Liveable Arterials
Imagine we stop driving cars so much. Imagine having traffic levels like those in Level 4 Lockdown, when only essential journeys were taken by car – as a normal traffic environment. Put on ice for a moment any doubts about whether we could or should do this… and let me paint a picture of our streets if we managed to do so.…
84 Comments Yes! We can do all those sorts of things.
“We can close the road, we can divert traffic, we can do all those sorts of things.”
That’s Auckland Council’s finance and expenditure committee chair Desley Simpson, speaking to Newshub on the Saturday of Labour Weekend, 2021. She’s right. These ages-old engineering measures are easy.…
The Entrust Election – Climate, Democracy and Better Streets
If you live in one of these areas of Auckland, someone in your household can vote in the current Entrust election:
As a climate campaigner, I am hoping the election can lead to some better climate outcomes. But I also think the electricity system isn’t served democratically.…
Shining a Light into some Dark Places
Image credit: Alec Tang, via twitter
Throughout the world, the pandemic has changed street environments – for better or worse, depending on how they’ve been managed.
It’s clear we’ve been extremely lucky with our Government’s response to the public health situation.…
The Ministry of Education
COVID-19 Response Minister, Chris Hipkins, volunteered fodder for jokes yesterday, when he stumbled on an unfortunate combination of “spread their wings” and “stretch their legs.” Advice from @chrishipkins for those who want to "get out and spread their legs" pic.twitter.com/xIt8YUTy2J
— Dan News (@dannews) August 22, 2021 Chuckles aside, what was no laughing matter was his perverse transport advice:
It is a challenge in higher density areas for people to get outside and to spread stretch their legs when they are surrounded by other people, and so in some cases it might be more sensible for them to drive a short distance to get to somewhere where they can be further from other people.…
Regional Streets for People
Today, Auckland Council’s Environment and Climate Change Committee is meeting.
One item on the agenda is titled the Regional Streets for People Programme. This low-budget Councillor-initiated programme deserves scrutiny because it offers opportunities for jump-starting climate action AND it reveals systemic barriers to progress.…
Towards a Compact City, with Glorious Trees
Two things are happening currently which could help us create a compact, liveable, green city: Tomorrow, the Planning Committee will discuss the Council Officers’ proposal for incorporating the next section of the National Policy Statement on Urban Development (NPS-UD) into our Unitary Plan.…
AT’s heavy-handed enforcement… of the WRONG problem
Below is a section about berms from the Auckland Transport website, altered ever so slightly. Can you guess which key element has been changed? Parking on berms
Residents are not permitted to park on berms. On rare occasions permission may be given but this requires an application to Auckland Transport for a licence specific to their circumstances.…
Council Slams AT but the Excuses Keep Coming
East St cycleway. “AT can move fast when other priorities are involved” – Councillors
Last week, some correspondence about Auckland Transport’s performance was made public in the agenda of the upcoming Waitematā Local Board meeting.
Councillor Coom’s Report to the Waitematā Local Board, July 2021 included an appendix titled,
Correspondence with Auckland Transport regarding the delivery of “Healthy Streets” and the cycling programme
The first piece of correspondence is from the Mayor to the Chair of the Board of Auckland Transport.…
Improving the Regional Land Transport Plan
Portland’s Streetcar services cancelled due to heat damage of the cables.
On Monday, the Board of Auckland Transport (AT) approved the Auckland Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP), a $37 billion ten-year plan of transport investment for the city.
Councillors had reluctantly endorsed the plan last Thursday, on the understanding that Council and AT would together develop a Transport Emissions Reductions Plan that heads the city in a new direction.…
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