Author: chrismorahan

What happens next? Beyond roads in Christchurch.

This article first appeared at blog and is republished with permission. Beyond RoNS One of the key reasons the previous government established the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme was to stimulate New Zealand’s economy by providing a programme of large scale infrastructure projects that would provide employment during construction and, reduce congestion and journey times … Continue reading What happens next? Beyond roads in Christchurch. →

Lincoln Road Bus Lanes Going Ahead

The Lincoln Road bus lanes consultation has closed and Council have published the feedback here. In response they have made some tweaks to the plans and and will now proceed with detailed design and construction,  which is currently expected to start early in the new year (Stuff article here). The project is primarily about allowing … Continue reading Lincoln Road Bus Lanes Going Ahead →

Are Cycleways Really that Controversial?

There's a perception in some circles that the Christchurch cycleways are extremely controversial. Many mainstream media articles that mention them end up attracting screeds of negative comments - examples here and here. But how controversial are the cycleways really? I keep on seeing data that suggests they are really not that controversial for most people. … Continue reading Are Cycleways Really that Controversial? →

What will Replace Oil? Hydrogen or Batteries?

There is an interesting sub-plot going on in the race to replace fossil fueled vehicles with something more environmentally sustainable. This is a summary of the situation as far as I can make it out. It's fairly universally acknowledged now that we need to stop burning fossil fuels. One way of doing this is to … Continue reading What will Replace Oil? Hydrogen or Batteries? →

What’s Happening in the World of Road Pricing?

I've seen quite a bit of stuff popping up over the last few weeks on road pricing, so I thought I'd quickly  summarise what's going on. For almost as long as cars have existed, congestion has existed. And for almost as long as congestion has existed, the concept of road pricing has existed. For decades, … Continue reading What’s Happening in the World of Road Pricing? →

Canterbury Rail and Housing Workshop 4 Results

Thanks to everyone who came to the 4th Canterbury Rail and Housing Workshop last week. We had some good discussion with 30-odd people debating the pros and cons of 6 different options for mass rapid transit in Christchurch. To kick things off Glen presented on some of the similarities and differences between the three main … Continue reading Canterbury Rail and Housing Workshop 4 Results →

Different Cities, Different Shapes 3/2

I've written previously about the similarities and differences in the shapes of the various cities in New Zealand here, here and here. Lately I've been playing around with the 3D visualisation tool in QGIS to see what it can do. First I downloaded the population density by meshblock data from the 2013 census. As I've … Continue reading Different Cities, Different Shapes 3/2 →

Canterbury Passenger Rail Workshop 4

Just a reminder that in one week (Monday 27th May) we are holding our 4th workshop on Canterbury passenger rail. We are getting close to the end now and will be starting to pull together everything we've talked about so far into some possible options, which we'll then explore together. To get your creative juices … Continue reading Canterbury Passenger Rail Workshop 4 →

Competitive Cities: A Decade of Shifting Fortunes

PwC recently released a report called Competitive Cities: A Decade of Shifting Fortunes. This investigated the economic competitiveness of ten New Zealand and Australian cities over the last ten years. They also produced summary documents for each city, including Christchurch. The reports focus on income and living costs, and how to maximise the difference between … Continue reading Competitive Cities: A Decade of Shifting Fortunes →