February-23 AT Board Meeting

Tomorrow the Auckland Transport board hold their first meeting of the year. Below are some of the things that stood out from the various papers. Closed Agenda These are the items that stand out from the closed agenda. Standing Items TERP Implementation – Next Steps and Climate change and TERP implementation Special Event Management Public Transport Recovery Emergency Event Recovery Items for Approval AT Open Loop Recommendation – I assume this part of ATs plan to go ahead with plans to open up HOP to credit cards and phone based payment apps in advance of the national ticketing system.…
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Wayne Brown’s Letter of Expectation to AT

Today the council will decide what to consult on in next years budget. Another important item on the agenda will be approving the Letters of Expectation for Council Controlled Organisations like Auckland Transport. The letter of expectation is meant to do what it says on the tin, to tell the CCOs what the council expects of them and the CCOs are meant to take them into account when developing their annual plans – though it seemed Auckland Transport pretty much ignored them during Phil Goff’s term.…
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Transport Plan Déjà vu

As part of the announcement on Saturday of additional government funding for the Eastern Busway, Minister of Transport Michael Wood and Mayor Wayne Brown also announced plans to work together on a new transport plan for Auckland. Alongside this important step, Auckland Council and the Government have confirmed a path ahead  for crucial futureproofing projects such as getting the best return out of the City Rail Link, Auckland Light Rail and the Alternative Waitemata Harbour crossing, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown have announced today.…
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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.…
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Dear Wayne

Dear Wayne, Congratulations on becoming the third Mayor of Auckland. You have some big footsteps to follow. While voter turnout was unacceptably low – and you really need to work with government to change how local government elections work – there’s no doubt your call to “fix Auckland” struck a chord with many Aucklanders.…
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Flashback Saturday: Better cities mean a wealthier New Zealand

Most Saturdays we dig into the archives. This post by Peter was originally published in September 2014. Last week I took a look at whether government policy to support regional economies could divert growth away from Auckland. Based on the historical evidence, the answer seems to be no – people want to live in Auckland and start businesses here, and it’s senseless to try and stop that.…
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