christchurch
A few weeks ago I looked at the latest cycling numbers. In short, they are booming. This post is a quick update regarding public transport numbers. In short, they are also booming. The graph below shows the public transport patronage in Greater Christchurch each month over the last decade. Last month had the highest patronage … Continue reading Bus Patronage Update
On Friday I decided to take the kids to watch their first ever rugby game. It was a double-header with the Matatū playing the Manawa at 4pm, then the Crusaders versus Chiefs at 7pm. Our house is very accessible to the stadium by bus. We live about 400m from a Halswell Road bus stop, where … Continue reading Riding the bus with new users
The new coalition government released their draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport on Monday. In my humble opinion, it’s a hot sticky mess. These documents are always confusing, but this one takes it to a whole new level of confusion. For a start it seems to have been typed on a home computer. It … Continue reading Representative of the people? Or pretend transport expert?
This is a guest post from Tim Frank. Over the years there have been frequent calls for subsidising longer-distance regional and inter-regional public transport, whether by bus or train. Last year then opposition transport spokesperson Simeon Brown has repeatedly said that adequate long-distance bus services are already provided commercially. In his opinion there’s no point … Continue reading Long distance passenger transport
I've recently seen a few things which have made me ponder what a more free market transport system would look like. Christchurch Hospital Parking Hospital parking is a perennial favourite topic of conversation at barbecues all over Christchurch. Somewhere in the vicinity of 7,000 people work at the hospital and there's no way that there … Continue reading What would a more free market transport system look like?
In March last year I wrote two posts about the high volumes of bicycles that were being recorded at the time (here and here). The January and February figures were really high, and I pondered at the time if that was a sign the rest of 2023 would be high as well. Now that 2023 … Continue reading 2023 Cycle Counts
I was watching the AM show the other day where they interviewed the Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown. He said something that made me do a double-take: “In Wellington they found that, actually, and Wellington was the only Council to their credit that actually did a benefit cost analysis, and actually found had a negative … Continue reading Are Lower Speed Limits a Good Idea?
At the start of 2023 I wrote a list of the things I was looking forward to seeing in the new year. These included construction of Linwood improvements, Aranui and Gloucester St streets for People, completion of the South Express cycleway, rollout of safer speeds, Halswell Road bus lanes, Brougham Street improvements, and the Intensification … Continue reading A New Year
I just found this diagram that someone else prepared to try and explain to elected members how transport funding in Christchurch works. I won't try to explain it other than to say, I think the main thing it illustrates is how ridiculously complicated it all is. It's no wonder transport projects take so long to … Continue reading Transport Funding Simplified
A recent survey in Wellington (here, paywalled) asked residents how they would spend $100 on Wellington’s transport if they were in charge. The average response from the public was to spend $55 on public transport, $36 on roads, and $9 on footpaths and cycleways. A few people online were wondering how that compared to the … Continue reading How different regions spend their transport budgets
TALKING TRANSPORT 