What Key Had To Say About Transport

No surprises but here’s what prime minister John Key had to say today in his statement to parliament about his government’s infrastructure and transport policy in the next year.

Greens co-leader Russel Norman in his reply spoke of “another growth industry in New Zealand being motorway building.”
And Phil Goff made reference to the Kopu bridge!

Commuters, Ratepayers Hit In Wellington’s PT Cost Crisis

Wellington public transport users face a 3% increase in their fares this year and the capital’s council is fretting about how it’s going to deal with mounting public transport costs. at a time too many people have been put off using the present trains.

It’s proposing a 2.2% increase in rates for the next year but a report to the council meeting on the rates issue has revealed a shock over the cost of its contract with Tranz Metro for the suburban train service.

Wellington Railway Station Getting Roof Work

Scaffolding has been erected at Wellington’s central railway station as part of the next stage of the rail upgrade.

Queens Wharf Debate Now Fixated On Cruise Ships

Ports of Auckland will transfer Queens Wharf to its new owners, the Government and the Auckland Regional Council, in April.

And that’s where the debate about Queens Wharf seems to have gone – to develop the area as Auckland’s primary cruise terminal.

Again today the ARC chairman is giving the hurry up saying there is no need for more waterfront plans.

Eden Park $40m Score: Banks 1, Brown 0

Auckland Mayor John Banks is 100% right in not committing ratepayers money to helping Eden Park out of its mess.

He promised he wouldn’t and it would be political suicide to change in an election year.

At a news conference today, Eden Park redevelopment chairman John Waller revealed that the Eden Park Trust Board has known for some time there is a $40 million shortfall for funding the park’s RWC development and there is “no silver bullet” in finding the money.

One wonders what other surprises are in store as the event nears.

Auckland City’s Know How Can Do

As we consider more new designs for Queens Wharf, it feels as if the rethink of inner-city’s critical central space, is going to be right this time.

And the council has a new buzzword to explain what’s going to happen there.

Do You Want Fines With That?

Is it just my eyes or has Auckland City super-sized some of its street signs?

Buses Replace Sunday New Lynn-Avondale Train

Buses replace Western Line trains between Avondale and New Lynn for the next two Sundays.

This is so work can continue at the new New Lynn station without trains passing through.

There is a revised train timetable for those buses.

Maxx, I Want To Go To /iptis/journeyFunctions.asp, line 45

Maxx’s new website might need a bit of work.

So far, it’s not working well for me.

Dusty Ride To Cape Reinga Almost Over

Sealing the last remaining 19 kilometres of SH1 – to Cape Reinga in Northland – is now in its closing stages with work beginning on the final five kilometres to Waitiki Landing where the sealed section of the national highway currently ends.

When the project is finished, SH1 will, for the first time, be 2022 kilometres of sealed highway from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

Bus Culture ‘Taking Root” In Hamilton

Hamilton bus services are showing growth, according to a report to today’s meeting of Waikato’s regional passenger transport committee.

One councillor told the meeting: “The bus culture is taking further root in Hamilton which has got to be good for unclogging our roads and making our main city more efficient.”

Queens Wharf: Here We Go Again

Here we go again.

Another attempt is being made to do something for Queens Wharf. Let’s hope we don’t go through another round of what we went through before.

ARTA Launches “Make A Change” Campaign

ARTA is launching a ‘Make a change in 2010” campaign to encourage people to consider other transport options.

Manukau Council Slashes Graffiti By 70%

Manukau City is claiming success in dealing with the menace of graffiti –which is a major talking point here, with our frustration at the constant defacing of the rail corridor.

The council says that by focussing on the issue, it has reduced the incident of graffiti by 70% in the last two and a half years.

Art Graces New Lynn Rail Trench – Photos

The Waitakere City Council is ensuring New Lynn’s new underground train station has an arts focus, in keeping with New Lynn’s art and pottery tradition (once home to New Zealand’s Crown Lynn pottery).

Artist Louise Purvis was commissioned to lead a team to treat the trench walls with art featuring topographic lines to reflect New Lynn’s origin.

The first of the 258 fibreglass-reinforced concrete panels have been now laid along the trench wall next to the station.

New Lynn Train Station: Getting Over It! Latest Photos

Exciting to see continuing progress being made in the massive New Lynn train station and trench development.

Look what I found! Surely these aren’t actual Newmarket-stye platforms!

New Lynn Train Station Development – More Photos

Here are more photos of the progress being made in building the new New Lynn rail station and trench:

Aucklandtrains.co.nz Makes The Top 30

A well known blogger emailed me this morning to say this site had jumped into the top 30 NZ blogs according to global web measurement company, Alexa (which orders sites by their traffic rank calculated on average daily visitors and page views over the past month.)

He said it was a great achievement for a site just celebrating its first anniversary.

I’ve never paid any attention to this sort of stuff but If nothing else, it means a wider audience is now taking an interest in the matters we’re raising and they’re being alerted to those issues.

Law Of The Jungle

I thought car window washers had been banned in Auckland City.

But they continue to dice death and cause stress for motorists.

Here’s one being a particular dangerous nuisance at a busy Fanshawe St intersection:

Local Train Graffiti Artists Show Off – Video

Kiwi graffiti artists are releasing a 75-minute DVD of their work on NZ trains.

From this preview, you’ll notice it seems mostly Wellington trains are involved but their myspace page says the “live painting missions” go from 1998-2009 and include “20+ whole cars and Aotearoa’s first running whole train.”

Park Rd Update – Latest Photos

I enjoy exploring the Park Rd / Khyber Pass / Grafton station development because there’s always lots of cranes, big holes and workers running around, giving the impression exciting things are on the way!

Here is what the latest view:

How To Avoid Sitting Next To Someone On PT

Variable delays on the Western Line because of Newmarket and Britomart platform berthing issues means I have been using more buses than I would like lately – for times I need to have a clear ETA.

And I’m not greatly enjoying the experience.

Snapper Card Milestone

Wellington based Snapper card, which is being introduced onto its Auckland buses mid-year has issued its 100,000th card.

The company’s CEO,Miki Szikszai, says this shows that Snapper has been adopted by the masses in the Wellington market.

Masterton Train Runs Red Light

The Dominion Post reports that a train carrying 300 passengers was delayed for more than an hour this morning after a driver ran a red light.

The report says the driver was then “removed” from his train.

it took “some time” to find another driver and get them to the train and other trains were backed up..

The train was on a Masterton to Wellington service.

Standard procedures are for the Transport Accident Investigation Commission to investigate and the driver to undergo alcohol and drug tests.

The Big SH20 Pylon Drop: Up Close Photos

There has been considerable interest in the 35-metre steel pylon erected at the site of the new Beachcroft Avenue foot bridge over the Southwestern Motorway (SH20) at Onehunga and thanks again to James for his excellent coverage overnight which made us want more.

To get a birds eye view, thanks to the Manukau Harbour Crossing Alliance (thanks Queenie) and NZTA, here are some close-up photos as the team did the hoist last night.