Analysing critiques of the City Rail Link
I am glad that the “City Rail Link” name for the Britomart to Mt Eden Tunnel has replaced previous names for the project – like the CBD Rail Tunnel, the CBD Rail Link and (my least favourite) the CBD Loop. Calling this project a “City Rail Link” emphasises the fact that its benefits are not just felt in the city centre, but across the whole of Auckland.…
29 Comments AMETI Panmure contract signed
There seems to have been a lot of progress on the Panmure section of the AMETI project in recent times, and that progress has continued with today’s announcement of a preferred contractor to construct the first section of this project:
Auckland Transport has awarded a contract for one of Auckland’s biggest transport construction jobs, a $180 million project to start dealing with traffic congestion in the eastern suburbs.…
Why is Council having to bail out NZTA?
Some rather concerning news has hit the headlines over the past day or two, about how Auckland Council is having to cover transport subsidies that NZTA would normally pay for – on the basis that NZTA will ‘pay the money back’ at some point in the next few years.…
Urban Sprawl: further thoughts
My post the other day on the Productivity Commission’s housing affordability report generated a number of really good comments – but also prompted me to have some further thoughts on the issue. But before I get onto that, the excellent Bob Dey Property Report makes some criticisms of the study too that are worth commenting on:
The difference of opinion between central & local government on whether Auckland should have an urban boundary is well known, but the commission’s calculations before reaching the conclusion that Auckland needs to make more land available – and preferably 20-year supply – are remarkably poor.…
Better value for money from rail
While it’s certainly essential for Auckland to have a well functioning rail system, as we’re a growing city with little ability to squeeze more out of our roads particularly easily, the ‘turning around’ of Auckland rail system over the past decade has undoubtedly been an expensive – but necessary – task.…
Housing affordability and sprawl
The good old ‘compact city’ versus ‘urban sprawl’ debate has been reignited – with a Productivity Commission report on Housing Affordability pointing the finger at land-use regulation as a major cause for reduced housing affordability over the past decade: particularly in Auckland.…
Rail shutdown begins
With electrification works in full-flow, and major track realignment works necessary to construct the Parnell Station, disruptions to regular train services start tomorrow and will continue right through until the latter part of January. The closures are outlined below:
Rail line closures:
Saturday 17 December and Sunday 18 December – Waitakere to Britomart, Papakura to Britomart via Newmarket, Onehunga to Britomart, and Papakura to Otahuhu.…
The end of freeways?
An interesting Salon.com article looks at a growing US trend: the removal of urban freeways.
Right now, several U.S. cities are scheming to shut down major freeways — permanently. In the push to take back cities from cars, this is what you’d call throwing down the gauntlet.…
Analysing Manukau’s land-use
I thought that after yesterday’s post, which looked at how newer town centres in Auckland seem to be mimicking ‘hollowed out’ US cities by devoting so much land to parking, I should take a look at some of the numbers for Manukau City (which seems to be the worst culprit here).…
Wasting space
Perhaps the primary reason why I am interested in improving public transport is because I think it’s the main way we can manage to both shift a lot of people around a city while at the same time not destroying that city.…
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