Keeping the option of a regional fuel tax
A number of changes (most of them really bad) are proposed to the Land Transport Management Act, with the LTMA Amendment Bill open for submissions until October 26th before a select committee then hears the submissions and thinks about making changes to the Bill. …
12 Comments It’s the parking (minimums) stupid!
My quest to rid the world of minimum parking requirements got another boost this week, with The Atlantic Cities reporting a study in London which showed how removing minimum parking requirements had made a massive difference to the amount of parking supplied.…
Auckland’s population to hit 2 million by 2031
The NZ Herald reports that latest population estimates show Auckland’s population increasing from the current 1.5 million to almost 2 million by 2031 – out of a total NZ population that will be over 5 million by that point:
New subnational population projections show Auckland will continue to be New Zealand’s fastest growing region, and account for three-fifths of the country’s population growth between 2011 and 2031.…
Thinking about fare zones
One of the most interesting piece of information in the Draft Regional Public Transport Plan – along with the fabulous new bus network – is a first look at the possible zone boundaries for Auckland’s new integrated fares system. This is shown in the map below:
Setting zone boundaries and coming up with the preferred number of zones must be one heck of a difficult task as there are so many things to balance: The fewer zones you have, the easier the system is to understand
The more zones you have, the less likely fares will change much from their current level and the lower chances there are of massive arbitrary jumps in fares
The lower the fare is for each zone, the less farebox recovery there will be
The higher the fare is, the more people who will be put off catching PT by the cost Auckland does have the advantage of a natural geography which splits the city relatively neatly into different parts.…
The madness of parking minimums
One of the most important directions in the Auckland Plan, in my opinion, was the strong emphasis on shifting away from the current way we manage parking regulation. This may sound like a pretty mundane issue, but if you read on, you will discover the complete and utter madness of the way parking is managed at the moment – and how ensuring that the Auckland Plan’s direction comes to fruition in the Unitary Plan is going to be one of the most important transport issues that this blog will focus on in relation to the Council’s new planning rulebook.…
‘The Economist’ on Peak Car
There have been quite a number of posts on this blog over the last few months which discuss our changing travel patterns – and in particular the drop off in traffic growth that has occurred in the past few years. The fact that traffic growth has slowed or stopped is pretty incontrovertible – you just need to look at NZTA’s state highway traffic data to have that confirmed:
What’s perhaps more interesting is to ponder the “why” and also the question about whether this is just a “blip” or whether it’s more of a long term shift – due to cultural/technological/demographic changes.…
Telecom to “hook into” the AT HOP card
Another article that almost passed me by. This was in Wednesday’s NZ Herald:
Telecom is hitching up to Auckland’s $110 million transport ticketing project by turning smartphones into wallets for use on buses, trains and ferries.
The company yesterday showed the technology in action at its testing laboratory in expectation of making it available late next year for payments to retailers as well as public transport.…
Pedestrian Improvements: traffic signals
One thing that really really annoys me about how Auckland treats its pedestrians relates to what happens at signalised intersections. We all know the situation: We turn up at an intersection, knowing that we will get the green man at the same time as the traffic travelling in the same direction as us gets a green light.…
Sydney’s Rail Strategy
Recently the New South Wales Government released a long term rail strategy for Sydney. It makes for interesting reading. Like Auckland, Sydney is experiencing relatively fast population growth and expects to grow from its current population of 4.6 million to around 6 million by 2031.…
Lonely Planet gives Auckland’s PT the thumbs down
The Herald today reports that the new edition of the Lonely Planet tourist guide for New Zealand doesn’t have particularly kind things to say about Auckland’s public transport system.
Auckland is a more vibrant city after the Rugby World Cup but public transport is a “mess”, says the latest Lonely Planet guide book of New Zealand.…
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