Year: 2024

The mystery of Canterbury’s “record” transport investment

This is a guest post from Robert Fletcher It appears that the government’s claim “record” transport investment into Canterbury through the 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) is false. Like many Cantabrians I was somewhat let down by the recent 2024-27 National Land Transport Plan. It continued the trend of Canterbury getting back lower proportion of investment than it … Continue reading The mystery of Canterbury’s “record” transport investment →

Getting better decision-making

A lot of bad decisions get made in transport. Recent examples include the speed limit increases that will soon be rolled out across our neighbourhoods, the blanket ban on speed bumps, and the decision to stop funding cycleways. Why? Every situation has its nuances but, from 20 years of observing elected members making bad transport … Continue reading Getting better decision-making →

2023 Census Results 1/3

Stats NZ released a big bunch of the detailed results form the 2023 census a few weeks ago. They've released it all via a new tool, the Aotearoa Data Explorer. Sounds great but for me it was impossible to use. They've built it so that instead of spitting out excel files as they've done for … Continue reading 2023 Census Results 1/3 →

Black Pearl – the new Diamond Harbour Ferry 

This is a guest post from Tim Frank If you’ve used the ferry between Lyttelton and Diamond Harbour recently, you will have noticed that there’s now a brand new ferry operating across the harbour. The Black Pearl was built locally by Icon Custom Boats in Rangiora and entered service in September 2024. It seems there … Continue reading Black Pearl – the new Diamond Harbour Ferry  →

Credit where credit’s due

Local government can sometimes become a bit of a punching bag for dissatisfied residents, but when they get it right - man it's a beautiful thing. For seven years I've been biking through this path with my kids to and from school. And for seven years these barriers have frustrated us. I don't know why … Continue reading Credit where credit’s due →

Suburban Sprawl is Expensive

A few months ago Wellington Regional Council commissioned economics consultancy Sense Partners to produce a study which I found really interesting. The methodology is complicated but the conclusion is simple. Firstly they mapped how much rates each household pays, for different areas in Wellington. Like most of New Zealand, rates in Wellington are charged in … Continue reading Suburban Sprawl is Expensive →

What’s happening in the transport world right now?

I haven't blogged anything for a while, so this is just a quick update on a few things going on in the transport world in Christchurch right now. A lot of these are quite dry and only the transport tragics will know much about them. So for everyone else here’s a quick summary – I’ve … Continue reading What’s happening in the transport world right now? →

Photo Dump

This is a quick dump of transport-related photos I've taken recently around Ōtautahi Christchurch. I'm very excited to see construction start on the Halswell Road bus lanes. And it's not just because of the bus lanes. Several new signalised crossings will mean school kids and Mum's with bubs on their backs won't have to frantically … Continue reading Photo Dump →

Mass Rapid Transit: Harry Potter fantasy or basic common sense?

People seem to get very idealistic very quickly when it comes to transport. Pension fund manager Sam Stubbs wrote an unintentionally ironic post on linked in the other day accusing a rail advocate of being too ideological, before immediately setting off on an intensely ideological rant about how much he hates trains. ... It got … Continue reading Mass Rapid Transit: Harry Potter fantasy or basic common sense? →

The age of Christchurch buses

This is a guest post from Tim Frank Up to 2019 most of the bus services in Christchurch were operated by the Red Bus Company, with Go Bus operating many other routes. Go Bus itself had purchased two other Christchurch bus companies: in 2010 the relatively recently established company Christchurch Bus Services; and in 2013 … Continue reading The age of Christchurch buses →