christchurch
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
There were some articles in the media last week gushing over the increased public transport patronage we’ve been seeing in Christchurch lately (rnz). Ecan also put out a glowing press release. I was cautious of making too much of these numbers. From what I had seen previously, the month on month patronage increases we’ve been … Continue reading Bus Patronage Update
I’ve read National’s pre-election 100-day plan, the coalition agreements with NZ First and Act, and the post-election 100-day plan and tried to infer what they might mean in the transport world here in Christchurch. Climate Change Before we get into that, just a brief statement on climate change. Getting the transition to zero-carbon right has … Continue reading What will the new government mean for transport in Christchurch?
In 2015 Christchurch City Council made the decision to build a citywide network of cycleways, in response to numerous public requests through the post-earthquake "share an idea" conversations. A business case was prepared making the case for investment. This is available online but devishly difficult to find. A fairly detailed summary is attached to the … Continue reading Christchurch Cycleways Business Case Check-in
Hearings for Christchurch City Council's Plan Changes 13 & 14 are starting next week. As such, I thought I'd write a recap of what this is all about. Some of you expert readers out there will know all this already, but I'm pretty a sure a lot of you won't as well so hopefully this … Continue reading Plan Changes 13 & 14
It's been 10 months since my last update on public transport patronage so well overdue for another one. Monthly patronage for the last 8 years looks like this. It dropped off massively through covid and stayed down through the subsequent bus driver shortages. It spent most of last year trying to claw its way back … Continue reading Public Transport Patronage
Last week the Government released their draft GPS. Like a lot of things they do, it has a very boring name but a lot of interesting content, if you can fight your way through the numbers and bureacracy-speak to understand the real-life implications. The GPS is a statement from the Government to Waka Kotahi Transport … Continue reading Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2024-34
Recent news on airport noise contours seem to have flown under the radar, so I thought I'd jot a brief summary of just what's landed recently. The Canterbury Star reported this a couple of weeks ago: Noise contours for Christchurch International Airport are being reviewed, as Environment Canterbury begins work on its regional policy statement. … Continue reading Airport Noise Contours
TALKING TRANSPORT 