Category: Featured

Some Transport Announcements

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$100m for urban cycleways, $20m to advance AMETI Stage Two.

 

Some transport announcements yesterday.

First some cash for some cycleways.

From the Minister of Transport – Gerry Brownlee:

$100 million for urban cycleways

Prime Minister John Key has today announced $100 million in new funding will be made available over the next four years to accelerate cycleways in urban centres.

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says an Urban Cycleway Investment Panel will investigate opportunities to invest in urban cycleways that would expand and improve the cycling network.

Mr Brownlee says National recognises that commuting by bike has health benefits and takes pressure off other transport networks, but says cycleways in our largest centres are fragmented and offer varied levels of service.

“This funding builds on significant investments the government is already making, with projects in Hastings and New Plymouth showcasing how cycling can be a safer, more reliable and realistic transport option.

“Many people cite safety concerns and a lack of infrastructure as reasons for not cycling, so we’re going to begin building cycleways to a standard that delivers real incentives for commuters to make a change.

“Building more comprehensive cycling networks will require new infrastructure to connect existing routes and expand the network into wider urban areas.

“And as these connections will be a mix of local roads and State highways, we’ll need a strategic approach and collaboration at central and local government level.

“Some councils are well advanced in planning and constructing local cycleways, and we want to ensure we do what we can to complement them and make them capable of being used by the widest number of people possible.

“This funding package also strongly complements other aspects of the government’s ambitious transport infrastructure programme, which is designed to ensure people and freight can reach their destinations quickly and safely,” Mr Brownlee says.

The Urban Cycleway Investment Panel will include representatives from central government, local government and other organisations.  Draft terms of reference for the panel will be presented to Cabinet by 31 October 2014.

Questions and Answers

What is the urban cycleways announcement?
The urban cycleways announcement comprises two main parts:

  1. An extra investment of $100 million over the next four years, dedicated to urban cycling infrastructure.
  2. An Urban Cycling Investment Panel, consisting of representatives from central government, local government and other organisations, will investigate opportunities to invest in urban cycleways that would expand and improve the cycling network.

What is the Urban Cycleway Investment Panel?
The government will establish a panel consisting of representatives of central government, local government and other organisations.  Draft Terms of Reference for the group will be presented to Cabinet before 31 October 2014.

Where is the money coming from?
The $100 million will be allocated from the Crown’s Consolidated Fund, and divided between capital and operational expenditure.  The expenditure is estimated to be spread over the next four years as follows:

Expenditure profile year by year ($m)
2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 Total
 10.0 35.0 30.0 25.0 100.0

How are you ensuring these projects are value for money?
An investment strategy will be approved by Cabinet.  This will ensure projects are good quality and ‘investment ready’ before construction starts.

What will this mean for local government?
The Urban Cycleway Investment Panel will include a representative of local government, and the $100 million Crown investment will be able to be spent on local roads – which are managed by local government – as well as State highways.

How does this align with other transport projects?
The government invests in all modes of transport, with the aim of ensuring people and freight can reach their destinations quickly and safely.

This programme builds on the significant investments government is already making in cycling, including through the model communities in Hastings and New Plymouth, the Government Policy Statement on land transport, and alongside other roading projects including the Roads of National Significance.

How much money is available now for cycleway developments?
In addition to this funding for urban cycleways, up to $30 million is available from the National Land Transport Fund for walking and cycling projects in the 2014/15 financial year.  This investment will be complemented by funding from local government.

Over the last three years the National Land Transport Programme has provided around $80 million for dedicated walking and cycling facilities, and an additional $80 million of investment which has delivered significant cycling benefits, including cycle lanes on new highways, road safety initiatives, wider shoulders and better marking on local roads.

Aside from the $100 million announced today, is there any other future funding available for cycleway developments?
The draft Government Policy Statement on land transport 2015/16-2024/25 (the draft GPS 2015) proposes up to $103 million be available for walking and cycling projects (including cycleways) over the next three years.  This investment will be complemented with funding from local government, and is in addition to this urban cycleways funding.

There will also be further funding through the National Land Transport Fund for cycling facilities which are built as part as new and improved State highways and local roads.

The draft GPS 2015 increases the annual maximum available funding for walking and cycling projects by 3.5 per cent per annum (compared to 1.9 per cent under GPS 2012).  This reflects opportunities to provide more options for active modes of transport.

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Source: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/100-million-urban-cycleways

 

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And some cash for AMETI Stage Two

From Auckland Transport

Funding approved to design new busway

18/08/2014 01:49 p.m.

Funding has been approved to further develop plans for the South Eastern Busway from Panmure Station to Pakuranga.

The NZ Transport Agency has approved design funding of $20.9m, with it subsidising $11m, for the Panmure to Pakuranga section of the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative (AMETI).

It will be the next stage after the current work in Panmure, which comprised the new Panmure Station and a new link road between Mt Wellington Highway and Morrin Rd.

Proposed Panmure to Pakuranga projects also include the Reeves Rd flyover in Pakuranga, replacing Panmure roundabout with an intersection with traffic lights, a second Panmure Bridge for the busway and a shared cycle/foot path.

Auckland Transport aims to begin construction in 2017, subject to approval of construction funding and consents.

Auckland Transport Chairman Dr Lester Levy says the popular Panmure Station and a new road, due to open soon, are just the start of major transport improvements for the area. “With the first stage in Panmure almost complete and delivering benefits already, we’re looking forward to the next stage. This funding will allow us to further develop the design of the busway and other major transport projects.

“Public transport is currently a poor option because buses get caught in the same congestion as cars, resulting in long travel times. Large numbers of passengers are expected to be attracted by quicker, frequent and more reliable buses on lanes separate to traffic.

“Buses will run every 5-10 minutes most of the day and travel times will be reliable. It will take about 27 minutes to get between Pakuranga and Britomart by bus and train, about 8 minutes quicker than currently. There will be bigger time savings when the busway is extended to Botany in the future. Together, the AMETI projects are aimed at improving people’s transport choices and better connecting the south eastern suburbs to each other and the rest of Auckland.”

The Transport Agency’s Regional Manager of Planning and Investment, Peter Casey, says support for Auckland projects like AMETI are a high priority for the Transport Agency. “AMETI ticks a lot of boxes for us in a very busy area of Auckland where there’s strong economic and population growth. Supporting Auckland Transport’s upgrades of a whole range of transport choices will improve safety, and make the time it takes to travel between destinations a lot more reliable for people.”

Mr Casey says the Transport Agency will contribute just over a 50% share of the total cost of AMETI – funding that comes from revenue gathered by the agency from the excise duty on fuel, road user charges and vehicle registration fees and is then reinvested in transport projects.

Auckland Transport will continue to consult with residents, businesses and the community in the project area before applying for a land designation in the second quarter of 2015. This would be followed by a publicly notified hearing.

Key facts

The Panmure to Pakuranga projects are the next stage of the $1.3 billion AMETI programme. The long term project features a busway from Panmure to Pakuranga and Botany, roading upgrades at bottlenecks in Panmure and Pakuranga, and new cycling and walking infrastructure.

The Panmure to Pakuranga projects include:

  • Replacing Panmure roundabout with an intersection with traffic lights and more direct pedestrian crossings
  • Panmure to Pakuranga busway on lanes separate to traffic congestion
  • Panmure to Pakuranga shared cycle/foot path separate to traffic
  • Direct connection from Pakuranga Rd to Pakuranga Highway via Reeves Rd
  • Pakuranga bus station
  • Second Panmure Bridge for busway and shared path.

Read more about the AMETI project

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Source: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/funding-approved-to-design-new-busway/

 

Good to see these projects advance bit by bit.

 

National’s Road to Redemption

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Long, slow and painful but can be done

 

Disclaimer: I am a member of the National Party and have been since 2003.

 

And so on the back of the Prime Minister’s disastrous interview on Radio NZ this morning (Listen to the full interview with John Key on Morning Report) (also see my Muldoon quip below) which got even worse after contradicting claims some 90mins later on TVNZ one would think how National would up right itself and get going again. Oh John Key insinuating the All Blacks would look at the Wallabies Game Plan (we have the next Bledisole Match at Eden Park this weekend) if the coach left it on the table is rather off-key!

 

The situation we have in relation to the Colmar Brunton poll shows the following (which is of high note):

  1. 12% said they are more likely to vote in this years election (so we could see an increased voter turn out from the predicted 74%)
  2. 4% said the Hager revelations would be giving National a more positive outlook
  3. 9% said the Hager revelations would give National a more negative outlook

Now an increased voter turnout is more likely to hurt National and benefit the Centre Left in any means. But a net 5% negative swing against National (especially if this translates out on election day) is fatal to the Party wanting its third term. I have theorised that even a negative 2% swing against National (so minus the revelations) would be harmful especially if the Conservatives get around 4% and not into Parliament (so that 4% is a wasted vote that could have gone to National).

It is yet to be seen if the negative 2% or 5% swing will happen, or whether voter turn out gets above the predicted 74%.

 

Now then in light of the Hager revelations and the Prime Minister’s double shocker today the question is can National redeem itself in the eyes of the electorate? The answer is technically yes but some stuff will need to be done including some blood-letting.

Before I go on these are my own thoughts and opinions

Road and Train to redemption

  1. Demote Judith Collins to the back bench if National wins a third term and “retire her” at the 2017 elections. Now this is going to cause a spat and some serious bloodletting in National between the Tea Party faction and the combined Liberal and Conservative factions. However, it should be short, sharp and fast with long damage negligible to the Party in the long-term (post 2017). Once the Tea Party faction has been “retired” from the Party the Liberal and traditional Conservative factions will band together with mops, and buckets full of water and chlorine bleach. to clean up the mess. Sure it will take three years but nothing of great benefit was achieved overnight.
  2. Have the candidates, incumbent MP’s, the Young Nats and Steven Joyce continue running the lines as they are now (whether you agree with them or not). There is a reason behind this I shall explain in a moment
  3. Tell Bill English to open the cheque book and spread some pork around. Everyone loves a bit of pork and National is going to need just a little bit of the wonder stuff to lend some assistance. Now nothing too fancy with the pork and I see National have been busy with the pork spreading in the last few hours as I write this post. It is the pork I will be referring to.
    1. The Urban Cycleways announcement is a nice piece of “pork.” Not as bold as The Greens but remember National are trying to be touted as ‘Fiscal Conservatives’ here
    2. AMETI Stage II (the Bus way from Panmure Interchange (where Stage 1 is) to Pakuranga Town Centre got a $29m boost from NZTA and Auckland Transport to advance design concepts for the bus way. Now I was talking on Twitter today about AMETI Stages One and Two stalling and National needing to give it a tickle. Well National just did with Stage II
    3. Continue to play up the significance of the Southern Motorway upgrade which is well received in Southern Auckland. The BCR alone was going above 4 (think it was 6.3 from memory) so it is deemed a worthy investment on the BCR side alone. Now I know I have sent an email on the bus lanes for the Takanini Interchange but for the moment this is about National not me
    4. DO NOT fast track the City Rail Link any earlier than 2017. Council has not got itself sorted (recent blog posts picked that up) and the recent research paper commissioned by the Ministry of Transport (that I am covering in a series) also raises some issues with the Auckland Plan (which influences the CRL). From my own analysis (as a Geographer) I would review the Auckland Plan with a fine tooth comb before advancing the City Rail Link around the 2017/18 date. However, if National wants to play the Fiscal Muppetry card and bring the CRL forward to immediate then they might as well do the full works and build both the North Shore Line and Airport Line at the same time.
    5. Upgrade a rail line whether it be the North Auckland Line to Northland or the East Main Trunk Line from Port of Tauranga to Hamilton. Quick win here and will keep businesses and electorates happy
  4. Find a better Media Trainer for the PM NOW
  5. C&R need a full gut out and rebuilt if it either wants to contest Auckland Council elections properly again (most likely 2019 at this rate). The Hager revelations are too damaging on Guilty by Association charges at the minimum.
  6. Most of all stay on message

 

So the question is why the above especially in relation to bullet points two and three?

First of all bullet point two is for keeping Party Members and traditional voters from swinging. Remember we have a net 5% negative swing potential already and we don’t need traditional supporters or Party Members going for a swing because they are seriously pissed off with this entire affair (and believe me they are pissed off). So what Joyce and co are doing is soothing the traditionalists which is needed for if they bail well yeah we don’t need a repeat of Labour’s factionalisation.

Bullet point three is about the Pork. At the end of the day we all like the Pork when sprinkled our way. Now overdoing the pork will blow out of the water National’s fiscal conservative mantra that Bill English has nurtured (whether it be reality or perception). Overdoing the pork would also seem overtly cynical in vote-buying. But just a wee bit of pork there and there (the $212m regional roads package was an example of NOT HOW to do the pork)  would keep the traditional voters happy as well as the swinging voters as well. It would go some distance in negating that 5% negative swing that is threatening at the moment.

 

Now this is not a comprehensive list and most likely that I have mentioned it someone in the opposition would negate it 😛

But at the end of the day National does not need another performance like it received this morning from the PM. Performances it does need to receive were like universal reception on the Urban Cycleways policy announcement. Sure not as far as some would like but most were pretty happy that it is something (of worth).

Thoughts and comments are welcome. Trolls are not.

 

That Colmar Brunton poll