Transforming Auckland’s city centre
One of the best things that has come out of the creation of the Auckland “Super City” Council so far has been, in my opinion, the fundamental reconsideration of how Auckland should work. In documents like the Auckland Spatial Plan, the City Centre Master Plan and the forthcoming Unitary Plan, we have the opportunity to completely reanalyse the plans and policies that will guide and shape Auckland’s future.…
26 Comments Trams are back
I somewhat missed this story over the past few days, with lots of other things going on, but earlier this week the two heritage trams arrived from Melbourne that will run around the tram loop in Wynyard Quarter. Here’s Auckland Transport’s media release:
The return of trams to Auckland streets came a step closer today when two historic tramcars rolled off a ship from Melbourne at Jellico Wharf.…
Falling into your own trap: the problem with fixating over technology
It’s impossible to be in transport circles for too long before the good old arguments of ‘buses versus trains’ or ‘BRT versus LRT’ and so forth come along. I suppose that it’s inevitable to end up in such technological debates – as while each technology tends to be best suited for a particular type of job, there’s an enormous level of crossover.…
Guest Post: A message from Bordeaux
Regular commenter Andrew W is in Bordeaux, France at the moment – and has kindly sent in this Guest Post:
I’m staying in Bordeaux, France at the moment and thought I’d share a couple of observations and comparisons.
In both Bordeaux itself and in nearby towns, there aren’t small token shared spaces here and there, instead in town the pedestrian rules – shared and pedestrian-only spaces are simply how streets work, and they are packed with people.…
Transit-Oriented Developments
A great video from Streetfilms on transit-oriented developments (TODs) – with a particular focus on the effect New Jersey’s light-rail system has had on encouraging development around it: I think a fundamental principle of Auckland’s upcoming spatial plan should be to find out ways to encourage and incentivise – through appropriate transport improvements, zoning changes and clever financial tools, a greater focus on TODs.…
150m public transport trips by 2021?
Some interesting public transport announcements today by Len Brown – probably best encapsulated in this article from Stuff:
Aucklanders could soon be taking ferries to many different areas of the city, catching a train on the CBD rail loop or cycling to work under a plan by mayor Len Brown to more than double the patronage on public transport within 10 years.…
Trams are actually on their way back
The NZ Herald today has reported on the laying of the first tracks around Wynyard Quarter and while those who keep an eye on transport related sites like this one will have known about it there were some interesting aspects in the article that I think are worth mentioning but first, here is a photo of the current works, more can be found on the CBT forum or on AKT As well as securing a lease of two heritage trams from a museum in Bendigo, Victoria, the Auckland Waterfront Development Agency also hopes to borrow an electric light-railcar for demonstration purposes during the Rugby World Cup.…
Southeast RTN – busway, rail, trolley-bus or light-rail?
When Auckland Transport released details of the latest concepts for a southeast busway: along Ti Rakau Drive between Botany and Pakuranga and eventually extending all the way into Panmure, I hesitated and had a pretty good think about whether this was a step in the right direction.…
Auckland’s 2050 Rail System?
I like to play around with ideas for dream future rail systems for Auckland, and oddly enough sometimes my rail visions are embraced by those with some opportunity to make them into a reality. But aside from making for interesting discussion points, having a bit of a think about what we might want our public transport system to look like 20, 30 or even 40 years into the future is important for one simple reason.…
Mike Lee: Our past can determine our future
Mike Lee’s latest blog post talks alot about Auckland’s past and how times have changed since the 50s. Here is the snippet of the post about transport. It is very likely Mike Lee will be the Councillor for the CBD (Waitemata and Gulf) so he could have a big roll to play in the future of the CBD tunnel.…
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