With all the talk about light rail in Auckland there’s been a bit of tea-break talk down here about how it might work in Christchurch. Down here, light rail to the airport would  also mean light rail to the university, teacher’s college, the city’s largest shopping mall, several large schools, Hagley Park, Cricket Oval and … Continue reading How Far in Half an Hour – with Light Rail? →

In my previous post I showed maps demonstrating how we could get an additional 50,000  people to be within a half hour bus ride of the CBD, if only bus frequencies and speeds were improved. This map summarises my previous post, showing the areas that could be brought within a half hour commute of the … Continue reading How Far in Half an Hour – with Heavy Rail? →

For those who don’t know, public transport in Christchurch is in a bad way. And I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about how to fix it. Pre-earthquake Christchurch enjoyed a successful bus system, with reasonably high public transport patronage which was growing every year. Then in 2011 the earthquakes happened and that all … Continue reading How Far in Half an Hour? →

My colleague came back from a nationwide walking and cycling conference a few weeks back and said something I found intriguing. He was describing a talk someone gave where they said something to the effect of "we're building a lot of cycling infrastructure, but we do need to keep in mind that cycling infrastructure is … Continue reading Is Cycling just for Rich People? →

Christchurch is a city that polarises people. As a youth shifting here to attend university, I was mocked by my peers for going somewhere they all saw as "flat and boring", while they were all off to dive headfirst into the legendary North Dunedin ghettoes. Nearly 15 years later and I'm still here - I've … Continue reading Birth of a Blog →