The Political Economy of Car Dependence
Leading Image: Sacrificing pedestrian environments and green infrastructure to sell (electric) cars.
Why do both our major parties plan to spend billions of dollars on new roads and sprawl development of farmland?
Our government is catching up on the backlog of rural road safety issues, is slowly improving rail and public transport, is funding “three waters” infrastructure maintenance and upgrades to assist brownfields housing developments and has introduced internationally-renowned planning changes to enable regeneration of our cities.…
123 Comments National’s $60 Billion+ Transport boondoggle
Over the last 10-15 years transport policy has increasingly become about who can spend the most, not who can spend the best. Nowhere was that more evident than the Upper North Island transport policy the National Party announced on Friday. It is a grab bag of projects, many of which might sound great when talking to friends around the barbeque but don’t stack up under any form of rational analysis.…
Weekly Roundup – 10-July 2020
It’s Friday and here’s our weekly roundup National’s recycled policy
Who says the National Party doesn’t have a green side, they clearly like recycling if some of their first election policy announcements are anything to go by.
It started last Friday with them announcing they would spend $570 million on a 16km extension of the Waikato Expressway from Cambridge to Piarere.…
The Power of Disruption
Image: CICLOVÍAS EMERGENTES Lineamientos de Implementación – Gobierno de la Ciudad de México
Good leaders seek ways to change what needs to be changed. And for climate, safety and equity, there is much that needs to be changed.
One powerful, democratic tool to enable change, is disruption.…
Submit on the Council’s Emergency Budget
The council are currently consulting on their emergency budget with submissions closing this Friday.
COVID-19 has punched a $525 million hole in the Auckland Council’s budget. That’s because about 60% of the council’s revenue comes from things other than rates and those ‘other things’ have been severely impacted by the wider economic and social impact of the virus.…
Is Auckland getting its ‘Fair’ share?
The impact from COVID-19 on the Council’s budget has been severe and even with a 3.5% rate increase, is set to see funding for projects slashed, with safety and cycling some of the worst hit. All up Auckland Transport estimate it could see $312m to $352m of “shovel ready” projects paused and more concerningly that could see up to 10 people die and 40 people seriously injured on roads that would have otherwise had safety improvements.…
Appointment of Auckland Council Chief Executive
Tomorrow the council will make possibly its most important decision for a long time, and for a long time to come: Who will be its Chief Executive.
The importance of the decision has been highlighted by the recent ‘emergency budget‘ which has seen projects slashed and delayed in the wake of decimated revenues following the disruptions caused by COVID-19. …
Alert to Changing Default Speeds
Yesterday, Auckland Transport announced:
New and safe speed limits on more than 600 roads across Auckland will come into force from 30 June 2020 onwards.
In an email they also advised:
This tranche will be completed by November 2021.
It’s a huge relief that these changes bringing in safe speeds have not been cut in the emergency budget.…
Council’s massive budget cut
The country may have done comparatively well in responding to COVID-19 but that hasn’t stopped it from kicking a $525 million hole in the Auckland Council’s budget. Their response to that looks set to kill more Aucklanders than the virus did.…
Fighting for scraps on accessible streets
This post was contributed to by a number of people.
The government is currently consulting on the Accessible Streets Regulatory Package, a bundle of rule changes designed to enhance the safety of people using footpaths, bikes, scooters and other active transport modes.…
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