christchurch
In March last year I wrote two posts about the high volumes of bicycles that were being recorded at the time (here and here). The January and February figures were really high, and I pondered at the time if that was a sign the rest of 2023 would be high as well. Now that 2023 … Continue reading 2023 Cycle Counts
I was watching the AM show the other day where they interviewed the Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown. He said something that made me do a double-take: “In Wellington they found that, actually, and Wellington was the only Council to their credit that actually did a benefit cost analysis, and actually found had a negative … Continue reading Are Lower Speed Limits a Good Idea?
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
TALKING TRANSPORT 