Weekly Roundup 17-April-2026

It’s Friday again and here is the latest crop of articles and items that caught our attention.

This week in Greater Auckland

• On Monday, Matt looked into the recently signed Auckland City Deal to see if there actually was anything notable.
• On Tuesday, Matt delved into AT’s Western Line level crossing surveys.
• On Wednesday, Patrick went deep into the fuel crisis, and what we (or our local and central governments) need to do to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

This roundup, like all our work, is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans.

To support our work by setting up a monthly donation, you can join our circle of supporters here. We’re now a registered charity, so your donations are tax-deductible.

Greater Auckland hosts Korean delegation

Patrick and Connor hosted a group from the Seoul Facilities Corporation, to discuss how Auckland manages its transport network, and the role advocates like us play.

We look forward to their return!

Airport to Botany Route Protection

Some great news out of Auckland Transport that the Airport to Botany route is now fully protected. (Today’s header image shows an artist’s impression of the aerial view of the Airport to Botany Bus Rapid Transit project in Manukau Central: Davies Avenue Station by the Manukau Bus and Train Stations).

The route for an 18-kilometre high-capacity, congestion-free busway that will significantly improve travel between Auckland Airport, Manukau, and Botany has been protected.

Auckland Transport and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) have now confirmed the designations for the 15 kms of busway within their area, also known as Notices of Requirement, after resolving all appeals. The remaining three kms of the busway is located within the Auckland Airport precinct.

Route protection identifies and safeguards the land needed for future transport improvements, so that they can be delivered more efficiently and cost effectively when they are ready for construction.

The project is planned to be delivered in stages, Puhinui Station is already open, and plans are being progressing for interim bus improvements to enable faster bus journeys sooner. This would see Airport Link bus services extended to Botany ahead of the full busway.
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Stations along the route will connect with the rail network at Puhinui and Manukau stations, and with the Eastern Busway at the Botany interchange.

These stations will be located close to town centres, employment zones, and residential areas to maximise accessibility.

Next steps include engaging with communities in Manukau, Flat Bush, East Tāmaki and Howick to deliver interim busway improvements between Manukau station and Botany, mainly along Te Irirangi Drive later next year.

These upgrades within the existing road corridor will provide faster and more reliable services ahead of the major work to deliver the full busway.

Good news out of Whanganui

Whanganui public transport advocate Anthonie Tonnon, who also represents Whanganui District Council at the Horizons Passenger Transport Committee and operates the Durie Hill Elevator, let us know of some awesome improvements to the Whanganui bus network

On April 17, World Public Transport Day, Whanganui gets a new, improved bus network, which includes:

• More frequent services to all areas
• Two Te Ngaru | Tide routes running every 20 minutes – meaning more than 50% of the population has 20 minute service.
• Hourly service routes to cover suburbs that previously had 2 or 3 hourly service, such as St Johns Hill, and new service to Putiki for the first time. More than 70% of people now have hourly service – this is an increase from 31%.
• Extended service hours – with early first and later last services, late night Friday and Saturday service, and the reintroduction of Sunday service for the first time in decades.
• More options for school students – who go from having just one school bus a day each way, to having 20 minute service past or near all major high schools.
• Free buses for the first month.

Awesome to see, and you can read a bit more about the journey to get there on our good friend Darren Davis’ Substack.

Greens call for bus network review

The Greens are calling for the government to fund public transport projects that regions had asked for –but which were not funded, due to the government’s obsession with roads.

For $200 million the government could reinstate bus network upgrades it previously cancelled in regions now suffering huge fuel price shocks, the Greens say.

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The Green Party wants the government to immediately consider putting spending into projects it previously rejected considering the fuel crisis.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop says there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and a new draft Government Policy Statement will be out this year.

While the government will “continue to invest strongly” in public transport, he refused to commit to a larger proportion of funding.

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All up, the government denied about $14m more funding for bus network upgrades than it granted.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter told RNZ that with the fuel crisis biting, improving bus services would make them more usable for those struggling, and called for the government to urgently take another look.

“We’re in an urgent crisis right now where people need real alternatives to relying on their petrol or diesel car to get around. The least the government could do is go back to these councils who did all this planning and consultation and fund those services.”

Genter noted the $153m in rejected projects was about the same as the cost of the geotechnical scoping work the government paid for a second Mt Victoria tunnel in Wellington.

She acknowledged not all the projects could be immediately implemented – but said much of the work was already done by councils.

“It’s possible not all of the projects could be stood up in a short period of time, but they should be looking at anything that could be done in the next few months. This could be a very long-term issue with the higher oil prices and public transport makes sense anyway to invest in.”

AT’s Flexi-stop trial on bus route 18

Auckland Transport is trialling a new initiative called Flexi-stop on bus route 18, where you can ask the driver to stop a bus between stations, at night.  It’ll be interesting how this works, and it may help people feel safer when walking home on darker evenings.

How Flexi-stop will work

During the trial period, if you’re travelling on bus route 18 after 7pm you can ask for a Flexi-stop. Route 18 buses that are offering Flexi-stop will have a sign in the front window.

When you get on tell the driver where you’d like to get off the bus. The driver must agree they know the location and that it would be a safe place to stop.

Any stop requests still need to be on the bus’ normal route. Drivers will not travel down streets that are not part of the route. If a driver decides it’s not safe to make a Flexi-stop, they will drop passengers at the closest official bus stop. Please be respectful of their decision.

Flexi-stops are for passenger drop-off only. You’ll still need to get on the bus at a regular stop along the route.

3 steps to using Flexi-stop

1. Ask the driver for a Flexi-stop — you could mention a bus stop, landmark or street name.
2. Near your destination, push the stop button as a reminder of your flexi-stop.
3. The driver will pull over at the agreed location but only if it is safe to do so and safe for you to exit.

Adelaide City Council calls for pop-up cycleways

The same is needed here, of course:

Adelaide City Council on Tuesday night approved a motion to see if adding pop-up bike lanes to CBD roads has legs.

The pop-up infrastructure is typically made from plastic bollards, rubber kerbing, traffic cones or temporary paintwork, in a bid to make it safer for cyclists travelling through city streets.

Greens leader Robert Simms has also backed the council’s motion and urged the state government to commit to opening pop-up bikeways in the city to encourage fuel-free transport.

“With fuel supplies squeezed and prices through the roof, South Australians need alternatives to cars to get to work, school and the shops,” Simms said

“Bikes are the fastest, cheapest option we can roll out right now and I urge the Malinauskas Government to roll out pop-up bike lanes during this fuel crisis and to finally commit to building an integrated cycling network our state needs.

“Temporary bikeways can be created in weeks, not years. Other cities did this during the pandemic, and it worked. There’s no reason Adelaide can’t do the same while the fuel crisis continues.”

More Te Whau pathway please!

The group behind Te Whau, a spectacular boardwalk section of which recently opened, is now pushing to secure funding to complete the pathway:

A group behind Auckland’s newest pathway is putting up one last fight to get enough funding to complete what could be the region’s only off-road route connecting two harbours.

The Te Whau Pathway Environment Trust recently celebrated the opening of a section of a shared path, in West Auckland.

But the trust has bigger ambitions: to complete a 13km cycling and walking pathway, linking the Manukau and Waitematā Harbours.

The Horowai connection, from the Te Atatū intersection of the Northwestern Cycleway to Horowai/Roberts Field, means the Te Whau Pathway is 40% complete.

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The trust wanted to get the Horowai/Roberts Field to McLeod Park in Te Atatū South and the connection between Avondale and New Lynn, at Wingate Street to Olympic Park completed too.

Miguel said they were looking to the council to include those two projects in its 2026/27 budget. They had the resource consents for the whole length of the path, and machinery to build it already available.

Vehicle supersizing – do people actually need utes?

Researchers Kirsty Wild, Alistair Woodward, Caroline Shaw, and Graeme Lindsay took a look into the data behind how people actually use ‘supersized’ vehicles in New Zealand. Turns out most uses are very much not aligned with how utes are marketed – with two thirds of trips made by drivers in urban area.

Here’s the summary, which we’ve bullet-pointed for ease of reading:

• Despite the marketing of these vehicles featuring rural themes, most ute trips (66 %) were made by drivers living in urban areas.
• Travel by double-cab utes was more likely to be work-related than those driving cars or station wagons, but these remained a minority of trips.
• A third of ute trips were for shopping, social activities, personal appointments, or drop-offs – similar to cars.
• Short trips predominated.  A quarter of trips are less than 5 minutes for both utes and cars; and half are less than 10 minutes.
• Most ute trips were driver-only (88%): the rear cab was seldom used.
• Their use was highly gendered – the ratio of male: female drivers was more than 5:1.
• Overall, we found that extreme power, size and 4-Wheel Drive are not required for most trips undertaken in New Zealand by double-cab ute.
• For most urban trips, smaller, less polluting vehicles that do not pose such a risk to children, pedestrians, or the climate could do the job. 

This is despite the position of the NZ vehicle industry:

The NZ motor vehicle industry has opposed efforts to control their growth on the grounds that utes are ‘irreplaceable’.  We argue their real-world use does not support this claim.

As 1News asked,  “Do you really need that ute?” The Betteridge law of headlines proves accurate once again, as the answer is likely no.

WX1 Song

A bit behind the WX1 song:

New Zealand agency Federation has released a one-of-a-kind hip-hop song to promote Auckland Transport’s new, fully-electric WX1 bus service, in what it described as a world-first for the category.

Written by Kiwi duo Church & AP (Elijah Manu and Albert Purcell, respectively), ‘WX1’ was created to reflect, and appeal to, the west Aucklanders who will use the bus service, chief creative officer Brad Collett exclusively told LBB.

“The old tropes of West Auckland, V8s, ripped black jeans and heavy metal, are exactly that – old,” he said.

“Because when you dig deeper, hip hop is actually the cultural heartbeat of the west. West Auckland hip hop hits different. It’s raw, expressive, with its unique sound. We wanted the WX1 to feel like it truly belonged to the west, so we had to speak in a language the west already owns.”

Our lovely multicultural city!

Stuff reports:

International migration has become the primary driver of population growth in Auckland, with more than 40% of the city’s residents now born overseas.

Stats NZ data shows the region’s population has doubled since the early 1980s, reaching 1.82 million in June 2025. Projections released on Wednesday indicate Auckland is on track to hit the 2 million mark by 2033, though the timing depends heavily on future migration levels.

Population estimates and projections spokesperson Clare Hendra said that while the city continues to grow, the pace is likely to slow due to an ageing population. Despite this, Auckland is still expected to account for up to half of New Zealand’s total population growth over the next few decades.

The 2023 Census revealed that 43% of Aucklanders were born overseas, a significantly higher proportion than the 22% recorded for the rest of the country. Residents born in Asia make up 21% of the city’s total population, with China and India being the most common countries of birth.

“The proportion of Aucklanders born overseas highlights the significant role that international migration plays in the region’s population growth,” Hendra said.

Air quality work from Council

An interesting piece from the council on Auckland’s air quality.

Auckland’s geography is quite unique, which has very significant impacts on how the air moves and the air quality resulting from our daily activities. Positioned between the Manukau and Waitematā harbours, the city exists in a state of constant dialogue with the sea. Sea breezes are the norm and move air to and from the sea nearly every day. Also, as a “remote island nation” in the Pacific, New Zealand is far removed from the transboundary industrial pollution common in places like Europe or Asia. This isolation ensures that our baseline air is among the purest on the planet. The flip side, however, is that most air pollution affecting Aucklanders is generated locally. So, while the harbours provide a source of fresh marine air, it is our activities in the city that give rise to air pollution issues.

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Case Study: The City Centre Transformation

Over the last decade, Auckland’s city centre has seen very significant changes, particularly around the way people travel in the area. The works to complete the CRL and the prioritisation of public transport in the city centre have resulted in measurable improvements in the air quality.

Our State of the Environment report highlights that traffic pollution (NO₂) in the city centre has decreased significantly, particularly over the last 5 years. In fact, NO₂ concentrations measured at our sites in the city centre have decreased by nearly 50% since 2020.

It also turns out most microplastics in urban air come from tires as this recent Forbes article discusses.

A recent study focused on US vehicle emissions found that rates of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide all fell by more than 99% between 1957 and 2020. Car exhausts also produce a range of different types of particulate matter (PM) of different sizes – fine particles (PM_2.5) and coarse-but-still-small particles (PM₁₀) – comprised of soot, heavy metals, sulfates and nitrates. These too are managed through emission standards, to varying degrees, in most parts of the world.

But the same cannot be said for non-exhaust emissions, i.e. the PM produced from brake wear and tire abrasion. As of right now, these emissions – which together represent the majority of emissions from road transport – are completely unregulated. This will change in November 2026, when the EU becomes the first region in the world to directly target and set limits on non-exhaust emissions, via their Euro 7 emissions standards for cars and vans.

Australian solar power powerhouse

An article looking at the Australian researcher who invented the technology in almost all solar panels which has made them a lot more efficient and led to the solar boom the world is seeing.

“I’m Martin Green from the University of New South Wales in Sydney,” he tells the ABC in an interview at his home nearby.

“And I’ve been researching on solar cells for over 50 years and had a bit of success in developing new technology and having it commercialised.”

Others regard Green as the godfather of modern solar power.

The man behind the technology that’s in nine out of every ten solar panels around the world today.

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Since the late 1970s the cost of solar has fallen roughly 400 times

and

Videos and stuff from the socials

I made an AT HOP card fairy wand
byu/RogueVector inauckland

That’s it from us this week, we hope you enjoy your weekend!

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