On Self-Driving Cars
Over on dezeen there is a really interesting post by Dan Hill called “Self-driving cars are the answer- what is the question?”
Basically you should all read the whole thing there rather than me sum it up but here’s taste:
Here we see such companies are not actually interested in genuine change, for all their bluster about “radical disruption”.…
23 Comments Ponsonby Rd Masterplan Feedback Extended
*submissions open till September 16th* Online form here, plan here, previous post here.
Ponsonby Rd, the heart of my neighbourhood, isn’t bad, but I find it pretty difficult to argue that it is as good as it could be. Local retailers, cafe and restaurant operators, and building owners work hard on what they offer, including the physical qualities of their businesses, but the strip itself is pretty ordinary.…
Guest Post: The Value of Time
This is a guest post by Peter Nunns, an economist working in Auckland with an interest in transport past, present, and future. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are his personal views and do not reflect upon the position of any organisation with which he is associated or constitute professional advice.)…
Houston: We Have A Problem
One chart for all you Sprawlistas out there that keep arguing that Houston is some kind of role model for Auckland’s growth: From Wiki, here. I figure this is self-explanatory. The dispersed spatial pattern of Houston is the single most expensive and inefficient type of urban form possible, but it can function there because of a set of specific local factors, including that Houston is at the centre of a largely flat plain without geographical constraints like, you know, two harbours.…
Auckland You Drive Me Crazy!
This a guest post by Tim Kvingedal, a student at the School of Architecture, University of Auckland. Tim is from Norway. I´ve been living in central Auckland for 11 months now, and you know what? I’m getting sick of waiting for cars.…
Movement and Place – Taking a historical perspective
“Movement and place”: A simple concept that underpins many of the debates on this blog.
For those who have not heard of the “movement and place” concept before, let me briefly re-cap. “Movement” describes how cities need to accommodate flows of people and products.…
The Decongestive That Works
Somehow over the last 60 years it became an orthodoxy that the only way to deal with the problem of too many cars on our roads is to spend ever greater sums of money on more roads for more cars [and more parking, more fuel use, more accidents, more obesity, more pollution].…
Train, Bus, Tram, or Camel?
We get a lot of conversations in our comments that boil down to expressions of preference for particular Transit modes depending on people’s experiences and values. Those who are most concerned about the cost of infrastructure tend to favour buses, and those who value the qualities that rail offers feel the generally higher capital costs are justified.…
FBT WTF: Suspiciously vocal opposition?
In this recent post Matt L considered the Government’s proposal to extend fringe benefit tax (FBT) to employer-provided parking in Auckland and Wellington’s CBDs.
The Government is keen to extend FBT to employer-provided parking because the parking being provided has a fairly high (market) value.…
Time to Invest in Vital New ‘Pipe’
Transport infrastructure is just one of small group of vital core systems that the entire edifice of the city depends upon. This group; the water, wastewater, electricity, telecommunications, and transport structures of a city are critical to its wellbeing and success.…
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