The secrecy of mega-projects
How is it that mega-projects costing billions get such little public involvement and scrutiny? That’s a question that Mayor Wayne Brown effectively hits on in an interview a few days ago with the Herald where he spoke on plans for an additional harbour crossing.…
21 Comments Plan Change debate: more housing was the winner on the day
Housing has been much in the headlines recently, with a few Auckland Councillors fighting tooth and nail to prevent more of it in their own neighbourhoods and instead push it out to other parts of the city. That approach failed yesterday, with a committee of council as a whole voting to accept a new Plan Change 120, to replace the existing Plan Change 78.…
Great benefits, what about the costs?
Big infrastructure projects are great if you only count the benefits and none of the costs. That seems to be the position of infrastructure lobby group Infrastructure NZ, based on a report they released last week about the big motorway projects built in Wellington over the last decade.…
Electrifying the North Island Rail Network
At about the same time as Wellington were announcing their new battery electric regional trains, KiwiRail was talking to the Waikato Regional Transport Committee (WRTC) about a plan to effectively electrify the entire North Island rail network.
You can also watch the presentation here, from about 44 minutes on.…
Wellington’s new regional trains revealed
Much like Auckland, Wellington rail users have had a hard time of it recently with significant works being undertaken to upgrade the network. They had some great news yesterday with the announcement Alstom will be building 18 five-car battery electric multiple unit (BEMU) trains to for their regional services.…
Auckland Transport No More
Mayor Wayne Brown has spent much of his time in office bemoaning the role of Wellington in how Auckland plans for the future often saying “Wellington needs to stop planning Auckland“. But on Friday he happily handed control of the city’s transport future over to Wellington, labelling it “a major victory for the people of Auckland“.…
CRL progress and plans for more Bus and Transit lanes
Tomorrow is the next meeting for the Council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee and there’s a lot of focus on the City Rail Link, though there are a few other interesting items too. City Rail Link
Given we’re getting close to the end of the City Rail Link, and with the last major period of network disruption approaching, it’s unsurprising there’s a lot of focus on the progress towards completing it.…
Level Crossing Removal Starts
The government have seemed a bit more desperate to be seen to be doing things lately, and yesterday they got an opportunity with a sod-turning event to mark the start of removing the last seven level crossings on the southern and eastern lines north of Papakura.…
Just asking questions about bike helmets
The media’s tendency to seize on anything bike-related and turn it into a scandal took a new turn this week, after it was revealed David Seymour, in his role as Minister for Regulation, had asked for advice about removing the mandatory helmet requirements for people on bicycles.…
How rapid is our Rapid Transit
Last week Auckland Transport released their new rapid transit map for after the City Rail Link opens sometime next year. The implication that the rapid transit network (RTN) should be fast is right there in the name, but for the avoidance of doubt, the Auckland Rapid Transit Pathway has a high-level description of the RTN of:
Rapid transit is fast, frequent, and reliable public transport.…
Processing...