2023 – The Year Ahead
Welcome to 2023. After wrapping up 2022 before Christmas, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see and will be watching for this year. Public Transport
Public Transport Disruption
Disruption to our PT network dominated much of last year, first with the driver shortages then with news of the planned rail network shutdowns, the first of which is now underway. …
45 Comments 2022 – A Year in Review
With the year quickly drawing to a close it’s time for a quick wrap up the most important things that happened and WOW, what a year it’s been.
Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in making Auckland greater.…
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.…
Higher fares and fewer buses on the way?
Earlier this week Mayor Wayne Brown announced his budget proposal for 2023/24, promising a rate rise of 4.66% – which is below our current inflation rate of 7.2%. Though note that the increase in general rates is 7%, with the total figure proposed to be brought down by some cuts in targeted rates.…
Flashback Saturday: AT’s New CEO (again)
Most Saturdays we dig into the archives. The post below was originally published on 1 April 2022. That’s barely six months ago, but it feels like a timely re-read given this week’s developments.
Developments in a nutshell: A year ago, Auckland Transport’s CEO, Shane Ellison, resigned.…
Auckland Council’s new governance structure
Every mayor of Auckland gets to set up the council’s committee structure as they see fit, and last week Mayor Wayne Brown announced his one, with appointments to be formalised at a governing body meeting on Thursday.
There are a couple of big changes compared to Phil Goff’s structure.…
The real work begins for Auckland Council
The Auckland Council’s first “proper” Governing Body meeting this Thursday signals that Wayne Brown’s mayoralty will need to shift away from daily press releases and onto the real work of governing New Zealand’s largest city. And it seems our new mayor, and his fellow councillors, are going to have a pretty rough ride with a $270 million operational cost gap to fill – largely caused by higher than expected inflation and interest costs.…
Concerning news coming out of Auckland Transport
This week we are taking a break from our usual Friday roundup. It’ll be back next Friday.
We have all been waiting to see what impact Auckland’s new mayor and council might have on the city’s transport direction. The messages so far have been pretty mixed.…
Wayne Brown’s expectations of AT
Last week, Auckland’s new Mayor, Wayne Brown, started a new trend by publishing a letter a day on various priorities of his, with mobile phone blackspots on Sunday, Three Waters on Monday and the Port on Tuesday.
On Wednesday his focus turned to Auckland Transport, from whom he demanded a “complete change in approach“:
“You appear to have been focussed on changing how Aucklanders live, using transport policy and services as a tool,” he wrote.…
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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