Time of Use charging progresses – but will it actually lead anywhere?
On Tuesday the long awaited Land Transport Management (Time of Use Charging) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in parliament and now heads off to select committee for public submissions. This is the legislation that enables Time of Use charging schemes – what’s typically known as congestion pricing – to be developed and implemented.…
12 Comments National’s Urbanist Minister
On Friday, Chris Bishop, the Minister of Housing, Transport, Infrastructure and RMA Reform, gave an absolutely fantastic speech to the Committee for Auckland.
As a starter, he really sums up well why we need better cities with this line.
I make no apologies for being an urbanist.…
Gondolas for mass transit?
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.
Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand.…
Some questions for the government on speed limit increases
Yesterday, the newly minted Minister of Transport Chris Bishop and the Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon held a press conference to announce a tranche of 38 state highways where speed limits will be automatically increased, and a further 49 up for public consultation on whether speeds should rise.…
December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are.…
Why you won’t hear me advocate for electric cars
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate. I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to electric cars.…
Speeding toward a lethal legacy
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A few weeks ago I wrote on how the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown had misrepresented cities overseas in his crusade to make our streets and roads more dangerous.…
First judicial review for the Minister of Transport
In September, Eloise Gibson reported for RNZ that the Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, fast-tracked changes to tailpipe emissions standards to meet a car industry deadline. Now, legal questions are being asked about the process that led to those decisions.
As reported on Monday, again by Eloise Gibson for RNZ, the minister is being taken to court by an electric-car advocacy initiative over the engagement that resulted in weakening the pre-existing standards:
The Better New Zealand Trust said it was unreasonable of Brown to direct his transport officials to consult only four motoring groups – all of which were against the standards – before making a decision.…
Who benefits from secrecy around public infrastructure?
You might have seen this video, which we received as part of a recent OIA request. It showcases the original light rail plans developed by Auckland Transport between 2014-2017.
The video was apparently produced in early 2018 by Auckland Transport, just a few months before the project was handed off to Waka Kotahi/NZTA.…
Managing on-street parking for local benefit
This guest post by Malcolm McCracken originally appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible, and is republished here by kind permission.
The case for Parking Benefit Districts: managing on-street parking for local benefit
Parking is often the centre of debate in our cities; particularly on-street car parks, who gets to use them and how we manage them.…
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