Karangahape Done Right
The completion of the City Rail Link may be delayed, but when it does finally open, up to 40,000 people will flood out of the entrances to the Karanga-a-Hape station every day. Tens of thousands more are expected to arrive or pass through the area on buses, too.…
33 Comments Reasons to be optimistic about Auckland Transport
Last week I had the chance to sit down with Auckland Transport’s new CEO, Dean Kimpton, and ask him some questions and I think there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic for the future.
It was only Dean’s sixth day in the role so understandably he’s not going to be over all the details yet, but his understanding of the role – and many of the issues faced by both the organisation and the city – is invariably helped by his previous tenure as Auckland Council’s Chief Operating Officer, and more recently as the Chair of the Eastern Busway Alliance.…
Ridership reaches 80 per cent
Easter and the school holidays typically represents the end of March Madness, the period of time where travel demand across all modes is at it’s highest. It’s also been a quite while since we’ve really covered what’s happening with ridership so it’s time to look at it again
This year has been particularly challenging for public transport as we emerge from COVID with different travel patters, with a significant bus driver shortage, a ferry crew shortage and rail lines shut due to Kiwirail’s network rebuild programme.…
Construction for next stage of Eastern Busway starts
On Saturday, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Mayor Wayne Brown turned the sod to mark the start of construction on the next stage of the Eastern Busway.
This milestone means construction is underway for the significant transport project’s final stretch, from Pakuranga towards Botany.…
What to do about the Northern Busway
One of the big unknowns with any potential new harbour crossing is what to do about the Northern Busway. The first busway services first started in late 2005, before there was a busway, when the Albany and Constellation Stations opened and buses just used shoulder lanes to get to the city.…
Leaked emails reveal plan to turn light-rail into a road tunnel
The NZ Herald reports:
Leaked emails between senior officials at Auckland Light Rail, Waka Kotahi and Auckland Transport have revealed a surprising twist in the long-running saga of the Auckland Light Rail project.
A stack of emails between Auckland Light Rail and an unnamed senior official at Waka Kotahi, who appears to have been a close colleague for many years in his former role at Waka Kotahi, have been leaked to the NZ Herald.…
Harbour Crossing Project now estimated to cost $15-25 billion
Big transport news today with the government beginning public engagement on options for the Waitemata Harbour Connections project. This project has had an incredibly long history, with previous versions somehow managing to be incredibly expensive, detrimental to most of the transport outcomes we are trying to achieve in Auckland, and massively environmentally damaging.…
It’s Raining Congestion
Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving.
For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on how cities can pull their weight to quickly lower emissions and improve our lives – and the same day our local paper led with a story on speeding up the drive to reduce traffic.…
CRL’s COVID Cost Change
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much.
Costs
City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and Auckland Council – reflecting revised costs and time required to complete the project as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns and associated impacts.…
Is Auckland Light Rail getting even more off-track?
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention.
“I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages.…
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