Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are.
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Closed Session
One good thing over the last year is that AT have moved a lot of the items that would previously have been in the closed session into the open session. There are still some interesting items in the closed session though.
Items for Approval
Auckland Rapid Transit Pathway – we first covered this last year but I understand it has continued to evolve, especially in light of the current government’s policies. Hopefully the updated version gets released soon.
Items for Noting
Brand Strategy Update – I wonder how this has changed in light of the government’s planned changes?
Analysing prosecution drivers for the Ports of Auckland Chief Executive – This could be particularly interesting if it results in engineers and managers actually been held accountable for road safety outcomes.
Traffic Management Planning
Energy and Network Resilience
Open Business Report
There are a handful of items in the Open Business Report that caught my attention. This item is expected to be at 10:30.
Crosstown Bus Changes – Last month AT made a range of changes to crosstown buses on the isthmus, including finally breaking up the Outer Link. AT note that the early indications are positive.
Initial results suggest no drop in patronage – a positive result given service changes of this nature often initially result in lower patronage as customers adjust
Special Vehicle Lanes
Main Highway – AT are trialling a dynamic bus lane on Main Highway that can be activated based on demand rather than having a fixed time period like all other bus lanes. This is so that buses can get boost even if the road is congested outside of the normal peak hours. The lanes were installed earlier this year but the dynamic function was only turned on at the end of November.
Early indications are that around 350 people in buses are moving faster in the afternoon when the bus lane is switched on
Fred Taylor Dr – AT added bus lanes to Fred Taylor Dr in Westgate to help speed up the new Western Express (WX1).
Approximately 700 people are experiencing quicker journeys in both the morning and afternoon peak times.
Body Cameras
AT have been trialling body cameras with their transport officers. They note:
Feedback from our people shows that body cameras are effective at making people think twice before verbally or physically assaulting our team.
Following a successful trial, we are budgeting for body cameras for all our officers next financial year to further reduce the likelihood of tense or aggressive incidents
New Payment Methods
The ability to now pay for your PT trip directly with a credit/debit card has been a huge success with AT reporting a few weeks ago that the new options had already been used for more than 250k trips (that’s around 5% of all PT trips over the same period). This success is also reported in the board report and that there have been no major issues. However, separately there’s a note that there have been a few minor issues with delays to reporting:
lag in receiving contactless payment transactions is causing a delay in PT patronage results. This will affect our patronage, farebox, and utilisation metric reporting from November 2024 through to January 2025. We are working to correct the issue ahead of February and March, our busiest time of year on the network, when live tracking is crucial for timely responses to PT operations
Parking Enforcement
AT say they’ll be adding five more vehicles by March equipped with License Plate Recognition to “enable us to be more responsive to requests for assistance regarding non-compliant parking“. They say using these vehicles is a safer and more efficient way to enforce parking.
They also say that from this month the enforcement fleet will also be able to check if a vehicle has a current registration. I can already see the media headlines.
Development of the AT ‘Ten in Twenty’ ten-year objective
I’m not sure what this is but it sounds interesting.
Development of the AT ‘Ten in Twenty’ ten-year objective: development work on the ten-year objective is continuing. At present, we are gathering data to assess the feasibility and impact of including additional elements of the network – potentially including motorways, the rail system and ferries – within the calculation for the ‘ten in twenty’ target.
We have engaged council staff in the work. This engagement has been positive, and we are working with them on the mix of interventions and their effectiveness. For example mode shift (particularly to PT), transport system technology investment (e.g. dynamic lanes, signalised intersection optimisation, bus booster), road capacity improvements, active modes enhancement, time of use / demand management tools.) We will also compare the target to modelled results for the 2024 Regional Land Transport Plan, which we expect to be available before end of the year. The results of this assessment will inform next steps, including the potential for more detailed analysis and planning
Rail Update
There’s an interesting presentation with updates on all of the rail upgrades, including the cost of each of them, that are currently underway – and there’s a lot of them. This item is scheduled for 11am.
City Rail Link
The most interesting thing here is that test trains are now expected early next year. CRL had previously been planning on them being this year.
Level crossings
There’s a few things that stand out to me here.
- It seems February will be interesting as that is when AT plan to seek approval from the board for most of their level crossing removal plans.
- AT have been talking about having preferred option for Church St East for a few years now but have previously refused to say what that is while they talk to some of the businesses that will be impacted. There have been some rumours that the Minister wasn’t happy with the outcome because it also involves accommodating active modes so it will be interesting to see what AT have done here.
- They’ll start rolling out some new station access bridges at the end of next year. Once they’ve deal with replacing the station level crossings It would be nice if they could also roll these to improve access to other stations, like a southern access to Greenlane, restoring the northern access to Papatoetoe etc.
Rolling Stock
- AT are currently in the process of getting 23 new trains in preparation for the CRL. That contract also includes upgrading the existing train fleet to the same standard. One of those that passengers will see is the lighting in the trains will be upgraded to LEDs. That will make for a welcome improvement over flickering CFL tubes.
- SDO refers to Selective Door Operation and is used so only certain doors can be opened at a station and is most commonly used when a train is to long for a platform. This is used in NZ on Wairarapa trains that stop at Maymorn station. It is likely AT intend to use this to be able to introduce 9-car trains without having to lengthen every platform.
Stations
The most notable thing here is that the Middlemore upgrade and the third main are expected to be completed by March.
Rail Network Projects
Room to Move in the City Centre
AT are seeking approval to consult the public about their parking plans for the city centre.
The plan is designed to utilise parking and kerbside space in the city centre to improve the local and regional transport system. We aim to maximise movement on key roads, increase access to key destinations, and ensure users help contribute to the cost of providing parking.
…..
We have identified around 60 short term change proposals in various locations around the city centre as part of this project. These are made up of a range of interventions, including:
- turning time-restricted parking to paid parking,
- new parking places for motorcycles, bicycles and e-scooters,
- new loading zones,
- new mobility parking spaces,
- new taxi/rideshare spaces,
- other changes (such as new CCTV to support monitoring).
If approved, they’ll go out to public consultation in February.
Streetlight Maintenance
AT’s current contracts for maintaining streetlights will reach the end of their terms at the end of June so AT are seeking approval to tender for new contracts. Over five years they expect this will have a total value of $170 million.
That all seems like pretty straightforward and boring stuff but what I found interesting was the impact the conversion to LED lights has had. They say that in total AT has 125,000 streetlights across the network and of these, 120,000 have been retrofitted to LED. The remaining 5,000 fall into three categories, such as low powered lights in things like handrails, special decorative lights and high-powered lights. The latter two categories will be replaced with LED when the old light needs maintenance.
Those 120,000 streetlights that are already LED cost $96.2 million to retrofit, of which AT received $66.8 million in subsidies so AT paid $29.4 million. That might seem like a lot but the results are impressive.
The retrofit programme has resulted in annual savings of $11million per year, made up of $4 million reduced lines charges, $6 million reduced LED wattage, and $1 million from Profile Dimming via CMS. These savings reduce CO2 emissions by 4,600 tonnes per year.
The CMS is a Central Management System and profile dimming refers to dimming streetlights late at night when traffic volumes are low.
If you’ve looked through the papers, was there anything else that caught your attention?
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Auckland Rapid Transit Pathway still has light rail routes?
Nice to see, but indicates that it might be just a nice diagram dusted off every couple of years, but not actually being used to guide decisions and planning
I learnt a long time ago that a ‘plan’ or a ‘pathway’ in this case is a meaningless dream, unless you have smaller concrete steps which are actively being worked on and delivery
If the rumour about the Minister’s involvement in Church St East is true, and it would be in keeping with his other actions, then it is yet another reason National needs to replace the maniac with someone responsible and moderate. He’s obsessed with removing people’s ability to move around safety outside of a car.
But Caitlin, it’s “back to basics”.
We are all born with four wheels, and it is time the woke crusade against our most natural way of getting around ends. Stop wasting precious tax money that should be given to landlords instead!
The “maniac” is popular with the press. There is no incentive not to be a maniac where you are not judged by results, but on how much good press you get and how much you infuriate the opposition.
That’s just it he is not a “maniac” at all. He is simply listening to what the public want what is so crazy about that? Comments like that Damian is what makes them want to reverse speed limits harder and faster and what makes them want to flatten as many speed bumps as possible. It is funny tbh even I know full well car based infrastructure is ultimately not good in the long run but am willing to support it because it’s funny to watch the wokies jump up and down and get all upset when the minister is just giving the public what they voted for lol. Also yes I must admit I based my vote on the last election purely on the fact the 30 zones would be gone within a couple years I really tried to make 30 work for me I slowed down and got tooted at and timed my commutes and ultimately came to conclusion I couldn’t give a damn what the evidence said I want to go back to the old speeds and voted accordingly many chose to do the same. It might be hard to see because you’re in a transport bubble but talk to an ordinary NZ commuter (aka someone who selfishly drives a car) and get their thoughts they are the majority who swing elections a concept you haven’t quite manage to grasp yet.
It is horrifying to think that some people may have voted for the current government simply on their promise to do away with safe speeds. I wonder how many did that? Does it really constitute a mandate?
Which roads did you travel at 30 k and how much difference did that really make to your commute?
I hope you had some other reasons for voting than just the 30 zones, otherwise that is one of the more embarrassing single issue voter reasons I’ve heard of.
” is funny tbh even I know full well car based infrastructure is ultimately not good in the long run but am willing to support it because it’s funny to watch the wokies jump up and down and get all upset when the minister is just giving the public what they voted for lol.”
Yes, that is what I get from this government and from many conservative people at the moment. While they claim “common sense”, it feels like their policies are just there to piss off the opposition. They call their opposition “woke” believing that is a bad word on the grounds that they (often try to) base their policies on facts and on being nice and decent to other humans.
I am at a loss at how to talk to those people. If you want something that you know will be ultimately bad for you, the people around you and the environment and you want it because it is worse for some other people than for you, what could I say to convince you otherwise? You agree with the arguments AND the conclusion, you just think it should be worse instead of better. Well, if that is what you want to get from politics, you are in for a treat.
John – agree, and I think that is why we are starting to see some polls showing Labour returning to power in 2026, which should frankly be inconceivable.
While there are a number of core government supporters enjoying this revenge on Labour, there are an increasing number of median voters questioning whether this government has any positive forward thinking plans.
We get a lot of people like you in these comments “Suck it up, it’s the people’s will”. As if the people’s will never changed, or as it if is strange or problematic that advocates would like to change it?
At risk of tempting Godwin’s law, a lot of times in history, people have voted for shit policies – or slightly more positively, voted for politicians who espouse shit policies because they liked them for other reasons. You can say what you want – we aren’t going to simply go away and accept policies that are unethical.
Whether these unethical policies will change because eventually enough people are convinced they are shit, or only when the govt changes for another reason – who knows. But this “it’s the people’s will” claims are non-senical.
This is a response to your comment streetguy thank you for asking. I worked out if things kept going the way they were with what AT had planned I would loose over 5 mins everyday on my evening commute and simply wasn’t willing to sacrifice it. For a start heaps of people I know were labour voters but got sick of the blanket speed reductions noting many of these people lived in the east were AT took a blanket approach and got rid of all 60K areas based on the evidence oh wait they based it on because they felt like it. No evidence for safety used as a reasoning on Pakuranga road for example. The roads I used in question were ones like Kalmia St, Oranga ave, Namata rd, Hardington st etc basically the route that avoids the AT caused congestion on Mt smart rd because for some reason they prefer to keep parked cars on the side rather than just make it 2 lanes. Anyway if the last lot stayed in power all these roads would’ve been 30K permanently so I timed the trip one time doing 50 and one time doing 30 and it added a whole 5 mins! Much more than the claimed less than 2 mins AT claimed. So yep I really wanted 30K to work as I know it’s safer I’ve read the evidence again and again on the GA page but I’ve made the decision to ignore that in favour of time savings (yes sorry that’s a bit selfish) but 5 mins per day for one direction on a commute adds up. And it’s actually worse than 5 mins because the traffic is worse through Onehunga mall 5 mins later so more like 8 mins added per day too much sorry. 🙁
Thanks for the response John, it’s a good question you ask and I don’t know what you could do to change my mind I’ll be honest. I used to be in support of 30K areas being quick to jump on to support 30K through Glen eden which got rejected by the public. I was all in favour until I actually had to do 30 daily then I realised I actually don’t like travelling at that speed it felt really slow and actually added heaps of time to a trip unlike the evidence that I read in great detail on ATs website I then started to question if what AT was saying was actually true as my trips started to take much longer and congestion started to get worse (maybe was AT building heaps of bumps at the same time to be fair). Now I will not support 30K except for outside the School gate during the hours the govt has set out. And unlike some others I don’t claim to be common sense I simply have decided for myself I don’t like the slower speed limits and want to go back to the way it was even though I’m aware it’s less safe and I’m very sorry if anyone gets harmed because of it but at the end of the day like many others have decided we are not willing to slow down to bring that DSI number under control. I really wish 30K lived up to what it promised but it didn’t so we need a better solution.
Jesus wept. I am heartily sick of the NZ martyrist
Mate, you should try the experience of NOT driving in New Zealand so you can experience the daily frustration and danger of simply trying to get to work. It might put your 5 minutes a day into perspective.
Lets start with a few of your “complaints”:
1 – AT are not to blame for the congestion. Its cars Mate! Not cycleways, not wokeness. Cars! Cars! Cars! NZ now has more motor vehicles than people who can legally operate them. You complain about the roadside parking narrowing the roadway? Guess what – Its because the martyrists will complain if they’re removed. So you better look in the mirror and tell that person off, coz they’re the ones what done it Guv’ner.
2 – Schools are NOT 8am – 3pm Monday – Friday operations, never have been. Schools have always hosted after school events – prize givings, P / T evenings, balls, night classes, fete’s, sports events etc…
3 – Simian Brow is in fact, a maniac. Only sociopaths, delusional edgelords or culture war panderers would claim that receiving an award for improving road safety is woke. He has ignored all the evidence which directly contradicts his childish assumptions about speed, safety and productivity. He is actually putting his fingers in his ears yelling “I can’t hear you, physics isn’t real and no one walks anymore”.
4 – “Everyone wanted the speeds put back the way they were”. Citation needed, and not the lies from Simian Brow. You know, the supposed Christian who is happy telling lies and endangering the young and the elderly – They’re just useless mouths to him anyway. The lying liar who counts a submission from a petrol head as equal to a submission from a school. So, lets see your evidence for that claim.
Now, lets do a little civics 101 and comparative analysis, something Simian and yourself would benefit from:
Driving is a PRIVILEGE, not a RIGHT.
You exercise that PRIVILEGE at the discretion of the State.
Being able to safely walk is a RIGHT.
But in reality, every single weekday when I walk to work I have to navigate martyrists who “sneak” through a couple of major intersections. Meaning myself and others need to risk our lives threading between vehicles if there is enough room. Maybe you won’t even be able to see the cross signal because a truck is blocking it. Having to lock eyes with the poor martyrists (who are usually on their phone) to ensure they have seen you and don’t hit you. Hoping that martryists in the other lanes (also “sneaking” through the intersection) can actually see you trying to legally cross the road and don’t have their sight lines blocked by the monstrous planet rapers.
Its so much fun risking my life simply exercising my right to walk to work, while watching others abuse their privilege, act unlawfully and literally endanger my life.
Now, what was that about 5 minutes?
Have you thought of waking up 5 minutes earlier?
And regarding that “transport bubble” that we apparently live in. I think Simian Brow and yourself would benefit from the opinion of some of my disabled acquaintances who are not permitted to drive. They don’t wish to have a conversation with you. They want you to live their life for three months, unable to drive, in a world made for the martyrists. Then, maybe, just maybe, you would stop your little tantrums and get a sense of perspective.
Or, you could just wake up 5 minutes earlier so you don’t come across as a bit of a baby.
Listen Cinder why would I look in the mirror for complaining about cars parking? I’ve always believed roads are for moving traffic as fast as possible not parking it so stop putting words in my mouth. Did I say if I cared about if the schools are used outside of 8-3PM? No so don’t use that as the argument. Did you read any of my arguments before going on a big tirade? I said it added 5-8 mins per day on the commute HOME how would waking up 5 mins earlier change that? It wouldn’t. For your fourth point 65% support for faster in the consultation sorry it’s happening calm down a bit 65% is a clear majority and in this current environment majority rules. At least I’m not trying to lie and say I reckon faster is safer or that slower speeds make deaths go up like some others. I’m being open and transparent that I have looked at all the evidence and decided 10+ mins a day is too precious to sacrifice. It may be worth it to others in the population but 65% of us don’t care and want the speeds to be put back to what they were. Remember keep educating people and maybe one day you’ll get there don’t give up! Just don’t lie and say things like a majority want slower speeds and you’ll be sweet as. And because I like to be completely transparent if the general population decides it wants slower I will likely have a change of heart I’m more likely to support something if the public has had a fair say in it. Don’t ever just lower speed limits because you can not even using safety as the reason like AT did.
In rather more parliamentary language:
The route you describe may take longer than using Pakuranga Highway and Church St, Onehunga: why take the ‘faster’ rat-run that takes more time and is longer?
Unlike the Brown Blanket Myth, the roads on the route you mention (Rockfield, Oranga, Namata) would always stay 50k apart from by schools, except Kalmia (school, bus/rail interchange) and Hardington (why go there?).
Real frustration in congestion does affect people and their choices. ‘Ten in Twenty’ (10 km in 20 mins) should get your journey down to half an hour – but that can only happen with less cars. Find a friend to halve your travel cost and chat. Or catch a bus (20 min longer, but relax with a book or podcast and leave the driving to a professional).
You’re a liar Inside looking out. The Phase 4 speed reductions (Katoakaora or whatever it was called) which got stopped luckily was going to force all those roads down to a blanket 30Kmh. Also I don’t use Pakuranga hwy so why would I use church st? I’m coming from the northeast near GI. I was just saying people were frustrated about Pakuranga road. I’ve been driving the same route for 5+ years I have timed countless different options across different days and conditions/ speed I know what’s quicker you’re using reckons I’m using research. I understand it’s frustrating you’re losing your precious lower speed zones but you just need to calm down and accept we aren’t ready for them yet.
You would have to currently drive 6 kilometres on 30 km/h roads, and drive those entire 6 km at actually 50 km/h to win those 5 minutes. Sounds kinda obviously as a lie.
Oh my, a thin skinned, ignorant martyrist who wants to continue displaying their ignorance. Quell Surprise!!!!
Thanks for acknowledging that you understand driving is a privilege and that cars are the root cause of all your complaints. Its what I would expect of an adult.
Anyhoo – lets look at some of your statements shall we?
“I really tried to make 30 work for me I slowed down and got tooted at and timed my commutes and ultimately came to conclusion I couldn’t give a damn what the evidence said”
So you are incapable of driving to the conditions, which are subject to change at the discretion of the State. Your desires do not enter into this equation as driving is a privilege and driving to the conditions is mandatory, not optional. Comprende?
“why would I look in the mirror for complaining about cars parking?”
I am going to assume you do not read any newspapers or consume any NZ media or are just playing games.
“I said it added 5-8 mins per day on the commute HOME how would waking up 5 mins earlier change that?”
I don’t know and I don’t care – The same way you don’t care about how many people will be killed, except more humane. Maybe spend that 5 minutes taking a good hard look at yourself.
“65% support for faster in the consultation sorry it’s happening calm down a bit 65% is a clear majority and in this current environment majority rules”
1 – Once again, this has been covered here on Greater Auckland, I don’t need to debunk your bullshit, its in the link.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2024/11/11/speeding-toward-a-lethal-legacy/
2 – “The Majority” is not how Select Committees work. Not surprising given your grasp of civics.
Continuing with theme of misunderstanding the basics:
“I’ve always believed roads are for moving traffic as fast as possible not parking it so stop putting words in my mouth”
Tell me you have no knowledge of the history of transport and never step outside a car without telling me you’re ignorant and lazy.
” And because I like to be completely transparent if the general population decides it wants slower I will likely have a change of heart I’m more likely to support something if the public has had a fair say in it. Don’t ever just lower speed limits because you can not even using safety as the reason like AT did.”
Trying to parse this garbage sentence gives me a headache. But it looks you want the population to set the speed limit and that is the only way you would accept lower speeds. You’re insane. Next time you require surgery, can I convene a Citizens Assembly to vote on how the doctor proceeds? The Assembly will all have met doctors and engaged with the health system, they know it all, you’ll be fine. Some may think that a plumber is a more cost effective option, But hey, its the will of the people!
“I understand it’s frustrating you’re losing your precious lower speed zones but you just need to calm down and accept we aren’t ready for them yet.”
Once again:
1 – This isn’t just frustrating. It’s viewing a Minister implementing policies which will kill people.
2 – Those people who I talked about, my disabled acquaintances, do consider them precious and allow them a quality of life you ignore.
3 – When the State changes things for you poor martyrists, whether its positive or negative, its not negotiable Buddy! It doesn’t matter if “you’re not ready” for lower speeds or not. Have you understood this elementary concept yet? If not, please hand back your drivers licence, you’re not a fit and suitable person to enjoy that privilege.
4 – Stop using the Royal we.
5 Minutes vs someones life. Yeah – hand back that licence.
On behalf of my friends who don’t even enter your thoughts, wishing you a Christmas where you either lose your sight, are diagnosed with MS or lose both your legs.
Cinder calm down. You’re exactly the target audience the speed reversals are aimed at you do realise many on the right and even some speedsters on the left will look at a comment like this and laugh. Even funnier thing is you keep making assumptions I’ve never received an infringement notice of any kind not even parking and follow the law perfectly whenever I drive. (Maybe the worst thing I’ve done is bang on 30 confirmed by GPS and not pulled to the left to let everyone else who wanted to speed pass). Anyway I see you’re just a rude bad faith troll so I’ll just say happy new year and enjoy the higher speed limits next year! 50 and 60 are back baby!
Momi ake!
Oh piss off! Yeah – Rude. Ever had a loved one killed by a motorist with the same sense of entitlement you’re displaying? Guess not, and I guess you weren’t expecting someone to shove back against your sociopathic shit and call you out for your juvenile worldview.
You came on here and told the entire World that you don’t care how many people die so long as you save 5 minutes a day.
Yet it seems that you’re wasting minutes every day calculating how many minutes your wasting and also have plenty of minutes to come on Greater Auckland and show everyone you’re a monster.
And there you go celebrating the inevitable increase in deaths so you can go brrrmmm brmmmm.
“I’ve never received an infringement notice of any kind not even parking and follow the law perfectly whenever I drive. (Maybe the worst thing I’ve done is bang on 30 confirmed by GPS and not pulled to the left to let everyone else who wanted to speed pass).”
Hhahhaaahhahhhaaaahhaaaahaaaahhh!!!!!
Jesus Christ!!! Have you ever head of Alan Partridge? Because your claims to automotive excellence are a bang on impression. We’re still laughing about it at the pub. Fuck me! Alan Partridge in print, well I never! Hhaahaaahaaahhaaaaaaa!!! (Deep breaths around the table), Haahaaaahaaaaahaaa!
Haahhaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaa
Alan – fucking – Partidge. Oh my God!
You drive a Tesla don’t you?
Hhaaahhaaahaaaahhaaaaaaaa
Never had an accident? Then statistically speaking you’re overdue for one. Hope you only break your own worthless neck. But then again you have lied about the blanket speed changes and the supposed “mandate”. And you are an NZ driver – So yeah, 99.9% chance you’re a really shit driver, a completely shit driver with a sense of entitlement. The worst combination.
Impact Speed: 30km / Hr = 10% chance of pedestrian death
Impact Speed: 50km / Hr = 80% chance of pedestrian death
Our census and statistics data show us that children and the elderly are the highest users of the pedestrian modes.
So when you’re off crowing to your juvenile edgelord “Labour voting friends” about your “victory”, don’t forget to tell them you want their loved ones to die, especially the kiddies and grannies. All so you can have a quick pash with Simian.
But I imagine you’ll be in the driveway instead, with Jimmy Barnes blaring to get the attention of the neighbours, so they can watch you as you slowly polish and stroke your precious car. Up and down, slowly, so slowly, up and down. Getting it really soapy, the way you like it you dirty boy, with everyone watching.
Hope you go blind for Christmas,
And I would refrain from using te Reo if I were you given your world view is totally at odds with te Ao Māori.
At the suggestion of my drinking friends, we’re going to pass your Alan Partridge moment along to The Spinoff, as it’s just too meme worthy.
Have a blinder of a Christmas there Alan, hhaaahaaahaaaaaaa
“AT say they’ll be adding five more vehicles by March equipped with License Plate Recognition”
Good move. I know whingers will never stop, but regular enforcement is needed to change the culture so that illegal parking is not seen as a “victimless crime”.
Positive noises from Auckland Transport, but obviously reality is never easily obtained in this town.
Trying to juggle every mode of transport is a bit silly if you really want to be efficient. Obviously bikes are the superior solo voyaging equipment, and trains are the best mass movement of persons machines.
For the rest, the majority of us have two, functional legs. For those who do not, of course we need allowances for accessibility, but how about we imagine a city with no cars…then try to make it accessible to everyone? It seems rather simple with a functional train network, and our excellent ferry and bus services.
But for as long as the garage, the weekend sports, the fishing boat etc…NEED a car, then we will be stuck in “the just after the second world war”:, forever. Which is rather accurate given our milk powder economy, and inability to add any value to our brute products.
I was only born in 1982 but I have this suspicion that we are actually going back in time, rather than forward!
bah humbug
Some slogans that the government could use for their policies:
“Back on (bullock) track”
“Forward to the Past”
“Building yesterdays roads tomorrow”
If Henry Ford were looking to invent a disruptive technology right now, it wouldn’t be the Model T.
I think what Grafton Tanner calls Foreverism is what’s happening now. Reanimating dead corps of the past to enjoy forever
https://discover.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/search/card?id=cefaf48e-2fb6-52ff-8470-b5155467103f&entityType=FormatGroup
I’ll be interested to see what comes of the level crossing removals just how are they going to do Glen eden? Surely it’s going to end up a massive project like New Lynn they can’t raise the station and tracks surely?
Interesting stuff.
ps Admin the share on “Twitter” at the bottom of all posts needs updating.
Yes replace it with bluesky
In terms of adding more trains to the fleet, is there not a way to just buy trailer/middle carriages and turn 3 car sets into 6 car sets rather than plus 2 sets of 3 together? Is the depot still a factor in preventing this?
My understanding is that both the required power per carriage and the number of powered axles is determined by the ferocious gradient on the new tunnelled section.
And a requirement that a follwing train is able to push up hill a disabled train. So more trailer cars is not an option.
” I was all in favour until I actually had to do 30 daily then I realised I actually don’t like travelling at that speed”
It was never really about the uncited evidence.
“I would loose over 5 mins everyday on my evening commute and simply wasn’t willing to sacrifice it.”
In a nutshell. Not willing to compromise 300 seconds.
No I’m not willing to compromise that much time. More speed matters to me because I’ve seen the time savings! There is a reason why police are allowed to speed it saves time! The under a minute on a trip lie is well….. a massive lie. If you can find a faster way to get from east to west at peak time great tell me about it until then I’ll keep not supporting safer speeds thanks.
The main reason emergency services save time is they get other cars to get out of their way, can skip queues by driving on the other side of the road and don’t have to wait at intersections. In urban areas especially the time-saving from exceeding the speed limit is relatively small.
The reason why other cars get out of their way is because they are allowed to exceed the speed limit if they had to do the speed limit they probably wouldn’t be passing many vehicles. Anyway doesn’t really change my mind on speeds. KLK has failed to mention a way I can save time yes it’s selfish but they have no fix for the reason why so many of us (in a democracy you might call this a majority) do not want to slow down to save lives.
Most of the commute would be on 50 k roads, with not more than 1 minute added to a journey of 30-50 minutes depending on traffic.
Hoot as you pass the Pakuranga Constituency Office.
Exactly.
And let’s be clear; its drivers who live in one neighboorhood, many of which who have requested speed reductions themselves, insisting they drive at their preferred speed through someone elses.
For the sake of one extra minute.
Incorrect I’ve never requested a lower speed on my street. 65% of us want faster the evidence is right there. Also street guy the minute you miss one traffic light because of the slower speed limit that 1 minute (I mean it’s a lie to begin with it’s 3 at the least) but that 1 minute very quickly becomes 4. KLK stop acting like a minute isn’t a big deal people on the blog here moan about train doors taking 5 seconds too long to shut. Seconds matter to people and a minute is too much time to sacrifice.
Good grief some of these comments are bullcrap.
Unsafe vehicle speeds lengthen everyone’s travel times by keeping the population car dependent so the streets are congested. There’s no sound justification for them, not even efficiency.
Miss – car dependency is a reality for most New Zealanders. The majority do not live in the inner suburbs of Auckland, Wellington or Dunedin.
Most New Zealanders needs to, by necessity, drive and even more require a car for work. Were not aiming to rid the country of cars that would mean wed loose 80% of our GDP.
technology shifts might make our driving less polluting. I love my Tesla for example. Great car that really changed the perception of electrical vehicles. Imagine what next generation of non fossilfuel cars will do.
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The 30 km/h wasn’t a well executed policy, hence it lacked the support of the people. Compare that with 30km/h outside schools, where there is support from the population.
Driving into the city and seeing the 30km/h sign 400 metres before the large garage gave that away. A good policy would let people drive to carparks, while limiting the speed on main shopping streets etc. We cant led ideology get in the way of good transport solutions.
Well I mean they do kind of have a sound justification like some of the comments have mentioned 65% seem to want faster speeds despite the consequences…. And let’s not try and win our argument by lying higher speeds can save a significant amount of time. Yes, slow speeds, cycle lanes, speed bumps they all matter but none of that matters if we don’t consider the will of the people. The election result has been strong and people have been clear on what they want. It’s the grim reality that we live in people do not give a a** if it’s safer or not.