Month: October 2018

$3 per day – Why is parking at the University of Canterbury so cheap, and why should it matter to everyone else?

This is a guest post from Joseph Corbett-Davies and Patrick Kearney. In July The Spinoff published a piece on parking at the University of Canterbury that caught our attention. The article criticizes the uni’s decision to increase the price of a year-long parking permit to $475 for students and $1000 for staff. This change will … Continue reading $3 per day – Why is parking at the University of Canterbury so cheap, and why should it matter to everyone else? →

CHAT Club – Sara Templeton on Bikelash

Last night we had our second CHAT Club event where Councillor Sara Templeton spoke on the phenonemon known as "Bikelash". This is basically negative public reactions to attempts to install safe cycling infrastructure. We've seen a lot of it here during the Christchurch Major Cycleways construction, and other cities have seen it too (even friendly … Continue reading CHAT Club – Sara Templeton on Bikelash →

Where do we Need Bus Lanes?

I find one of the most frustrating things about catching the bus is getting stuck in traffic. Traffic is frustrating enough in a car - in a bus I find it twice as infuriating due to (a) pulling in and out of bus stops and the fact a bus needs larger gaps than a car … Continue reading Where do we Need Bus Lanes? →

Monday Night CHAT Club

A reminder that this Monday 29th October CHAT Club (Christchurch Housing and Transport) will be meeting up again. Last month we had a lively discussion on the Northern Corridor motorway, with Axel Wilke and former mayor Garry Moore speaking. This month is Biketober, so we are having City Councillor Sara Templeton talking about "bikelash" in … Continue reading Monday Night CHAT Club →

Council Suburban Parking Policy

On Wednesday Christchurch City Council published their draft suburban parking policy for public consultation. Like many Council documents, the title makes it sound quite boring, but the stuff in here does have a big influence on our city so it's worth trying to understand it. I'm going to try do a very brief summary of … Continue reading Council Suburban Parking Policy →

Different Cities, Different Shapes 2/2

I have previously mapped out different cities in Aotearoa and looked at their shapes. One of the things that stood out is that Christchurch is much more compact than other NZ cities. With usable land completely surounding the centre, almost the entire city can fit into a tight circle of 10km radius. Another thing that … Continue reading Different Cities, Different Shapes 2/2 →

Christchurch Transport Update

Lots has happened in transport in Christchurch over the last few weeks so I thought I'd just put together a list in case anyone's missed anything. Lime launched their e-scooter share scheme. They placed 400 dockless e-scooters all around Christchurch (and some in Auckland too). All you need is a smartphone with the app installed … Continue reading Christchurch Transport Update →

How Far am I from Public Transport?

Update: Some errors in the map below were corrected 9/11/2018 I've previously posted articles on what areas of the city can get to the CBD in half an hour combined walking, waiting and bussing time. One assumption implicit in this was that people are happy walking for quite long distances in some cases. In reality … Continue reading How Far am I from Public Transport? →

Christchurch’s Response to Climate Change

Yesterday the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published their latest take on how Planet Earth is looking. To anyone who cares about what the planet will be like in a few years, it's scary reading. It's quite long and technical, but fortunately one of the lead authors, Associate Professor Bronwyn Hayward, is based … Continue reading Christchurch’s Response to Climate Change →

Cars paying for the space they consume can fix Christchurch’s motorway woes

This post first appeared on Brendon Harre's blog and is republished with his permission. Christchurch residents need to ask for new pricing tools and new transport projects to prevent repeating Auckland’s transport mistakes. A meeting discussing the history and impact of Christchurch’s northern arterial motorway was organised by a recently formed voluntary group -the CHAT … Continue reading Cars paying for the space they consume can fix Christchurch’s motorway woes →