation. After all they only weigh about a hundred tonnes. I have being watching the morning Strand Hamilton service run through Papatoetoe most mornings passenger numbers are low but hey we are at peak wave pandemic and perhaps they are picking up more passengers at Puhinui and Papakura. Anyway what to do with the push pull operation in the longer term to make the journey more carbon neutral. It goes without saying that passenger numbers need to increase dramatically to ensure the service continuous after the likely change of govt next year. In addition a low carbon alternative plan for the service must be in place by the time of the election. I would suggest Bio Diesel would be the easiest solution. However close attention must be paid to the development of battery electric locomotives. Several of these are in revenue service around in the USA and some are coming to mining railways in Australia. I can imagine a battery electric locomotive on one end and a bio diesel locomotive at the other. The extra cost of bio diesel can just be covered by the subsidy after all climate change mitigation is going to cost us.
My understanding is that they will be using the drivers cab from the middle of the year and the other locomotive will return to pulling a second peak Te Huia service.
The quickest, cheapest improvement would to be buy new modern regional train DMUs. That would halve the fuel consumption compared with the current contraption while providing appreciably better acceleration, braking and top speed. Also meeting modern emission standards, the current DF’s aren’t even Euro 1 compliant. Of course better still would be EMU’s but most of us haven’t got several lifetimes waiting for electrification to happen.
Kiwirail is good at converting or manufacturing carriage trains to a high standard. Home grown manufacturing appeals because of the job creation. If we just run off and purchase something from an overseas supplier we lose the jobs and the expertise. I look at the electric ferry that has being built for Wellington and just think why can’t we do a similar thing with our trains. I have even thought about converting the ADL DMU’s to run on batteries or maybe batteries and diesel. Too old I know but it would be a real learning experience for our work shops. The other thing we don’t know is whether there will be a world wide movement to convert existing diesel electric locomotives to battery electric locomotives. Still off the shelf state of the art rolling stock may be the answer however we need passenger numbers to justify them. And we need a plan on how and when we would move a service like Te Huia to a lower carbon operation. Ancient diesel electric locomotives and low passenger numbers just leave the service open to ridicule and subject to axing by a new government.
I cannot understand why there are no stations in Tuakau and Pokeno, and probably Te Kauwhata Add a platform a small gravel car park on what is probably already railway land, couple bike stands.
Because there is an extreme reluctance to spend any money on rail passenger transport outside the Auckland and Wellington commuter networks. And even those were starved of funding until quite recently. Also the disjointed ownership/boundary issues hinder any progress, the Capital Connection was ineligible for any local government funding for decades because it crossed boundaries.
They had the opportunity from the PGF and the funds were available for them to do it as all they had to do was increase the height of the existing platforms by about 400mm for people to get on the train ;-
My understanding is that stations at Pokeno and Tuakau were excluded because they are earmarked to be absorbed into the Auckland metro network, so it was seen that there was no point to put it in stations now.
I don’t understand the argument at all, I completely disagree with it, but that is what I have seen in a few documents.
Yes, as long as the platform heights work for Auckland metro trains in the future it doesn’t really matter what network uses them now.
My pick for the real reason is they don’t want to offer an express now and make it a all or most stops service in the future.
My pick is actually that they are scared that it will be so successful that the current number of carriages won’t be enough or they will be forced into running an all day both ways service. I understand that there is strong opposition within Kiwirail to running any passenger services at all outside of the existing urban networks.
Both Tuakau and Te Kauwhata are island platforms and all they need is a walkway across the tracks and at TK there was a pickup by the Te Huia heading towards Auckland not a Passenger but a KR worker as shown here at the 02:00 mark and it shows the platform needs either 1 concrete block or 1 1/2 blocks to bring it up to the right height ;-
And then you have Ngaruawhia which they could reopen and use 1 set of the Te Huia to run between Frankton and Huntly say hourly as an inter regional commuter service ; –
Yes all these north Waikato towns could have their stations rebuilt to be part of this or another service. Good posibilities.
Grant , and during the August lockdown of Auckland they could have had say a 2hourly service to Te Kauwhata and back to Frankton with stops at Huntly , Ngaruawhia and Rotokauri to get people use to the service . And with both Te Kauwhata and Ngaruawhia they could have installed a low scaffold that could have been used as a temporary platforms . And the only bottle neck would have been North of Ngaruawhia with the bridge and single track .
I looked to see if there was a saturday service from Auckland in the morning and back in the afternoon/evening, so that I could visit Hamilton and look around. Alas there isn’t.
I think it’s setup as a commuter service, but a little more off peak would make it a much more useful service.
There is plans to keep increasing the timetable offerings, with a Sunday service & I think a second Saturday one so would be able to return on the same day.
Or have one of the 3 sets stationed in Auckland for an early morning trip to Hamilton for the day and come back in the evening , as all the crew on board are KR employees so they could have them working from Auckland possibly .
Hate to say it but Te Huia rail service needs to be canned immediately, its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month! The government should of invested in the electrification between Pukekohe – Te Rapa while it had the chance, when there was less inflation to deal with! Only realistic way of bring a faster Auckland – Hamilton service is by doing a 3 phased approach and do phase by phase since we have inflation to deal with in the long run. It help enhance patronage, we should look towards building more affordable housing where the town are nearby the track and where the service would be. It would definitely help the patronage since there’s a guaranteed patronage that people would ride for multiple purposes such as work, airport or visiting Auckland or Hamilton. We should be aiming for full electrified rail service between Auckland – Hamilton done by 2032 – 2035. For now they should have a Kiwirail diesel run service between Pukekohe – Mercer, have ADL/ADC class railcar running. Once Phase 1 done bring service all the way to Huntly and once Phase 2 done replace ADL/ADC class railcar with the Te Huia locomotive and carriages.
Phase 1 should be to invest in electrification between Pukekohe – Mercer and complete construction by 2025 – 2026, along with adding stations in Buckland, Tukarau, Pokeno and Mercer. Get investors to buy land in Tukarau, Pokeno and Mercer to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there. At Mercer should construct temporary standings for the diesel units.
Phase 2 should be to invest in electrification between Mercer – Huntly and complete construction by 2030, along with adding stations in Meremere and Te Kahuwhata. Get investors to buy land in Meremere , Te Kahuwhata and Huntly to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there. At Huntly should construct temporary standings for the diesel units.
Phase 3 should be to invest in electrification between Huntly – Hamilton/Frankton complete construction by 2032 – 2035, along with adding stations in Ngaruwahia and Horotiu. Get investors to buy land in Ngaruwahia, Horotiu and Rotokauri to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there.At Frankton station should construct permanent standings for the EMU units.
its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month Wait until you hear about: All auckland rail services, roading, ferries, buses…..
He needs to listen to the full video I posted here from John Campbell’s interview . As all PT runs at a loss . And I wonder if he and all these other doomsayers have ever thought of traveling on it ? .
Jack, think you mean only for this pandemic cause of less people working in the office as usual now.
David L, All PT does not run at loss, if they were all running at a loss each month, you would see it being scrapped alll together because of the inefficiencies of operating the service and maintaining the service would be difficult which would result in government having to step in and be in dependancy in funding the network until its operating at a profit.
Tim K , The bus companies that tender for the for the different services in Auckland can’t just ask for the routes with the highest patronage they also have to take on the the ones that have the lowest numbers of passengers also which AT subsidize to keep them running for those that can’t afford other means of transport . And back in the days of the ARA Auckland had a large number of private bus companies that failed and then were taken over by the ARA to keep the services running .
David L, ARA back in the day was not a private bus company in fact it never brought off from any private bus company, it was a local transport governing body designed to improve the transport network in Auckland, not a bus company! IDK what you’re getting at here.
Also to your point about low passenger numbers/patronage, Auckland Transport(also known as ARA back in the day), in 2020 they had to cut some inefficient routes cause of low passenger numbers and low patronage serving particular areas cause not enough demand or interest from the public to ride the services which got axed, exact reason why its not sustainable or feasible to run in the long term if you don’t have a realistic plan, you just can’t it make up figures as you go along.
Roads are run at a loss once you factor in the social cost of how bad the network is. All public schools and hospitals are run at a loss. All libraries and swimming pools are run at a loss. Rubbish collection and recycling is run at a loss. The whole government has been running at a loss for years, borrowing like there is no tomorrow.
What’s your point again?
Ari, everything you’ve pointed out is not true, non tolled roads don’t make any money whatsoever, as for tolled roads their used to payoff the full construction cost once the road is completed. Libraries and recreational activities such as you’ve pointed out swimming pool is centralised and is operated by the councils. They don’t operate these facilities as profiteering company, they run it as a non-profit, they make facilities run sustainably so it can last a very long time and generations using the facilities. Lastly central government, they run it same as council, however they need to gain funds by taxing people, making people pay for services operated by the government and levies. Otherwise if you don’t, its very had to maintain and run sustainably and feasibly for the facilities you’ve pointed out! Ain’t gonna last long if not well funded!
Pretty much sums up my point for ya!
“Hate to say it but Te Huia rail service needs to be canned immediately, its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month! ”
Sailor Boy , He would have loved the old Auckland Rail network when we still had the the red carriages as he would have been at the top of the list wanting that shut down also and today with a bit of help look at what we have now and with more trainsets coming which are being paid for by NZTA and at through the fuel surcharge you don’t see him whinging . What he needs to do try it and then complain . As so far since the 24th I have done it 4 times as a return and 3 times as a short commuter runs within the Waikato area and have found it reasonably fast and enjoyable , when you are onboard the time seems to fly faster than travelling across the Auckland network with all the stops and starts .
I believe it was during the 90s that a trend happened among roading authorities. They decided the traditional zebra crossing was ‘unsafe’ because it gave pedestrians the right of way over cars and not all cars were stopping. Apparently that meant pedestrians were given a false sense of security by these crossings. The solution, remove the crossings and replace them with refuges or the so called courtesy crossing. Effectively taking the right of way from pedestrians and giving it to traffic. Of course the real reason, was intense irritation at traffic flow being disrupted by pesky pedestrians, hence the hysterial reaction to the Wellington crossing.
Here is both of what was on TVNZ’s Breakfast Show on Monday morning and hopefully with the rise in fuel KR takes some notice . As they have also purchase 1/2 of the old AT’s SA/SD passenger carriages and I hope they can get them up and running between different centres . It also mentions GA’s posting about regional rapid rail ;-
The feedback response from AT on the Eastern Busway is in https://at.govt.nz/media/1988287/eastern-busway-project-update-march-2022.pdf It would seem that the Burswood loop is cast in stone,all the language in the feedback is as if there is no other viable alternative. Seems knocking out 50 odd houses ,is a better solution ,than reallocating road space.
Staying on Ti Rakau Drive instead of the Burswood loop is not just a matter of ‘reallocating road space’. It would mean buying huge frontage strips from commercial properties that have frontage access and frontage parking before they are willing to redevelop. Also means trying to get busway priority through several heavily-congested intersections -not easy. I know Burswood is a surprise for the residents there, and hard to absorb what Busway and NPS UD will mean there.
I think AT has an opportunity to make this change really well. It’s quite exciting, if they would step up to the challenge.
An integrated plan would have low traffic neighbourhoods, a full cycling network, improved feeder buses, and to make it all work, the key element is reducing traffic. This would happen through: – the LTN’s – the busway – the cycleway – the cycling network – improved feeder buses to the busway facing less traffic – the reduction in road capacity – putting intersections on diets
If all this was done, the intersections wouldn’t even be an issue.
In terms of commercial parking, again, if AT could harness the huge opportunity here to do this well, it would be an amazing project. There are lots of interlinking carparks at the moment, suggesting the interim solutions wouldn’t be too hard.
But generally speaking, AT has needed to do a big education piece for retailers and commercial property owners about car dependence, parking, regenerated streetscapes, how customers and visitors actually want to travel, and the imaginings of the car dependent brain. This is a perfect project to do it on, because the benefits will be so massive. It really is a win – win – win if they can overcome their momentum and do something new.
An interesting item that was carried on the Te Huia last Friday and stored where 2 bikes are normally placed , the person that carried onboard had had his car stolen and was getting a new door as a replacement and it worked out cheaper than a courier and faster also . ;-
Puhoi to Mangawhai Trail. Aucklanders, we are seriously short of decent recreational cycling and walking trails in our region, compared to the rest of the country. So if you’d like to see this stunning coastal trail go ahead in Rodney (around 45 minutes from central Auckland – and there should be more public transport available in the future to get there), the Matakana Coast Trail Trust would be grateful for your support. You can Have your Say – via Auckland Council – to help the Trust secure funding for Stage 1 of the three stage project. All the info you need is here https://mctt.org.nz/media-releases/have-your-say-support-funding/
Will do, recreational riding has a beneficial impact on increasing other forms of riding and creates numbers who are aware of the needs of those on bikes. When the Otago Rail Trail was the only game in town large numbers attended beginner bike courses who wanted to ride the trail. By having that goal they rode locally to prepare and came to realise ” those cyclists” actually had a point when asking for safe cycling infrastructure. Good luck
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Infratil is the major shareholder in Wellington airport. WCC has a minority stake. This is an example of why this shareholding is pointless.
Thanks Conor, clearly didn’t fact-check myself on that one when I was writing the post!
The trains running literally through Britomart between the buildings are fantastic. Here’s another shot I’ve always liked.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/archivesnz/22637424363
I remember the original Rotorua Railway station and it was quite close to the CBD. Sadly it is now replaced with the shopping malls and carpark. The railway line is still there but it is replaced with the grass.
It was a combined bus/rail station or “travel centre” right in the centre of town. Almost like a European city, all gone now of course.
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/60454/
Not so long ago…
https://youtu.be/FYnuQ46Ykps
I was wondering if there are full maps available of Auckland in that NJB video. It would be good to see other areas of the city. There are certainly less dense sprawl areas around than the isthmus.
Auckland Transport gardeners have been working at Otahuhu station. They have removed flaxes and laid plastic weed mat on quite a large area. Wood chips are spread over the areas.
There are many articles on why not to use PLASTIC weed mat.
The mat only stops weeds for a short time. Wind born seeds will grow in the wood chips. The humus will gradually build up from falling leaves.
The mat kills all the worms, insects and microbes under the mat and the soil becomes acid.
The areas would be better planted out in very colorful native hebes or caprosma a which don’t need ongoing care.
AT will probably return each year and spray glyphosate on the mulch adding to their 10 000s liters sprayed each year all round the city.
The gardeners didn’t remove a large Pampas plant at the main entrance.
Pampas is one of Aucklands worst weeds
They should be a special tax levied on garden centres to mitigate all the damage they have done. It could be spent getting rid of pampas, agapanthus, rainbow skinks, tui trees (that Japanese cherry thing), and goodness knows how many others.
I am getting a little annoyed at seeing Te Huia dragging around a dead DF locomotive to make reversing direction at Hamilton and the Strand a simple operation. After all they only weigh about a hundred tonnes. I have being watching the morning Strand Hamilton service run through Papatoetoe most mornings passenger numbers are low but hey we are at peak wave pandemic and perhaps they are picking up more passengers at Puhinui and Papakura. Anyway what to do with the push pull operation in the longer term to make the journey more carbon neutral. It goes without saying that passenger numbers need to increase dramatically to ensure the service continuous after the likely change of govt next year. In addition a low carbon alternative plan for the service must be in place by the time of the election. I would suggest Bio Diesel would be the easiest solution. However close attention must be paid to the development of battery electric locomotives. Several of these are in revenue service around in the USA and some are coming to mining railways in Australia. I can imagine a battery electric locomotive on one end and a bio diesel locomotive at the other. The extra cost of bio diesel can just be covered by the subsidy after all climate change mitigation is going to cost us.
My understanding is that they will be using the drivers cab from the middle of the year and the other locomotive will return to pulling a second peak Te Huia service.
That will be good.
The quickest, cheapest improvement would to be buy new modern regional train DMUs. That would halve the fuel consumption compared with the current contraption while providing appreciably better acceleration, braking and top speed. Also meeting modern emission standards, the current DF’s aren’t even Euro 1 compliant. Of course better still would be EMU’s but most of us haven’t got several lifetimes waiting for electrification to happen.
Some BEMU’s would probably do the trick already, but certainly would if we electrified an easy section or 2 in the waikato.
Kiwirail is good at converting or manufacturing carriage trains to a high standard. Home grown manufacturing appeals because of the job creation. If we just run off and purchase something from an overseas supplier we lose the jobs and the expertise. I look at the electric ferry that has being built for Wellington and just think why can’t we do a similar thing with our trains. I have even thought about converting the ADL DMU’s to run on batteries or maybe batteries and diesel. Too old I know but it would be a real learning experience for our work shops. The other thing we don’t know is whether there will be a world wide movement to convert existing diesel electric locomotives to battery electric locomotives. Still off the shelf state of the art rolling stock may be the answer however we need passenger numbers to justify them. And we need a plan on how and when we would move a service like Te Huia to a lower carbon operation. Ancient diesel electric locomotives and low passenger numbers just leave the service open to ridicule and subject to axing by a new government.
I cannot understand why there are no stations in Tuakau and Pokeno, and probably Te Kauwhata
Add a platform a small gravel car park on what is probably already railway land, couple bike stands.
Because there is an extreme reluctance to spend any money on rail passenger transport outside the Auckland and Wellington commuter networks. And even those were starved of funding until quite recently. Also the disjointed ownership/boundary issues hinder any progress, the Capital Connection was ineligible for any local government funding for decades because it crossed boundaries.
If a more modest station had of being built at Rotokauri (The Base) they probably would of had enough money to build additional stations.
They had the opportunity from the PGF and the funds were available for them to do it as all they had to do was increase the height of the existing platforms by about 400mm for people to get on the train ;-
https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/assets/PageFiles/18093/Final%20recommendations%20report.pdf
And this was another report about the time Rotokauri was being talk about ;-
https://www.hamilton.govt.nz/our-city/covid-19/recovery-package/Documents/2. Hamilton to Auckland Passenger Rail Start-up Service Enhancements.pdf
My understanding is that stations at Pokeno and Tuakau were excluded because they are earmarked to be absorbed into the Auckland metro network, so it was seen that there was no point to put it in stations now.
I don’t understand the argument at all, I completely disagree with it, but that is what I have seen in a few documents.
Yes, as long as the platform heights work for Auckland metro trains in the future it doesn’t really matter what network uses them now.
My pick for the real reason is they don’t want to offer an express now and make it a all or most stops service in the future.
My pick is actually that they are scared that it will be so successful that the current number of carriages won’t be enough or they will be forced into running an all day both ways service. I understand that there is strong opposition within Kiwirail to running any passenger services at all outside of the existing urban networks.
Maybe even a footpath?
Both Tuakau and Te Kauwhata are island platforms and all they need is a walkway across the tracks and at TK there was a pickup by the Te Huia heading towards Auckland not a Passenger but a KR worker as shown here at the 02:00 mark and it shows the platform needs either 1 concrete block or 1 1/2 blocks to bring it up to the right height ;-
Here is Tuakau with protester wanting a Station ;-
And Te Kauwhata ;-
And then you have Ngaruawhia which they could reopen and use 1 set of the Te Huia to run between Frankton and Huntly say hourly as an inter regional commuter service ; –
Yes all these north Waikato towns could have their stations rebuilt to be part of this or another service. Good posibilities.
Grant , and during the August lockdown of Auckland they could have had say a 2hourly service to Te Kauwhata and back to Frankton with stops at Huntly , Ngaruawhia and Rotokauri to get people use to the service . And with both Te Kauwhata and Ngaruawhia they could have installed a low scaffold that could have been used as a temporary platforms . And the only bottle neck would have been North of Ngaruawhia with the bridge and single track .
I looked to see if there was a saturday service from Auckland in the morning and back in the afternoon/evening, so that I could visit Hamilton and look around. Alas there isn’t.
I think it’s setup as a commuter service, but a little more off peak would make it a much more useful service.
There is plans to keep increasing the timetable offerings, with a Sunday service & I think a second Saturday one so would be able to return on the same day.
Or have one of the 3 sets stationed in Auckland for an early morning trip to Hamilton for the day and come back in the evening , as all the crew on board are KR employees so they could have them working from Auckland possibly .
It’s a shame KR can’t borrow a trainset from Queensland for a trial as they run on the same gauge as we do ;-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_Tilt_Train
BEV trains for coal mining. How Australian.
Hate to say it but Te Huia rail service needs to be canned immediately, its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month! The government should of invested in the electrification between Pukekohe – Te Rapa while it had the chance, when there was less inflation to deal with! Only realistic way of bring a faster Auckland – Hamilton service is by doing a 3 phased approach and do phase by phase since we have inflation to deal with in the long run. It help enhance patronage, we should look towards building more affordable housing where the town are nearby the track and where the service would be. It would definitely help the patronage since there’s a guaranteed patronage that people would ride for multiple purposes such as work, airport or visiting Auckland or Hamilton. We should be aiming for full electrified rail service between Auckland – Hamilton done by 2032 – 2035. For now they should have a Kiwirail diesel run service between Pukekohe – Mercer, have ADL/ADC class railcar running. Once Phase 1 done bring service all the way to Huntly and once Phase 2 done replace ADL/ADC class railcar with the Te Huia locomotive and carriages.
Phase 1 should be to invest in electrification between Pukekohe – Mercer and complete construction by 2025 – 2026, along with adding stations in Buckland, Tukarau, Pokeno and Mercer. Get investors to buy land in Tukarau, Pokeno and Mercer to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there. At Mercer should construct temporary standings for the diesel units.
Phase 2 should be to invest in electrification between Mercer – Huntly and complete construction by 2030, along with adding stations in Meremere and Te Kahuwhata. Get investors to buy land in Meremere , Te Kahuwhata and Huntly to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there. At Huntly should construct temporary standings for the diesel units.
Phase 3 should be to invest in electrification between Huntly – Hamilton/Frankton complete construction by 2032 – 2035, along with adding stations in Ngaruwahia and Horotiu. Get investors to buy land in Ngaruwahia, Horotiu and Rotokauri to build subdivision of houses and shopping centre. Get Aucklanders to move to these areas since lifestyle and cost of living would be cheaper there.At Frankton station should construct permanent standings for the EMU units.
Tim K , this is what Mercer looked like when it was there once ;-
its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month
Wait until you hear about: All auckland rail services, roading, ferries, buses…..
He needs to listen to the full video I posted here from John Campbell’s interview . As all PT runs at a loss .
And I wonder if he and all these other doomsayers have ever thought of traveling on it ? .
Jack, think you mean only for this pandemic cause of less people working in the office as usual now.
David L, All PT does not run at loss, if they were all running at a loss each month, you would see it being scrapped alll together because of the inefficiencies of operating the service and maintaining the service would be difficult which would result in government having to step in and be in dependancy in funding the network until its operating at a profit.
Tim K , The bus companies that tender for the for the different services in Auckland can’t just ask for the routes with the highest patronage they also have to take on the the ones that have the lowest numbers of passengers also which AT subsidize to keep them running for those that can’t afford other means of transport .
And back in the days of the ARA Auckland had a large number of private bus companies that failed and then were taken over by the ARA to keep the services running .
David L, ARA back in the day was not a private bus company in fact it never brought off from any private bus company, it was a local transport governing body designed to improve the transport network in Auckland, not a bus company! IDK what you’re getting at here.
Also to your point about low passenger numbers/patronage, Auckland Transport(also known as ARA back in the day), in 2020 they had to cut some inefficient routes cause of low passenger numbers and low patronage serving particular areas cause not enough demand or interest from the public to ride the services which got axed, exact reason why its not sustainable or feasible to run in the long term if you don’t have a realistic plan, you just can’t it make up figures as you go along.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2020/09/18/auckland-transport-to-cut-some-bus-and-ferry-services/
Roads are run at a loss once you factor in the social cost of how bad the network is. All public schools and hospitals are run at a loss. All libraries and swimming pools are run at a loss. Rubbish collection and recycling is run at a loss. The whole government has been running at a loss for years, borrowing like there is no tomorrow.
What’s your point again?
Ari, everything you’ve pointed out is not true, non tolled roads don’t make any money whatsoever, as for tolled roads their used to payoff the full construction cost once the road is completed. Libraries and recreational activities such as you’ve pointed out swimming pool is centralised and is operated by the councils. They don’t operate these facilities as profiteering company, they run it as a non-profit, they make facilities run sustainably so it can last a very long time and generations using the facilities. Lastly central government, they run it same as council, however they need to gain funds by taxing people, making people pay for services operated by the government and levies. Otherwise if you don’t, its very had to maintain and run sustainably and feasibly for the facilities you’ve pointed out! Ain’t gonna last long if not well funded!
Pretty much sums up my point for ya!
“Hate to say it but Te Huia rail service needs to be canned immediately, its not sustainable or feasible for it to be operating at a loss every month! ”
Cool, when are we closing every single road?
Sailor Boy , He would have loved the old Auckland Rail network when we still had the the red carriages as he would have been at the top of the list wanting that shut down also and today with a bit of help look at what we have now and with more trainsets coming which are being paid for by NZTA and at through the fuel surcharge you don’t see him whinging . What he needs to do try it and then complain . As so far since the 24th I have done it 4 times as a return and 3 times as a short commuter runs within the Waikato area and have found it reasonably fast and enjoyable , when you are onboard the time seems to fly faster than travelling across the Auckland network with all the stops and starts .
I believe it was during the 90s that a trend happened among roading authorities. They decided the traditional zebra crossing was ‘unsafe’ because it gave pedestrians the right of way over cars and not all cars were stopping. Apparently that meant pedestrians were given a false sense of security by these crossings. The solution, remove the crossings and replace them with refuges or the so called courtesy crossing. Effectively taking the right of way from pedestrians and giving it to traffic. Of course the real reason, was intense irritation at traffic flow being disrupted by pesky pedestrians, hence the hysterial reaction to the Wellington crossing.
Here is both of what was on TVNZ’s Breakfast Show on Monday morning and hopefully with the rise in fuel KR takes some notice . As they have also purchase 1/2 of the old AT’s SA/SD passenger carriages and I hope they can get them up and running between different centres .
It also mentions GA’s posting about regional rapid rail ;-
Lots of interesting things in this post.
Good to see the US Safety ratings updated to consider people outside of the vehicle.
The feedback response from AT on the Eastern Busway is in
https://at.govt.nz/media/1988287/eastern-busway-project-update-march-2022.pdf
It would seem that the Burswood loop is cast in stone,all the language in the feedback is as if there is no other viable alternative. Seems knocking out 50 odd houses ,is a better solution ,than reallocating road space.
Staying on Ti Rakau Drive instead of the Burswood loop is not just a matter of ‘reallocating road space’. It would mean buying huge frontage strips from commercial properties that have frontage access and frontage parking before they are willing to redevelop. Also means trying to get busway priority through several heavily-congested intersections -not easy. I know Burswood is a surprise for the residents there, and hard to absorb what Busway and NPS UD will mean there.
I think AT has an opportunity to make this change really well. It’s quite exciting, if they would step up to the challenge.
An integrated plan would have low traffic neighbourhoods, a full cycling network, improved feeder buses, and to make it all work, the key element is reducing traffic. This would happen through:
– the LTN’s
– the busway
– the cycleway
– the cycling network
– improved feeder buses to the busway facing less traffic
– the reduction in road capacity
– putting intersections on diets
If all this was done, the intersections wouldn’t even be an issue.
In terms of commercial parking, again, if AT could harness the huge opportunity here to do this well, it would be an amazing project. There are lots of interlinking carparks at the moment, suggesting the interim solutions wouldn’t be too hard.
But generally speaking, AT has needed to do a big education piece for retailers and commercial property owners about car dependence, parking, regenerated streetscapes, how customers and visitors actually want to travel, and the imaginings of the car dependent brain. This is a perfect project to do it on, because the benefits will be so massive. It really is a win – win – win if they can overcome their momentum and do something new.
An interesting item that was carried on the Te Huia last Friday and stored where 2 bikes are normally placed , the person that carried onboard had had his car stolen and was getting a new door as a replacement and it worked out cheaper than a courier and faster also . ;-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNRsRcu3Zu8
Puhoi to Mangawhai Trail. Aucklanders, we are seriously short of decent recreational cycling and walking trails in our region, compared to the rest of the country. So if you’d like to see this stunning coastal trail go ahead in Rodney (around 45 minutes from central Auckland – and there should be more public transport available in the future to get there), the Matakana Coast Trail Trust would be grateful for your support. You can Have your Say – via Auckland Council – to help the Trust secure funding for Stage 1 of the three stage project. All the info you need is here https://mctt.org.nz/media-releases/have-your-say-support-funding/
Will do, recreational riding has a beneficial impact on increasing other forms of riding and creates numbers who are aware of the needs of those on bikes. When the Otago Rail Trail was the only game in town large numbers attended beginner bike courses who wanted to ride the trail. By having that goal they rode locally to prepare and came to realise ” those cyclists” actually had a point when asking for safe cycling infrastructure. Good luck
Thanks Vinny. What an excellent point you make, that is very helpful. Thanks again, Amanda
Thanks, Amanda. Will do.
Thanks Heidi – appreciate your support.
Must be something happening with the Melos cycleway https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/south-auckland-leaders-angry-over-35-million-cycleway-for-wealthy-inner-city-suburbs/IR45PBOAP35AUYNFGHHMKAWHHA/