Is Steven Joyce right about public transport subsidies?
Public transport subsidies are a perennially controversial topic. In this post I quickly summarise the case for subsidies before highlighting why Steven Joyce is pretty much wrong about public transport subsidies in Auckland.
Public transport subsidies are basically motivated by “externalities.” …
40 Comments Is public transport cost-effective?
One of the strongest arguments public transport sceptics like Steven Joyce have, when trying to justify the pitiful amount of funding dished out to PT compared to that lavished on new motorways, is that the level of subsidy to PT is growing faster than patronage – particularly over the past 10 years.…
No real explanation for slashing PT infrastructure funding
The Ministry of Transport have released the cabinet paper that accompanied the final version of the Government Policy Statement – released by Steven Joyce last week. It’s worth reading through, as cabinet papers typically provide a bit more of an insight into the real thinking behind some of the decisions governments make, without much of the pointless “fluff” in media releases.…
What to think of Nikki Kaye’s tram idea
When I first heard about Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye’s proposal to create something of a tram loop around the neighbourhoods of the western part of her Auckland Central electorate, I wasn’t really quite sure what to make of it. Of course I’m not averse to the idea that trams probably do form part of Auckland’s transport future along particular corridors, but at the same time I was also skeptical.…
GPS 2012: just plain dumb
Well I have had the chance to read through the final version of the 2012 Government Policy Statement for land transport funding and two conclusions immediately leap into my head: It’s remarkably similar to the draft version. All that “consultation” seems to have been just for show.…
Gareth Hughes on the GPS
I’m still digging through the details of the Government Policy Statement myself, but here’s a good interview on TVNZ 7’s News at 8 programme with Green Party transport spokesman Gareth Hughes (click the image or here for the video):
While it may seem like he said the word “balance” a heck of a lot of times, looking at the funding allocations in the GPS for various different parts of the transport sector, it really is the lack of balance that shines through:
Even really basic stuff like maintaining state highways (funding frozen for the next 6 years) and building & looking after local roads (funding effectively frozen for the next 6 years) are getting screwed over in order to splurge more and more money on new state highways.…
Final 2012 GPS released
Just a quick post for now – more detail later.
The final version of the 2012 Government Policy Statement has been released today – and yes, it’s unsurprisingly bad. Really bad. By my calculations, between 2012 and 2018 the policy will have the following spread of funding:
When public transport use is booming, state highway traffic volumes have stagnated for a number of years and oil prices are high and likely to go higher (imagine the price of petrol if the NZ dollar was at its usual 60 US cents) having such a huge focus of spending on state highways (and $8b of the state highways total goes to new ones) is just downright stupid.…
See me talk transport in person
Tomorrow evening I’m giving a public talk about public transport in Auckland, organised by a group called Generation Zero. Here are the details from Facebook:
Unreliable, expensive, slow, inconvenient, useless are just a few of the words that might come to mind when one thinks of public transport in Auckland.…
Is a PT funding crisis around the corner?
An article in today’s Sunday Star Times looks at the possible repercussions of NZTA’s decision (forced upon them by the upcoming government policy statement) to cut the funding assistance rate for public transport around the country. The results are potentially pretty ugly:
The government will cut up to $17 million from its public transport budget for the 2011-12 financial year.…
Peak travel?
I came across an interesting journal article the other day – entitled Are We Reaching Peak Travel? Trends in Passenger Transport in Eight Industrialized Countries by Adam Millard-Ball and Lee Schipper. It is an interesting examination of an issue that I’ve been looking at in my analysis of recent traffic trends on roads in New Zealand – the idea that perhaps we’re shifting away from the decades long process of people travelling more and more each year.…
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