The (illegible) fine print: speed reversals hit train, bus, bike networks
The situation: Auckland Transport is in a lonely race to raise speeds on hundreds of local streets (over 1500, in fact) under the new Speed Rule. This is evidently by choice – other cities are taking a more considered and rational approach.…
As AT races to raise speed limits, strange cracks appear
Last week was Road Safety Week, which Auckland Transport marked by sharing a happy little video about safety at the school gate, while quietly beginning the reversal of safe speeds on 1500+ streets, mostly around schools. Strange times.
There was no media release about the speed reversals, but perhaps strangest of all was the missed opportunity to celebrate the last-minute rescue of (parts of) two neighbourhoods from speed reversals.…
Make it make sense: why axe valuable local projects?
Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost.
A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport Simeon Brown is what the government has chosen not to invest in.…
In praise of alleyways and paths through parks
The Waitematā Local Board is currently consulting on the cutely named Local Active Modes Plan (aka LAMP), which aims to illuminate a programme of quick wins for walking and cycling. There’s a nifty drop-a-pin map here. Get in quick – consultation closes tomorrow, Friday 31 May, presumably at midnight.…
Groundhog Day: will AT finally do the right thing on Great North Road?
Update: The AT Board approved this project! See nice write-up here by Simon Wilson. Onwards! Tuesday 27 June is Groundhog Day for the Auckland Transport Board, which finds itself at a self-imposed crossroads on Great North Rd.
The Board can finally green-light the design it first approved for construction back in October 2021, after what has been an extraordinary process of delay.…
Whatever happened to AT’s “Statements of Imagination”?
Once upon a time, our city dared to dream – and dared us all to dream, with the encouragement and examples of other cities just like ours – of what Auckland could be. If we slipped free of old shackles and bad habits.…
Kidical Mass: the future on wheels
This post began as a thread over on Twitter, where it struck a chord. All I did was share some thoughts and photos from last weekend’s lovely Kidical Mass bike ride (hosted by Bike Auckland under the banner of Biketober and the inaugural Auckland Climate Festival)… and it really took off.…
Bikes vs cars (per capita)
As the saying goes, ‘Bikes Are Climate Action‘. Using bikes for short trips is a key part of how we can cut down on unnecessary driving in order to lower emissions. But you still hear people in New Zealand doubting how ready we are to seize this opportunity.…
A tale of two paths
Two major new shared paths have opened in the last couple of weeks, excellent news for Aucklanders who like to walk, bike, scoot, roll, and otherwise get around in the fresh air: Section 2 of the Glen Innes to Tamaki Drive project, between Ōrakei Basin and St John’s Road
The New Lynn to Avondale path, connecting the two suburbs and their train stations The freshly completed GI2TD Section 2 is 2.65km long, and New Lynn to Avondale is 2.9km.…
Time to end our safer speeds experiment?
It’s important to give credit where it’s due. Auckland Transport’s Safer Speeds team deserves credit for a life-saving intervention that’s been flying under the radar, even as news headlines highlight the ongoing avoidable and heartbreaking harm to people just trying to get where they’re going.…
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