Tag: Auckland Transport

The Last Year on Auckland’s Transport

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Information Dump on the Previous 12 Months with Auckland‘s Transport

 

Will all the noise at the moment around The Congestion Free Network proposal AND the national transport issues thanks to Campbell Live last night, it might be a good idea to do an information dump on the 2012/2013 (July-June) cycle in regards to Auckland’s transport.

That is all transport in Auckland that is dealt with by Auckland Transport which excludes the State Highway network which is looked after by NZTA. So before anyone decides to have a moan about State Highway’s One and 16 and how much AT sucks there – err go learn something and actually bug NZTA. Auckland Transport have no jurisdiction over our State Highways…

 

The Information Dump

I have four attachments from the June 2013 Auckland Transport Board papers that the AT Board met over yesterday. You can find the agenda and full list of attachments HERE. What is embedded below were the relevant issues around Auckland’s transport especially in light of Campbell Live’s piece last night

Public Transport Monthly Patronage – June 2013

 

Monthly Transport Indicators

 

Auckland Transport Monthly Transport Indicators (Chart Form)

Just a note on two points in that document from previous enquiries I have made on two particular topics:

  • Glenora Road Station: Requires a Business Case Study to be conducted on the station before 2015. If Business Case study is good and Te Mahia Station is closed, then the station will be advocated to be brought into the 2015 Integrated Transport Program. Depending on the 2015 Long Term Plan funding the station could be operational by end of 2018.
  • Manukau South Link: Business Case and Operations Study under way with an estimate report back due late this year. In light of enquiries made AT see no particular reason why the South Link should not be built and operated at a set frequency from Pukekohe to Manukau via that link. In regards to POAL‘s Wiri Facility, no major issue per se but, I did make enquiries about the feasibility of shifting the facility down the road. POAL are looking into this.

 

Statistics Report –  June 2013

 

And so lets see what the 2013-2014 year brings in regards to Auckland’s Transport system and its users.

 

Congestion Free Network Idea Gaining Traction

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Campbell Live Reports

 

And so for an entire 30 minutes last night, New Zealand got a Campbell Live show dedicated to one of the biggest issues in New Zealand. No it is not the GSCB (yawn) and no it was not about taxation (per se). It was about transport – the nation’s artery system for moving goods and people around that is not in a great state right now.

This would be owing to lack of proper investment in our transport network or Government investing in the wrong areas of the transport equation. Yes I am referring to the Holiday Highway up at the north end of Auckland.

 

However, I digress. Take a look at the full Campbell Live segment on the Congestion Free Network idea here:

The Congestion Free Network proposal

 

Might as well add the Manukau South Link to that CFN map. I know ATB does not think much of the particular link in itself however, that piece of infrastructure is a virtual go from Auckland Transport once the business case study is reported back late this year. The only thing that can effectively stop the Link from being built is not Port of Auckland’s Wiri Facility but rather politics in itself from Council or NIMBY‘s.

 

If one is also wondering why Auckland Transport and the Office of the Mayor are rather silent on the Congestion Free Network idea I did go send off some enquiries to both.

Auckland Transport have noted the CFN and will take a look at whether parts could be incorporated into the 2015 Integrated Transport Plan. That draft ITP is not due out for consultation until next year and will be heavily influenced by the Council master budget document – the 2015 Long Term Plan.

I also received a reply in brief from the Mayor’s office as well on the Congestion Free Network. A response is coming on the CFN queries I made under the “media” arm of my consultancy business (TotaRim Consultancy Limited) and should be with me soon. Once I have the response I will run commentary on it.

 

As mentioned in other posts, I support what Transport Blog and Generation Zero are trying to do in bringing Auckland forward into the 21st Century. It is by no means perfect nor pretty but, it is sure as better than what is in the 2012 Integrated Transport Plan.

 

Congestion Free Network = a #movingauckland which = a #BetterAuckland

 

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The Push for a #MovingAuckland

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Generation Zero Writes

 

(In the Herald that is)

And so an “opinion” piece crops up in today’s Herald on Auckland Transport Blog and Generation Zero’s Congestion Free Network alternative – a proposal TotaRim Consultancy Limited supports.

The piece in the Herald today is fitting with ATB due to give a technical presentation to the IPENZ transport chapter at the old Auckland Regional Council (now BECA) building tonight. I have RSVP’ed to the event tonight and will be in attendance observing the presentation. Commentary will follow tomorrow on the presentation.

The following opinion piece written by Generation Zero leader (one of many) Sudhvir Singh opens as follows:

Sudhvir Singh: Generation Zero’s transport vision

Adding more services to public system will encourage Aucklanders to use it, writes Sudhvir Singh.

 

The Auckland city rail loop is one step towards a balanced transport system.

EXPAND
The Auckland city rail loop is one step towards a balanced transport system. Credit: NZ Herald

Auckland’s transport plan provides us with a once-in-a-generation choice between two competing visions: to keep pursuing the failed model of motorway-driven sprawl, or to develop a quality, compact city with a balanced transport system.

 

Generation Zero, with the respected authors of Auckland Transport Blog, have developed a fully costed, visionary alternative to the current $60 billion transport plan: the Congestion Free Network.

 

We propose the staged investment in public transport corridors all over the region, with high frequency all-day services. These corridors would include electrified rail to Mt Roskill and Pukekohe, busways to Silverdale, Kumeu and Botany, rail to the airport, light rail along Dominion Rd, an extensive ferry network and even rail to the North Shore. And all of this at only 40 per cent of the cost of the current transport plan.

 

A full regional cycling network would complement this system, as well as focused upgrades on specific local roads. This would provide Aucklanders with genuine transport choice.

 

By contrast, the council’s current plan to deal with Auckland’s growth over the next 30 years is set out in its Integrated Transport Programme (ITP)…

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You can read the rest of it over at the Herald site.

 

I did though tail off that excerpt with the mention of the current 2012 Integrated Transport Program that I have written off before and even called it a lemon.

Through that short reaction alone you can see why I would support a #MovingAuckland as part of a #BetterAuckland via the Congestion Free Network idea.

Bold, visionary, sorely needed and a gut-ser (in the mountain of NIMBYism from my parents’ generation (the main but not only source) as well as Right Wing sources that will soon come up against the CFN concept) needed for Auckland. I applaud what is being advanced here.

 

I have sort responses from Auckland Transport and the Office of the Mayor on the Congestion Free Network proposal. Responses have come back from Auckland Transport on the CFN idea.

Basically in regards to the city and its transport, any CFN concepts are most likely to be further researched and incorporated (whether in parts or as a whole) into the 2015 Integrated Transport Program. The 2015 ITP draft is due out for release for “our” consideration and consultation this time next year.

As for the Office of the Mayor, a response is on its way.

 

And so like #SuperManukau, the Congestion Free Network idea ( #movingauckland ) works its way slowly through the wheels and cogs of Town Hall.

 

More as it happens

 

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Mill Road – South End Concerns

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Auckland Transport Preparing for Investigation

 

After the recent uproar over the proposal for the Redoubt Road and Mill Road (north end) widening, attention now switches to the southern end of the Mill Road Corridor Project with Auckland Transport preparing an investigation into it.

The Mill Road Corridor Project is essentially creating a 4-lane south-eastern bypass route from Redoubt Road, down Mill Road, through east Papakura before finally connecting at Drury near the motorway interchange. The purpose behind this bypass is to allow for growth in the East Takanini and Papakura area, as well as an alternative to the Southern Motorway between Manukau and Drury (currently congested in peak hour).

Currently owing to the congestion on that section of Southern Motorway, there is a lot of rat running along Redoubt Road and Mill Road as workers head south to head home.

From Papakura Courier

Mill Road decision looms 

DUBBY HENRY

 

Homeowners in “limbo” over the controversial Mill Rd corridor could soon find out if they’re in the firing line.

The contract to investigate the second stage of the highway goes to tender in August.

 

The arterial traffic route is an alternative to State Highway 1 and will link Manukau and Flat Bush to Drury and the southern motorway through Papakura.

Planners will pick up where the Papakura District Council left off its investigations in 2010 but the routes are far from finalised, Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan says.

 

The district council held meetings in 2009 with residents who were worried their houses could be bowled.

But it’s “too early to tell” if those same residents will still be in the path of development, Mr Hannan says.

 

The most likely route will head down Cosgrave Rd before doglegging around Cosgrove School and cutting through farmland to link with Dominion Rd, which is expected to be widened from two lanes to four.

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The corridor is about 1.2km east to where I live and could cause rat running down the main road if people decide to use that as a bypass to Papakura or even the motorway via Elliot Street. The rat running would be a pain for myself trying to get to and from Papakura or the Papakura Train Station (until Glenora was built) so I am keeping an eye on this part of the corridor’s development.

From the Papakura Courier article again

After Dominion Rd the route will cut through Hunua Rd along several possible routes through Drury to get to the southern motorway, meaning residents around Waihoehoe and Fitzgerald roads could also see their properties affected.

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I would see that part as the main feeder for the upcoming Drury South Industrial Park as trucks would use it to gain access to State Highway One

And he reckons it doesn’t make sense to create what will essentially be a second motorway on his street now the Government has announced it is to widen State Highway 1.

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That would be true. Apart from maybe Hunua Road to State Highway One (so the southern most end) the rest of the project should probably be reviewed in light of the Southern Motorway upgrades.

Those upgrades which include the dogged Takanini Interchange should take a lot off pressure off that area. Putting the need for a 4-lane bypass back on the shelf and relieving some concerns for local residents. Sure Mill Road will need kerbing, intersection improvements, cycle lanes and maybe a bus lane or two but; not the full hog as we are seeing now.

The investigation is expected to take two years and there will be “full consultation” with residents, he says.

 

We all hold our collective breaths here folks

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First Critique of a Candidate

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It Pays to do One’s Homework when “One” is Paying Attention

 

And yes I (and others as Twitter lights up) am paying attention at the moment thanks to Orsman’s Tweet yesterday on Palino and Transport.

And so Orsman has written his piece about mayoral candidate John Palino and his transport “ambitions” for Auckland. The back part was good as anyone with half a brain attached would know that the current Integrated Transport Program Mayor Len Brown pigeon holed Auckland and Auckland Transport into is an utter joke. How can someone spend $65 billion with a $12 billion funding gap on transport solutions that make congestion worse in 20-30 years? Not very intelligent stuff here – especially as Car Capital City Detroit just went bankrupt this morning.

As for the rest of the article? Well it might either show bad advice or plain laziness to go suss the situation out proper before dropping a comment in the NZ Herald.

The Herald article is somewhat a scatter gun here so I will try to make top and tail of it best I can.

From the NZ Herald

Candidate favours park-and-ride

By Bernard Orsman @BernardOrsman

John Palino wants to take pressure off transport network and make it easier for commuters to leave cars

Building park-and-ride facilities is the first transport priority for Auckland mayoral candidate John Palino, whose long-term solution is to build satellite centres where people can live, work and play.

 

Speaking ahead of his campaign launch tomorrow, Mr Palino told the Heraldthat Auckland must make the most out of rail electrification, saying park-and-ride facilities are the quickest, cheapest and most practical way to relieve pressure on the city’s transport network.

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As I am debating with ATB’s resident socialist Patrick Reynolds, Park and Rides do have their uses. Typically in the outlying stations such as Papakura and Pukekohe where the stations serve a dispersed rural and urban population. While feeder buses and active transport can serve up to a 1.6km radius from the said station, the Park and Ride can serve a catchment 10x the distance which is what rural based commuters would do. So Park and Rides can have their uses.

As for cheapest method mentioned by Palino – err okay?

From the article again

“Let’s stop trying to get people out of their cars completely when it doesn’t suit them, and just make it easier for them to take public transport.

 

“I will subsidise parking where cost-benefit analysis shows park-and-rides provide a positive impact on the transport network.”

 

He said park-and-ride facilities might have to be multi-storey and cost between $20,000 and $40,000 per space.

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That is some expensive parking. I would be inclined to charge Park and Ride users $2-$4 a day and have an option where you could use your AT-HOP card to “tag in and out” of the PnR.

As for making easier to get to the train station; AT is already ahead in that game as they prepare for the first time feeder buses into major stations and bus interchanges. Some new interchanges like Otahuhu are on the cards as well. So it will be easier to get public transport once the new interchanges and feeders are fully working.

 

“If we are ever to have the city rail project, we’re going to have to get the patronage required to justify spending ratepayer money,” he said.

 

That line suggests someone has not either done their homework or is in fact being lazy in obtaining the required information. How hard is it to send and email, make a phone call and have a coffee with people in the actual know behind the CRL and growth targets – the people being AT themselves. Oh and not reading the Prime Minister’s speech properly does not help either as he did lay down the challenge.

FFS doing my own reading and coffee sessions with those in the know I discovered that to bring the CRL forward all AT really need to do is show strong growth above a set percentage year in year out towards 2020. If Auckland Transport can do this then we might just see the first dirt sod turned around the 2017-18 mark.

And yes AT are putting in some strong initiatives from 2014 to make that growth happen to the point I can display confidence in them doing it.

 

And for this from Palino:

• Long term, build new satellite centres.

That is already on its way via the Unitary Plan through the Metropolitan Centres and twin Satellite Towns of Pukekohe and Warkworth. Although in saying that some polishing needs to occur first there before the Unitary Plan becomes operative.

As for Manukau, advances continued to be made there quietly behind the scenes as Auckland’s first Super Metropolitan Centre is drafted then brought into existence.

 

Coverage of the Local Government Elections 2013 will continue as development happen.

 

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