Auckland Council’s astute feedback on the GPS
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34. See our earlier posts on GPS submission guides, and on the disparity between funding rail and funding RoNS.
As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we’ve been particularly interested to hear Auckland Council’s take.…
23 Comments Have your say on the LTP and GPS this week
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS).
Closing dates and times:
LTP closes Thursday 28 March, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight!…
New Life for Light Rail
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think
With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it would be safe to assume light rail in Auckland is dead and buried for the next decade.…
Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy of reckons himself: Richard Prebble CBE.…
The GPS is a disaster for local government
One thing that’s not been reported much yet about the catastrophically bad draft Government Policy Statement released on Monday is what it means for local government around the country. Reading through the document, it was a bit surprising how little local government was mentioned at all – seemingly ignorant of the massive role district and regional councils play in delivering transport services and infrastructure.…
A Market Model for Intercity Rail
The North Island Main Trunk rail line between Auckland and Wellington is 680km long, mostly electrified, and low speed for intercity rail (80-100kph). It’s a major public asset, but woefully underutilised.
How can we work this asset harder, to deliver way more benefits for our country and our people?…
February-24 AT Board Meeting
Tomorrow the AT board have their first meeting of the year. it will also be the first meeting for new chair Richard Leggat.
You can watch the open session on this Teams link with the meeting due to start at 10am.…
Will the 2024 RLTP be yet another debacle?
A couple of years ago, Auckland Council and Auckland Transport found themselves in court over the 2021 Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP).
A non-profit alliance for transport decarbonisation, All Aboard Aotearoa, argued that among other factors, the RLTP was unlawful because it failed to give effect to the 2021 Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS) which focused on reducing emissions and tackling climate change.…
Fuel Tax Fight and Rail Fail update
The two stories we covered at the start of the week continue to be in the headlines so it’s worth looking at the latest for each of them. Regional Fuel Tax
Mayor Wayne Brown promised some ‘argy-bargy’ over the government’s decision to cancel the Regional Fuel Tax and he’s followed that up by requesting that AT stop work on all projects funded in part by the RFT, including those Minister Simeon Brown has listed as his priorities – though it also includes some good projects like Gt North Rd and his comments around cycleways and safety programmes leave a lot to be desired.…
The Government’s War on Auckland
The government has launched a war against Auckland, seemingly determined to take away the city’s choice for how our transport network is built and funded. Combined with other recent decisions, this will leave Aucklanders with less choice in how we get around, more congestion, higher emissions with higher numbers death and serious injuries than we should have.…
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