This will be due for consultation from June 19 Auckland Transport through the Council Transport Committee have released the “Auckland‘s New Network for Public Transport – Southern Network for … Continue reading Proposed Public Transport Network – Southern Auckland
I noticed this morning (well actually yesterday) that the Council Strategy and Finance Committee approved on a vote of 10-6 to give $3m of our ratepayer’s money to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell so it can get an “upgrade.”
This is while Auckland Transport struggles to find $27m for a grade separation of the Walters Road rail crossing in Takanini and most likely the same amount for grade separating the Morningside Drive rail crossing that nearly killed a woman in a wheelchair earlier this year.
So would the councillors like to explain their logic in supporting $3m to the second biggest church in NZ (the biggest being the Catholic Church) that is exempt from most of our tax and human rights laws yet not give money to a death trap that nearly killed someone in Morningside where they had a human right for authorities to maintain a public crossing in such a way that the accident should have never happened.
And yes I know the crossing has Kiwi Rail responsibility to it as well but it is a shared responsibility with Auckland Transport thus Auckland Council. After the incident at Morningside, the council should have either stumped up the cash entirely or loaned Kiwi Rail a proportion of the money needed to remove the that death trap through a grade separation. But no it goes through the bureaucracy again and again and again and won’t be done for at least five years.
Yet at a drop of the hat Council approves money for a church (where we are meant to exercise absolute separation from Church and State) on the grounds of community facilities needs. Umm if it is for community facilities how about than dumping the money to Local Boards so they can maintain their own community facilities if the money won’t be going elsewhere.
Shame on the every single councillor who voted in giving money for the church while we have a live death trap still floating around (and a few more entering the category as we move to electrification and more frequent trains).
Shows where some have their priorities that need some readjusting in this upcoming election.
We have heard much about Auckland Transport cracking down on Fare Evasion on our rail system, with Veolia Ticket Inspectors hard out on the trail trying to enforce what can be only described as a hopeless situation. Hopeless because in my opinion Auckland Transport is inducing actual Fare Evasion due to it’s beyond lacklustre technical support systems for both AT-HOP and the Rail Ticket Machines.
This example in Papatoetoe today which I hear (the example) is quite common through feedback via Facebook and emails.
I caught the train from Papatoetoe and headed in to Britomart, repeating the exercise for the trip home. I have an AT-HOP card so I tag on and off and will top up either at home or a rail ticket machine if possible.
While waiting for the train at Papatoetoe I noticed people could not use any cash (even correct change) to get a paper ticket to head into town. The machine had no change and the coin slot was jammed meaning unless you had EFTPOS like I did (I topped up on the machine) you were pretty well stuffed in getting a ticket.
If you were getting off at Britomart or Newmarket you could still pay your fare, get off anywhere else and hello no ticket – a freebie for you.
So I sent a tweet to Auckland Transport alerting them to the machine basically down:
@AklTransport Rail ticket machine @ papatoetoe not accepting cash at all even correct change
That was sent about 10:10am today
I get back to Papatoetoe around 3:15pm today and the machine was still with no change and not taking coins. And no reply from AT either…
Come on Auckland Transport – where is your support services to keep these machines fully functional so good citizens can get their tickets? FIVE HOURS and no technician when the support for an “urgent” problem such as this is meant to be TWO HOURS in turn around (getting it fixed)!
Knowing my luck and I should go check it tomorrow the machine will still be down at 9:30am tomorrow morning after the morning peak!
So fare evasion? Yep – induced by Auckland Transport rather than the rail patrons themselves due to lack tech support services on the rail ticket machines.
Do people out there know of any other rail ticket machines constantly down and if so how long before they are back up again.
Leave your comments below (AT do keep an eye on this)…
Free Station? No Auckland Transport decides to go screw the scrum I noticed Papakura Courier’s Dubby Henry and Papakura Local Board member Brent Catchpole were around the Walters Road rail-crossing … Continue reading Auckland Transport Screws South Auckland (Again?)
Finally after 28 days (I was in Australia for part of the Unitary Plan feedback process) my submission to the first part of the Unitary Plan is in with Council.
You can see the feedback below which still only covered a select area of the UP. I have filed different submissions at different stages however on other aspects of the Unitary Plan including:
I must apologies in advance in regards to my submission. As I imported blog posts from here into the submission, some ease of reading aspects might have been lost. All commentary on the Unitary Plan can be found here: https://voakl.net/category/planning/urban-planning-and-design/unitary-plan/
Unitary Plan coverage will continue although at a lesser pace until the next round begins – most likely notification later this year.
But other areas requiring commentary have come up such as Port of Auckland, my favourite – Auckland Transport, and now the elections.
A massive thank you to my readers throughout the Unitary Plan process. The UP has not been easy nor without its controversies. But pressure will continue Council as the UP and Rural Urban Boundary go through their next phases.
Talking Auckland: Blog of TotaRim Consultancy Limited
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Bringing Well Managed Progress to Auckland and The Unitary Plan
Auckland: 2013 – YOUR CITY, YOUR CALL
Caught this today in the Manukau Courier. Rather interesting that they bring this up today of all days. Ah well lets take a look:
Wiri train tracks block access
Creating a southern connection between the Manukau Train Station and the main trunk line could be more difficult than first thought.
Local boards throughout the south have called for the link so passengers can travel from Manukau to Papakura and Pukekohe directly.
Passengers wanting to head south from Manukau now have to transfer at Papatoetoe.
But a Kiwirail spokeswoman says if the connection gets approval it would need to cross tracks that lead to Ports of Auckland’s inland port at Wiri.
That would require reconstruction of those tracks.
“This part of the rail corridor has quite complex track layouts because of the Manukau branch junction, the port facility and the EMU [Electric Multiple Units] depot,” she says.
A Ports of Auckland spokesman didn’t want to comment on how ripping up its tracks could affect operations at the port because no-one had put forward an official proposal to do the work.
But Manurewa Local Board chairwoman Angela Dalton says linking the Manukau station with the main trunk line made more sense than other transport projects being pushed.
“It doesn’t make sense to me, pouring money into the city rail link when we need to get things moving out here.
“We need to get cars off the streets and the trains connecting effectively.”
Auckland Transport‘s main priority at the Manukau line is double-tracking it so services can run every 10 minutes to and from Britomart, council documents show.
It’s also assessing the viability of a link between the two lines as part of its rail development plan.
The Manukau South (Rail) Link is a project that I have been following closely since I first raised the point that a Electrification Mast would be in the road of the south link early last year. It is a project that I still follow closely while Auckland Transport develop a case study for this link – that south so desperately need!
In saying that though has anyone actually approached Port of Auckland and had a decent conversation with them on how the South Link might work. Work as in POAL has their Wiri Inland Port that covers part of the South Link path. And whether POAL should move their Wiri facility 900 metres down the road where this is a mothballed siding and massive block of land sitting vacant.
Port of Auckland I think we of the South need to have a chat over coffee and hot scones. What do you think?
Auckland Transport has sent out a flyer alerting passengers of rail buses replaces rail services south of Otahuhu Station every Sunday to Thursday from now until to further notice. This allows Kiwi Rail continue much-needed electrification works that have fallen behind.
Here is the timetable
Lets see if Kiwi Rail can get the work done. Be a bit of a bugger if the Onehunga and Western Lines were complete but no wires in operation to the EMU depot further south in Wiri. Ooops
Well I managed to personally stave off a fare rise for AT-HOP care users in September last year (Fare Increase Ctd) for rail users. However, this time no such luck – you are going to be lugged with it this time around.
From the NZ Herald this morning after AT announced it last yesterday
Students bear the brunt of Auckland public transport fare rises
Auckland Transport has been accused of targeting students with public transport fare rises that will also affect thousands of Hop and multi-trip ticket buyers.
Auckland Transport – which waited until late yesterday to announce changes approved by its board two months ago – will lift cash fares for tertiary students by between 7c and 40c a trip on June 3.
Adults who use Hop cards on trains or 10-trip tickets on buses also face fare rises of 2c to 22c a ride.
Ten-trip tickets on inner harbour ferry trips such as from Devonport, Bayswater and Birkenhead to the city will also rise by up to $2, but water transport will become considerably cheaper for Hop card users.
A single trip fare for a Hop card user from Devonport to the city will fall from $5.40c to $4.10c compared with an unchanged cash price of $6, but ten-trip tickets will rise to $41.
That is to align Hop cards with multi-trip tickets, which Auckland Transport ultimately wants to scrap in favour of seamless travel across ferries, trains and buses.
Public transport operations manager Mark Lambert said close to 50,000 public transport users could be affected. The changes were required before Hop cards were rolled out to the city’s buses between June 23 and November, he said.
Auckland Council transport chairman Mike Lee asked why fares could not be aligned downward, particularly on trains.
“It seems the most loyal passengers are being targeted – students and those taking multiple trips.”
Auckland had the highest public transport fares of any Australasian city and students were “a key part of our market”, he said.
Mr Lambert said an increase in the student discount from 20 per cent to 40 per cent in 2008 proved highly effective in lifting demand and getting cars off the road, but there was a limit to ratepayer subsidies.
Auckland University Students’ Association president Daniel Haines said the fare rises appeared aimed at those who could least afford to pre-load Hop cards for multiple trips.
He said transport was the second highest cost facing students, after accommodation, and the increases would hit those who faced long trips from suburbs offering lower rents.
• For detailed information about fare changes, visit maxx.co.nz.
I remember fighting tooth and nail to retain the existing fares seen here below rather than having AT-HOP users pay a technical rise as AT were to flat line the discount rates at 10% right across the board
| Adult | Child/Accessible | Tertiary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash fare | HOP fare | You Save! | Cash fare | HOP fare | You Save! | Cash fare | HOP fare | You Save! | |
| 1 stage | $1.90 | $1.60 | 16% | $1.10 | $0.90 | 18% | $1.90 | $1.10 | 42% |
| 2 stage | $3.40 | $3.00 | 12% | $2.00 | $1.70 | 15% | $3.40 | $2.10 | 38% |
| 3 stage | $4.50 | $4.05 | 10% | $2.60 | $2.29 | 12% | $4.50 | $2.79 | 38% |
| 4 stage | $5.60 | $5.04 | 10% | $3.40 | $3.00 | 12% | $5.60 | $3.47 | 38% |
| 5 stage | $6.80 | $6.00 | 12% | $4.00 | $3.55 | 11% | $6.80 | $4.21 | 38% |
| 6 stage | $7.90 | $6.90 | 13% | $4.50 | $4.05 | 10% | $7.90 | $4.75 | 40% |
| 7 stage | $9.00 | $8.00 | 11% | $5.30 | $4.75 | 10% | $9.00 | $5.58 | 38% |
| 8 stage | $10.30 | $9.05 | 12% | $6.10 | $5.44 | 11% | $10.30 | $6.38 | 38% |
I believe the new fare guide is not out but reading the material from AT properly you have:
So rather than targeting the cash users and hiking the cash fares (if the actual fares did need to go up in the first place) which would move people over to AT-HOP, Auckland Transport go and hit “the little guy” who is already on AT-HOP. Ouch and nasty!
The AT-HOP fare rise also seems to be the exact opposite of the Deloitte HOP review would suggest
One wonders what the thinking was behind the latest move?
I have been meaning to get this piece up onto the blog for a while about the Karaka Collective presentation recently. I have not got the Physical Powerpoint presentation on me but, will chase it down from the Collective and upload it to the blog ASAP.
On May 13 at Karaka Hall, Peter Fuller representing the Karaka Collective gave a presentation of the Collective’s “submission” and vision for Karaka West and Karaka North. This also included the Weymouth-Karaka Bridge which seems to be causing enough upset from both sides of the harbour.
I have been asked for comments on the meeting as I was there. These are my thoughts and some responses to queries I got asked which covered both the physical presentation and the subject matter at hand:
The meeting in itself was civil and hats off to residents knowing the issue is both passionate and a sore issue (for both Karaka and Weymouth).
For the presentation it was too long and should have only be at maximum 10 minutes for the matter presented. Anything beyond a 20 minute mark in presentations and you lose the audience. I nodded off at the 20 minute mark to which I decided to go over and start talking to Councillors Fletcher and Penrose on the matter at hand.
I would have recommended to follow what is called a split presentation when giving a talk on material that can be quite heavy or quite extensive.
The split presentation format I used for the Auckland Plan Committee last week in my Manukau Presentation ( https://voakl.net/2013/05/15/the-manukau-presentation/ ) had both a short power point presentation covering the main points and a “booklet” with all the information at hand.
Both the presentation and the booklet is sent to the committee in advance for advanced reading leaving me to go over briefly the main points of my argument. The committee with the booklet in hand then asks questions they might have. It was a useful technique and allowed maximum time for the main purpose; questions or what I like to call dialogue if executed properly.
Peter Fuller should have split the presentation with both a short 10 minute brief covering the main points, followed by a booklet with all the finer details for further reading – and had it released a week in advance. Bloggers like myself would have picked up on this and both republished the information and ran commentary on it.
Although in saying that there is a risk of preempting the Collective’s presentation of information and allowing the residents to form questions before hand. Or allow bloggers like myself to take control of a debate and frame the argument. Risks but risks the Collective will have to take if they want their plan to progress. Also something a particular Herald journalist and elected representatives on the North Shore find out too when they get debunked for utter misrepresentation of information. So the remedy is simple; tell the truth from the beginning and you have nothing to fear. Tell a porker and don’t expect much forgiveness from people nor bloggers in return. The Collective were being honest and their ambitions known.
While the material in Fuller’s presentation was too long and too heavy with the presentation too full of planning and officialdom jargon. It could also be taken that the information presented in a way that was talking down to everyone in the room. So a patronising effect that will chill residents and elected representatives
As for the questions they were pretty good, as for the answers they were not. Fuller was okay with the answering but the other two that were land owners I had real issue with. Their answers were put in a way of both putting down the room and issuing a challenge to the room to “meet them” in the Environment Court which is likely where this issue will end up. I have taken note from Brigid her comment which was (it is public):
“I was at that meeting and there seemed to be a difference between how Bruce Wallace envisioned a Weymouth-Karaka link and what Peter Fuller showed in his presentation. Bruce Wallace seemed to be wanting de facto motorway that would get him quicker to and from the airport and lower congestion on SH1 so he could get to work in under 20mins. However Don McKenzie the traffic expert on the Collective team said any Weymouth-Karaka link would not lessen congestion. And Peter Fuller spoke of a 60-80k Te Irirangi Drive/Te Rakau Drive equivalent. ”
This folks is what you call an effective “Buggers Muddle” – that is a pile of different answers that basically contradict each other to the point oxymoron becomes the norm. Three different answers that would have three very different consequences on that particular bridge. Not entirely confidence material nor helpful for both Auckland Transport and NZTA if they ever decided to run with the project. So lets look at the points individually:
Umm no and won’t happen. Auckland Transport and NZTA would have to overcome hell and high water from Southern Auckland to get a de-facto motorway put in and the bridge built. The Benefit Cost Ratio would be below 1.0 owing to the massive environment (physical and social) consequences (mainly negative) to the entire area of the de-facto motorway proposal. The “motorway” would not lower the congestion on State Highway One especially when the Greenfield areas get built up. The only way to bet congestion on State Highway One is to 6-lane the motorway all the way to Drury interchange, get the rail service more effective and efficient, and development some large employment centres close to home (Manukau, Wiri and Drury). If one wants a quick trip to the airport then may I suggest throwing your support and money behind the Airport Line from Manukau Station to the airport. Coupled with the EMU’s you could be there in well 30 minutes without the traffic crap on the roads…
Excuse the language but No Crap Sherlock. It will not lessen congestion any where. All that bridge will do is cause rat running through an established community causing misery and literal hell. Yes I see Weymouth has the strip to allow a 4-lane road but it is now too late for the road. That road and bridge should of been built 50 years ago to 4-lane specifications before Weymouth took firm settlement. The settlement could of then be built around the road and bridge rather than the community now being built around the road. As I said the only way to lessen congestion is what I mentioned above. Through in a proper Regional Public Transport Plan and I would say you could remove all together 33% of the cars off the road at a minimum while still allowing transit choice
So an expressway option. Last I looked that the communities around Te Irirangi Drive were built in a way that they were mitigated from the most serious aspects of that road. That is the road was built around the community with green shelter belts and lane ways to access the houses (that is no house has a direct driveway access to Te Irirgani Drive in the new sections of that road). The older sections at the Manukau end of the road and along Te Rakau Drive which do have direct driveway access to the road show the implications of planning not done properly. What we see in the older sections of Te Irirangi Drive with direct driveway access rather than green belts and lane ways off the road is what we would get in Weymouth. Not fun for the residents nor particular safe for an 80km expressway either… It is of note that the Manukau end of Te Irirangi is at 60km/h while the new Botany sections are at 80km/h. That 80km/h section has the greenbelt and lane ways shielding the houses from the road. I wonder if the Collective would be willing to stump the cash up to retrofit Weymouth Road with those lane way shields if they want their bridge built. Probably not, so I wouldn’t want a 80km/h expressway either without the proper mitigation in position FIRST.
In regards to Bruce Wallace (seem to remember him rather well for some odd reason), I don’t particularly care if one has had issues with the old Councils. Most of us would have had crap from the legacy Councils so we know what it is like (Manukau Station being a pet peeve for me with the old Manukau City Council that I am still trying to fix up with the current Council). But what I do care is them short circuiting the RUB process and apparently trying to buy their way into outcomes favouring them via the Unitary Plan.
I did ask the final question for the night regards to the Collective supporting existing and new infrastructure projects before backing the Weymouth Bridge. Those projects include Glenora Road Station, Spartan Road Station, the Manukau Rail South Link, the RPTP with the bus routes and so on. While they said they would and might have done so (meaning I need to dig up submissions), I highly doubt it unless they prove me wrong over the next 7 years.
In saying that I am working on my submission to stave off that bridge as long as possible through a formation of a new regional park on the Karaka side. This has been mentioned before in this blog before
The submission will go up on my blog as soon as its finished.
Otherwise the meeting was handled well by the residents from a group short circuiting the processes the rest of us have to go through via claiming it is for the good of Auckland.
Those were my thoughts in the presentation. As I point out to the Collective, those ARE MY THOUGHTS AND INTERPRETATIONS of that presentation. If the Collective differs to my interpretations they are free to share a guest post – that is less than 2500 words and in plain English. Graphics help and can be facilitated easy into the blog.
In the mean time people do not forget your submission to the Unitary Plan in before May 31 – 5pm
I caught this piece this morning (while debunking Orsman) from Dr Levy – head of Auckland Transport
Lester Levy: Restoring faith in Auckland’s transport system
Commuters can be assured public transport will be sorted and the service will be one everyone enjoys using.
EXPANDFar too many Aucklanders have lost faith that there is an alternative to their private car. Photo / Brett PhibbsWhen it comes to transport in Auckland the stakeholders are as many and varied as are the differing and divergent views.
I guess it has always been like this and over many decades ad hoc decisions, decisions half-made, questionable decisions and decisions deferred or never made have severely limited options.
Transport solutions in Auckland are well behind where they should be, but not where we have to stay.
I have been chairman of Auckland Transport for six months. What do I see? Public transport in Auckland is just not yet good enough. The trains do not run frequently enough and frequently they do not run on time. The bus real-time information does not seem real to many, because it is not, a lot of the time.
Peak times on trains and buses are often very crowded and it just seems like there are not enough of them – that is because often there are not. The new AT Hop card has had some issues – these have been very frustrating for passengers
…
You can read the rest over at the Herald site
I have made mention before of Dr Levy’s mission and drive for both Auckland Transport and Auckland’s Transport here at the blog:
While I can be harsh upon Auckland Transport (AT-HOP, Snapper and the Family Pass being the classics), in the same regard I can praise and work alongside them as well (The Regional Public Transport Plan which is back for consultation). Dr Levy though is right through Auckland losing faith in its public transport (as I covered with the fall off in patronage statistics with rail) and even AT itself. I do not particularly envy Dr Levy’s formidable task in turning AT and the public transport system around but I do praise him to take the task head and hands on. Having seen Dr Levy turn around Auckland Hospital I can have faith he can do it again with Auckland Transport 🙂
In saying that though while I have faith in Dr Levy, I am apprehensive about the Auckland Transport Executive Team headed by CEO David Warburton. I am allowed to feel apprehensive as a human is I have concerns from the executive team not pulling its weight enough to get the changes we need through. The disdain executive members can have for the Auckland Council Transport Committee don’t help me allay that apprehension and I wonder if all the changes required can be pulled off by 2020-2025.
The apprehension against the executive is my private ponderings although I have mentioned them here as I know they will pick up on this.
If the RPTP can be pulled off right (so far it has (and I have been involved in it through submissions and hearings) then that should be a big boost for AT and the transport system in Auckland. In saying that I better brush up and prepare my submission for the RPTP southern sector feedback AT is asking after. Need to get those bus routes right you know 😉
Talking Southern Auckland 