Time to get off the gas
With energy policy and the cost of power in the headlines this week, here’s a timely guest post by regular reader, and freelance Business Analyst specialising in pricing and operations management, Stephen Reynolds. (Header image: Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA4.0) Many New Zealanders view exhausting our fossil fuel reserves as inevitable and enabling us to move on from the emissions they generate.…
39 Comments Yes we can retrofit Perimeter Blocks!
This is a guest post by Alex Bonham, Yasmin Tapiheroe, and Nic Williams of Women in Urbanism Aotearoa. They make the case that permitting perimeter blocks in mixed urban housing zones will better provide green space, trees and safe access to play.…
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.…
Fuel Taxes to go
The government look set to make things easier for big gas guzzling vehicles with the announcement yesterday that they’re progressing with plans to replace fuel taxes with road user charges. Cabinet has agreed to a series of important legislative changes to enable the transition of New Zealand’s 3.5 million light vehicles to paying for our roading network through electronic road user charges, rather than petrol tax, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop.…
The Government’s Northern Expressway Obsession
On Saturday there were some interesting discussions on TVNZ’s Q+A programme with Jake Tame about infrastructure with Minister Chris Bishop and Infrastructure Commission Te Waihanga chief executive Geoff Cooper.
In his discussion with Chris Bishop, Tame covers a range of topics from his various portfolios, many of which probably of interest, such as the impact of the government’s policies on the construction industry, on city deals and the government pushing councils towards asset sales, housing and in particular his response to the op-ed from Christine Fletcher late last week.…
Congestion Charging: Location Options
New York is the most recent city to implement congestion pricing and it’s already (and predictably) been a success. Will Auckland be the next city to introduce it?
Legislation to introduce “time of use charging” (congestion pricing) is currently making its way through Parliament, with the government intending to pass it before the end of the year.…
The State of It
Yesterday I went to the launch of the Committee for Auckland’s third The State of The City launch. It’s great they are doing this work, and the event was very interesting. You can read the report itself here.
There has been a lot of media coverage since, some of which you’ve no doubt seen, ranging from the sensationalist (Stuff) to the bored and dismissive (Auckland Now).…
National’s proposed changes to transport rules
Last week Transport Minister Chris Bishop announced some planned transport rule changes including some very welcome and overdue ones for buses, scooters and people on bikes.
The Government is progressing a bold work programme to increase productivity and efficiency through comprehensively reforming New Zealand’s land transport rules, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.…
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.…
On politics, professional ethics, and premature death on our roads
Today’s guest post is an open letter by Dr Bridget Doran, a transportation engineer, researcher, and human factors psychologist, on the question of politics and professional ethics in the context of the new Speed Rule.
It’s a timely read for our local audience.…
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