Government Misleads on Public Transport Spending In Auckland
A Herald article last month highlighted strong support for more Government spending on public transport improvements in Auckland. It included the following quote:
But a spokesman for Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said that with $890 million budgeted for public transport in Auckland over three years “it would be grossly unfair to suggest the Government hasn’t given this mode of transport the priority it deserves”.…
51 Comments How future proofed is it really?
In 2010 Len Brown campaigned on three major rail projects, the CRL, rail to the Airport and rail to the Shore. If there was one issue with them though, it is that to some they are too bold. Despite getting strong support among many members of the public, vocal opponents point to primarily to their price tags as a reason not to build them.…
What is the cost of congestion?
We spend a lot of money each year trying to “fix” congestion in Auckland and across New Zealand. In fact, it seems that the bulk of transport spending in this country has “fixing congestion” as its ultimate aim – which is a little odd as research from the USA shows that the most congested cities are the cities with the highest levels of economic productivity.…
A monster is on the way
The massive tunnel boring machine that will be used to dig the tunnels at Waterview has been officially handed over to the companies working on the project. When looking at pictures, it can be hard to realise just how big this thing will be.…
Good work NZTA
I was very impressed to see yesterday that NZTA have made the decision to publish all their OIA responses to media outlets (I wonder if we count?) on their website. Here’s the press release:
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is today launching a new addition to the media information section of the NZTA website, where the agency will publish its responses to Official Information Act (OIA) requests from media organisations.…
How much sprawl in Christchurch?
We tend to focus on issues related Auckland however a recently a video from the NZTA caught my attention. The main purpose of the video is to show some very pretty animations of what stage 2 of the Christchurch Southern motorway will look like.…
Better buses
Several recent posts have extolled the merits of “better buses” for Auckland. These posts have generally focused on the following issues: Corridor infrastructure – as discussed in this post, there are strong arguments in favour of expanding Auckland’s bus lane network so as to improve bus speeds/reliability.…
“Skypath” across harbour to become a reality?
Allowing people to walk or cycle across the harbour bridge is an aspiration that has been a long time coming. When the harbour bridge was originally proposed it included walkways, like Sydney’s harbour bridge, but the government of the time was concerned about ballooning costs and in the end all we ended up with was a four lane traffic bridge.…
Westgate pedestrian and cycle bridge opened
Transport infrastructure generally helps to connect our communities with the rest of the city, making life easier. However in some cases, like with motorways and surface rail lines, it can also sever that connection by making it extremely difficult to get around without a car.…
Nelson and Hobson Streets: Problem, opportunity, and (incremental) solutions?
It’s quite easy to forget that a couple of years ago Auckland’s regional and local government structures were turned upside down.
Since then Auckland Council seem to have settled into their work with relative aplomb. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their strategic documents, such as The Auckland Plan (TAP) and the City Centre Masterplan (CCMP).…
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