A few more ideas to plug the council’s revenue gap
Yesterday I covered the that the council has revealed it has a $270 million operational cost gap that it needs to fill, largely caused by higher than expected inflation and interest costs. A lot of public discussion has already begun on how to address that and it seems to be focusing on things like selling the council’s airport shares or leasing out port operations.…
51 Comments The real work begins for Auckland Council
The Auckland Council’s first “proper” Governing Body meeting this Thursday signals that Wayne Brown’s mayoralty will need to shift away from daily press releases and onto the real work of governing New Zealand’s largest city. And it seems our new mayor, and his fellow councillors, are going to have a pretty rough ride with a $270 million operational cost gap to fill – largely caused by higher than expected inflation and interest costs.…
Mode share isn’t set in stone
Last week the new Auckland Council held their first meeting and after some school-grade antics over the seating arrangements, the new (and returning) councillors gave their maiden speeches. There were some great speeches, and you can watch them all in the video below, but the focus of this post is on a small segment by new Howick Councillor and former National MP, Maurice Williamson.…
AT to remove cancelled buses from timetables
Auckland is currently short about 500 bus drivers and the shortage is resulting in thousands of services a day being cancelled. It a major factor towards making public transport in Auckland beyond a joke right now.
In response, yesterday Auckland Transport announced that they will be temporarily removing regularly cancelled buses from timetables.…
A visit to Karanga-a-hape
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be shown around the under construction Karanga-a-hape station and wow is it impressive. When it finally opens I think people will be blown away by what the CRL team have built.…
A new National Ticketing System
On Friday the government, alongside representatives from Waka Kotahi and public transport authorities from our three biggest cities, announced a new single nationwide ticketing system to replace all existing public transport payment systems such as HOP, Snapper and Bee.
Whether it’s on the bus, train or ferry, New Zealanders will soon be able to use a single payment system across Aotearoa, with today’s signing of the National Ticketing Solution contract with supplier Cubic, Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced.…
Wayne Brown’s expectations of AT
Last week, Auckland’s new Mayor, Wayne Brown, started a new trend by publishing a letter a day on various priorities of his, with mobile phone blackspots on Sunday, Three Waters on Monday and the Port on Tuesday.
On Wednesday his focus turned to Auckland Transport, from whom he demanded a “complete change in approach“:
“You appear to have been focussed on changing how Aucklanders live, using transport policy and services as a tool,” he wrote.…
Inter-Regional Rail Inquiry Submission
Tomorrow submissions close on the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee’s inquiry into Inter-regional passenger rail.
The aim of the inquiry is to find out what the future could hold for inter-regional passenger rail in New Zealand. The terms of reference below will guide what the committee investigates.…
Public transport in Auckland is beyond a joke right now
This website has spent well over a decade advocating for better public transport and encouraging Aucklanders to use public transport more, often reminding people that while the system needs to continue to get better over time, it has come a long way since the dark days of the 1990s and early 2000s – and that our buses, trains and ferries are probably better than you remember them being if you haven’t ridden for a while.…
Auckland Derailed – Surprise Edition
Last week we learnt about Kiwirail’s plans for two years of rail network shutdowns to fix the formation under the tracks. The works will start with a three month closure of the inner section of the Southern Line at Christmas and be followed by a nine month closer of the Eastern Line.…
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