What the opposition had to say + the Auditor General’s Opinion Yesterday I ran the Council presser and a couple of Main Stream Media articles on the Governing Body … Continue reading And From The Opposition
Category: Uncategorized
Bus Livery – GO!
Auckland Transport Debut’s the new Bus Livery
Yesterday in rather windy conditions Auckland Transport launched the new public transport livery we will be seeing across the buses through out Auckland.
From Auckland Transport
AT Metro brand makes its debut
16/12/2014 02:14 p.m.
Auckland Transport has unveiled its new look for public transport in the city.
At a ceremony in Auckland the Deputy Mayor, Penny Hulse and Auckland Transport Chairman Dr Lester Levy launched the AT Metrobrand which will be phased in over three years, starting with LINK services and the Northern Express.
The single brand identity will be differentiated by colour for different types of services and will gradually be applied to buses, trains and ferries.
Auckland Transport’s General Manager Marketing and Customer Experience Mike Loftus says a single identity will give Aucklanders and visitors a clearer understanding of what public transport is on offer, and how buses, trains and ferries serve different areas.
“Most metropolitan cities have a single brand network that is easy to recognise and enables clear, consistent communication with customers.”
“Currently in Auckland there is no single identity, we have a variety of brands and looks. Customers relate to buses by the operator name rather than the wider public transport network”.
Auckland Transport’s Group Manager Public Transport Mark Lambert says having a single public transport network will ultimately build public confidence in the developing and improving PT system. “Knowing that all the services are integrated and part of the same system will help grow patronage”.
The implementation of the livery is already underway and budgeted for the electric trains.
Costs for the bus fleet will be kept to a minimum through:
- retention of ocean blue for Rapid Network services (Northern Express is already this colour).
- retention of red, green, orange and light blue for existing targeted services of the City LINK, Inner LINK, Outer LINK and Airbus.
- the rest of the bus fleet to be transitioned as part of new contracts and costs incurred through new contract rates.
Mr Lambert says Auckland’s bus operators are aware of the changes and are working with Auckland Transport.
The Auckland Plan looks to double public transport trips from 70 million in 2012 to 140 million in 2022. The Auckland Plan’s priorities for Auckland’s transport system include “a single system transport network approach that manages current congestion problems and accommodates future business population growth to encourage a shift toward public transport.”
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Source: https://at.govt.nz/about-us/news-events/at-metro-brand-makes-its-debut/
Costs of the rebrand noted in red above. And I believe the yellow on the front of the buses is to act as a safety feature in being bright and attention catching before someone asks.
So When Will the Police Apologise For This Utter Failing?
Britomart Chaos Unacceptable
By now you would have seen the reports doing the rounds of a brawl breaking out at Britomart Station on Saturday night after the Christmas in the Park, and Raggamuffin events were concluded.
You can see the Herald report here:
Marauding youths shut down Britomart station
By Sam Boyer, Mathew Dearnaley 6:10 PM Sunday Dec 14, 2014
Dozens of marauding youths brought Auckland trains to a halt last night as hundreds of people converged on Britomart to get home after Christmas in the Park.
Police and security guards closed access to the Super City’s main railway station soon after 11pm after 30 to 40 youths climbed on top of turnstiles and began pushing and shoving each other on the platforms.
A video on Facebook captured some of their behaviour, showing them taunting and making aggressive gestures to the guards.
A heavy sign was thrown across the turnstiles at the guards before police arrived to restore order.
…..
Source and full article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11374116
The gates at Britomart themselves were the device as well as the guards and Maori Wardens that kept that brawl from spreading out of control.
But questions of the police need to be asked especially after a video emerged on Facebook showing the brawl going for five long minutes and still no police on the platform level. So to the Commander of Waitemata Police:
- Why were their no police on the main platform level after the events has concluded to act as a visible deterrence
- Why were their no police heavily patrolling outside the Britomart McDonalds where the rolling brawl started to both stop the brawl there and prevent it going down to the main platform levels
- Why after the brawl spread to the Britomart Platform level there was absolutely no police on that platform to break it up. A video clip shows the brawl going for five minutes and no police
- Why was there no squad ready with paddy wagon and dogs ready for instant deployment in such an event
- Why did the intelligence unit not pick up on the volatility of this before it happened or are they to busy pinging journalists critical of the Government?
- Why no arrests
The video is here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=857078164313656&pnref=story
This not the first time the police have failed to respond to such incidents at a pubic transport stop or station.
Our public transport is meant to be safe so people especially families will use it but if the police can not do its job in deterrence and busting of such disturbances it does not give confidence to the rest of the City and tourists when we do hold large events. Furthermore the main platform level is a dangerous place if bad behaviour occurs on that level. Falling onto the tracks sober will hurt as is, falling onto the tracks drunk and no control is not going to be a pretty sight especially if head hits the iron. Also train movements is enough to put things at higher risks of an accident before control manages to bring all such movements to a halt.
I have noted this is not also the first time Christmas in the Park has resulted in drunken behaviour either. That situation faces a very easily solution: either we tell our peers to get themselves back in order or face Council dropping the ban hammer on the event. A pity a few spoil it for the rest so we might be wanting to better self police our peers before an authority does it for us with a blunt instrument…
As a comparison the NRL 9’s earlier this year was a very busy event but no reports of major issues as we saw on Saturday night. So Auckland can get its collective self together…
And so then who will be held to account for this ball dropping?
Internet Mana : the divorce
All I can say some things are best left now to the confines to the (and in this case) the bins of History
So the Internet Mana Party is no more. As 3Newsreports, a letter has been sent to the Electoral Commission to confirm that the relationship has been terminated.
It’s hardly surprising. Given Kim Dotcom’s post-election acceptance that he’d poisoned the public mood against Internet Mana, it was only a matter of time before the Mana Movement and the Internet Party parted ways.
Admittedly, just before I headed to Melbourne last weekend, disappearing off the social media grid and ignoring the existence of news from the homeland, there were strange reports of the Internet Mana Party intending to soldier on through in unity to 2017, of Dotcom intending to continue his role as Internet Party puppet master, and of Dotcom preparing to export his failed Internet Party experiment to the United States.
Nonetheless, Dotcom had previously been bewailing his supposed technical insolvency. Given that the lure of the Internet Party for…
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New Zealand in Mourning as #Fonterra Slashes Payout, Fall of 2.7% GDP
Well that is a triple ouch for our Finance Minister as we go into Christmas.
Looking at stats for Auckland I notice our heavy industry complexes are doing well and continuing to expand especially in metals and heavier manufacturing.
Whether that would be enough to insulate at least Auckland’s economy from the dairy collapse is yet to be seen
Update on my Journo rant
I have to admit that I do share too much. I do. You ask me anything and I just tell you, tell you the answer you wanted to hear. And that is how I got into the massive shit I was and probably still in.
And now, I am still very honest. When I told you, no, I cannot respond to Council matters, I cannot. Apparently many media are aware that the Council does not allow their employees to comment.
So when I said “No sorry, I cannot comment as staff”, it is not conspiracy theory that I’ve been gagged. Or paid. It is the policy. No comments = no comments.
And when I’ve learnt that my manager has been approaches 30 mins before your deadline, after you have approached me and I said no; and again on Sunday morning to say “this is an urgent call”, no it is…
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Feedback Period Extended for Chamberlain Park
Extended until next year
From Albert-Eden Local Board
More time to have your say on Chamberlain Park
Albert-Eden Local Board is in the early stages of developing a masterplan for Chamberlain Park and wants to know what users of the park and local residents think.
The board has extended the survey period, which offers Aucklanders the opportunity to provide input into the early stages of the planning process, until 30 January 2015.
Local board chair Dr Peter Haynes says the board has been overwhelmed by the amount of community interest in the future of Chamberlain Park already, and wants to ensure that all groups have the opportunity to provide input.
“This is the first stage of a significant process for the future of the park and it’s important that we start with a clean slate and consider as many ideas as possible.
“Right now, we are faced with a dilemma – the Albert-Eden area has Auckland’s lowest levels of open space with only 2.8 hectares for every 1000 residents.
“We also have almost one third of the region’s capacity shortfall in sports-field provision – this means that, with no real scope to add or improve more playing fields, many players are missing out.
“Projected population growth, lack of suitable land and funds to buy and develop more parks, and the changing needs of our people demands that we make smart decisions about the future use of places like Chamberlain Park.
“We need additional parks and reserves to allow residents to lead active and healthy lives,” he says.
People can complete the Albert-Eden Local Board’s online survey at shapeauckland.co.nz until 30 January 2015. The survey is a first-look at all of the possibilities for the park, including the adjacent Rawalpindi Reserve and the Western Springs Garden site, and asks people’s views on:
- type of golfing activities – including six, nine, 12 and 18-hole courses, driving ranges, starting-new-at-golf and practice areas
- sporting activities, including cricket, football, multi-use artificial turf, all types of rugby and baseball
- passive recreation like walking, cycling, jogging, dog exercise and picnicking
- play spaces, from playgrounds to skate parks and playing courts
- cultural uses and community-based ecological restoration.
In keeping with exploring all options for the park, the survey asks for the public’s views on housing; however the board itself does not support this as a future possibility for the park.
“No decisions will be made on the future of Chamberlain Park until extensive consultation has been carried out. It will consider the interests of all users of the park and the wider community,” says Dr Haynes.
Dr Haynes points out that studies of golf trends indicate a preference for shorter courses with starting-new-at-golf facilities and driving ranges.
“Shorter courses are increasingly popular overseas, and learn-to-play facilities enhance the chances that we’ll see another Lydia Ko emerge in Auckland.
“The demand and market for golfing provision is changing. This is an opportunity to review facilities in light of current pressures for open space and recreation provision within the inner city.”
Once survey results have been collected, options will be developed for further consultation. This is likely to be later in 2015.
Further Information
On behalf of New Zealand Golf, O’Connor Sinclair prepared National and Auckland Regional Golf Facility Studies (2013). The studies identified the following golf course trends and issues. This summary is derived from: “Auckland Golf Facility Strategy New Zealand Golf”. Findings include:
- Increasing operational costs
- Lack of income diversity: golf courses have traditionally relied upon membership revenue as their main source of income
- Lack of diversity in golf experiences and player pathways: golf facilities are becoming less relevant to their surrounding community and not evolving alongside societal and technological trends or diversifying the golf experience enough to attract new participants
- Oversupply of rounds in Auckland and low utilisation of golf courses across Auckland is low at 23 per cent. There is an oversupply of relatively homogenous golf services and facilities and therefore an oversupply of rounds at these facilities
- Untapped target markets: Golf is currently meeting the needs of a relatively narrow part of the potential market and there is considerable opportunity for participation growth in new market segments.
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A statement from the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union
Originally posted on Imperator Fish:
Embed from Getty Images The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is outraged at the scandalous behaviour of Auckland mayor Len Brown. The people of Auckland deserve…
This is how some journo talk to subjects
A declaration. I don’t hate journalists and many are my friends. Many are decent people with great ethics who can still their job and tell their stories. I have a love-hate relationships with them.
I love those who actually spend time on a decent investigative work. I admire their language abilities and their abilities to keep asking questions. I admire those who can break a story that is both mind blowing and have an important impact.
Then you have those who are lazy and will only copy and paste your media releases. Any PR person out there will tell you they exist. Then you have those who, with their creative writing styles, write stories.
I don’t know if that is actually taught at journalist schools at all, but journalists who couldn’t even be bothered to build a relationship with you, even if it was just to get you to speak…
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Launch of Public Transport Users Association of New Zealand
It will be interesting to note where this goes.
PTUA by the looks of it are focusing in on the end user campaign while other groups have sorted themselves around the planning/engineering systems as a main diet (it does not stop them going into end user consumer systems however).So the question will end up being the partnering up when say a public transport project is on the blocks that would enhance end user experiences.
The Manukau South Link would be a small example.Talking Auckland will be watching closely indeed, especially if the comments from a core Transport Blog writer are anything to go by
I am pleased to be a part of the founding of New Zealand’s newest transport advocacy group, the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA). I was elected Deputy Chair at the Initial General Meeting on 20 November.
The purposes of the PTUA (from its constitution) are to:
- Represent current and future users of public transport in New Zealand
- Be a politically independent and critical voice on public transport issues
- Hold public transport providers to public account; and
- Advocate for better, more efficient public transport on behalf of users
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