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 →

Several years ago I read a short article written by urban planner Alain Bertaud. It explains how, one way to help understand how cities function, is to think of them in terms of labour markets. It's a simplification, but I found it helped focus the mind and was quite a neat way to boil down … Continue reading Book Review: Order without Design →

I currently have three primary school aged children who, up till recently lived in a house that was 800m from their school gate. Most days the three kids biked to school, and they could all handle this distance fairly easily. However, we've recently shifted into a bigger house a few streets over and it's now … Continue reading The Rise and Fall of the Home-Made Cargo Bike →

I've seen a bit of discussion recently on how dense we are in Christchurch compared to other cities around Australasia. Density is very easy to measure – it’s simply the population (which we collect every census) divided by the land area (which we know from maps). However it is notoriously easy to misinterpret, because it … Continue reading How Dense are We? →

This is an unashamed bus lane appreciation post. It's a little longer than usual, so make yourself comfortable. A new bus lane has recently opened up on Lincoln Road in Christchurch and I think it’s great. Here’s why. Research on public transport consistently shows that the biggest turn-offs for people are when it is slow … Continue reading Bus Lanes – What are They Good for? →