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Archive for the ‘transport’ Category

Dealing with Death on Our Roads

Posted by Iain Lees-Galloway on February 7th, 2011

I have no desire to be a Law and Order zealot. Garth McVicar I am not. However, the number of constituents who have contacted me recently about our approach to those that cause injury or death on the road has got me thinking.

There is a good reason I’ve been seeing a lot of these cases – there has been a number of totally avoidable deaths on Manawatu roads recently, several involving cyclists.

The thrust of the complaints I’ve received is that we are too lenient on those who cause lethal accidents on the road. It’s an understandable response from people who have lost loved ones.

The gut reaction is, of course, to lock people away longer and to punish them harder. I’m not sure that achieves much but I do wonder if we need to look at how long drivers might lose their license if found guilty of careless, reckless or dangerous driving causing death and what might be demanded of them before that license is returned. Same goes for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

So I have some questions:

  1. Is the current system too lenient?
  2. If it is, what is the appropriate method of punishment and rehabilitation?
  3. Should a driver’s license be automatically suspended when they are involved in an accident causing death pending the outcome of their trial?

There are other ways to prevent road accidents besides tougher penalties and while that is not the focus of this post, feel free to share your thoughts on those too.

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Filed under: justice, transport
17 Comments

Improving cycle safety

Posted by Chris Hipkins on December 31st, 2010

A few weeks ago MPs from across the political spectrum worked together to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to get tips for cyclists, parents and drivers on how we can improve cycle safety. The idea came out of a brain-storming session by a small cross-party group that has been informally meeting over the past few months to push cycling issues at Parliament. Full credit to Green MP Kevin Hague who has been the driving force behind the group.

The top tips for cyclists were:

  1. Maximise visibility, with lights, fluoro clothing, flags etc, but ride as if you are invisible
  2. Make your intentions clear with good signalling and maintaining a consistent line
  3. Be assertive, but not aggressive, riding sufficiently out into the lane to be clear of obstacles like debris on the shoulder or opening doors on parked cars
  4. Be courteous to other road users and follow the road rules

The top tips for motorists to improve safety for people riding bikes were:

  1. Look out for bikes at all times, and don’t assume that they will be travelling slowly
  2. Please be patient – it may hold you up a little to wait before you find a safe place to pass a cyclist, but really seconds or minutes are neither here nor there
  3. Remember that the Road Code specifies a 1.5m separation when passing a cyclist. They need space.

We also asked people about tips for improving safety for kids. In addition to those listed above, people stressed the importance of putting kids through cycle skills courses, getting their skills to a good level before riding on the road, and riding with your kids to begin with. Many people suggested that kids should be allowed to ride on footpaths, and this is something we will need to take a look at, as it is currently illegal.

Good to be working as part of a cross-party group of MPs doing something positive. Let’s hope we can make even more progress in the New Year!

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Filed under: transport
23 Comments

Key wants to turn Northland rail into trail

Posted by Trevor Mallard on December 20th, 2010

Later this week Kiwirail are likely to begin consultation on the closure of rail in the far north on behalf of the government.

I’ve got an opinion on this question which is not that popular with friends on both the right and left.

I think the rail link to Marsden Point should be completed. It is probably the key to a decent integrated transport system for New Zealand.

Marsden Point is the best port in the country. Deep water, natural and because it is so far north it saves sailing time for the massive ships that will be servicing NZ in the future.

The road industry hate the idea. Port of Auckland’s owner not impressed. Auckland colleagues don’t agree.

But worth talking about before the options are narrowed.

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Filed under: Energy, Rail, environment, infrastructure, transport
44 Comments

Keep the train lines open

Posted by Chris Hipkins on December 12th, 2010

I recently received a letter from the Kiwirail PR people alerting me to the fact that they will be sending freight trains through the Wairarapa and up to Woodville from Boxing Day until mid-January while upgrade work is done on the Main Trunk Line. The northern part of the Wairarapa line is one of those often cited as unprofitable and under consideration for closure. It’s a good example of how important it is that we maintain a proper rail ‘network’ and don’t make short term decisions that will affect the ability of rail to operate effectively and efficiently in the future.

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Filed under: transport
24 Comments

Safe Rates Safe Roads

Posted by Darien Fenton on November 30th, 2010

The Aussie government has made the connection between truck related deaths and rates of pay, while our government continues to pretend that squeezing drivers’ pay through unfair contracting has no impact on our death and injury toll.

The Secretary for Workplace Relations, Senator Jacinta Collins has released a discussion paper, which canvasses a  range of practical strategies to reduce deaths and improve road safety in the heavy transport industry.

safe-rates4

Called the “Safe Rates, Safe Roads” paper, it explores options for a national approach to truck drivers’ pay and conditions and safety measures across the industry.

Built on the back of a Safe Rates Advisory Group set up by the Labor government last term, the government has managed to bring the industry, unions and other road users together for an honest appraisal of the problems of speed and fatigue in the road transport industry  and the economic incentives for drivers to engage in unsafe work practices.

The Australians have come up with a clear body of evidence linking pay rates to safety on their roads. Like here, drivers feel pressure to work long hours to meet schedules, leading to work time breaches, speeding and cutting corners on maintenance.

The discussion paper examines a system of safe pay rates so drivers can work legally and safely and at the same time ensure that everyone is safe on the roads.

Meanwhile, we have “Safer Journeys” and the associated legislation which is due to be reported back in a week or so.  A lot about young drivers and the BAC, but not much in it about trucks, even although we know the road freight task is going to double in the next couple of decades.

All we get is bigger trucks.

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Filed under: Australia, low pay, transport
9 Comments

Joyce’s double dip

Posted by Darien Fenton on November 29th, 2010

More than 12,000 people have signed an on-line petition and 3,000 people have sent emails to Steven Joyce opposing the government’s decision to charge for access to basic vehicle  registration data on the NZTA computer.

Currently, consumers can access free vehicle reports through websites like CarJam.  This has helped identify cars with dodgy odometers, cars with no warrant or registration and stolen vehicles being offered for sale to unsuspecting consumers.

But NZTA’s decision to charge for basic vehicle information will add another unwelcome cost to the purchase of a car and will discourage consumers from checking whether the car they are buying is safe and legal.

I’m concerned at the impact this will have on struggling families who could end up buying a dodgy car, and in doing so, also put lives at risk with unsafe vehicles on the road. Buying a car is one of the biggest outgoings for many families and it is critical they are able to get the best possible information about their purchase.

I’m told that the cost of gathering, storing and providing this information is already covered by motor registration fees, so that effectively the agency would be double-dipping with the proposed charges.

Seems like a miserly change to me.

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Filed under: Consumers, protest, transport
17 Comments

CBD Rail Loop – an overwhelming case – 2

Posted by David Shearer on November 26th, 2010

compared-to-ronsJarbury has done a comparative graph of the benefits of all the Roads of National Significance attached. This says it all.

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Filed under: Roads of National Significance, transport
43 Comments

CBD Rail Loop – an overwhelming case

Posted by David Shearer on November 25th, 2010

It’s finally out. The business case for the Auckland’s CBD rail loop. And what a compelling case.

The pure transport cost-benefit is 1.1 (at the standard Treasury 8% discount rate). But the wider economic cost-benefit take it up to a whopping 3.5.

As it says, “the benefits of the CBD Rail Link far exeed the travel time savings due to enhanced transport efficiency”. It “increases CBD employment by 20,000 to 25,000 without requiring additional road capacity or using scarce CBD land for additional parking. This enables the Auckland CBD to become a much more vibrant and exciting pedestrian environment … .”

The overall impact will be a “more exciting and vibarnt sense of place enable Auckland to serve as New Zealand’s outward facing global city for retaining and attracting the highly educated younger workforce that will underpin productivity growth (and also international competitiveness) in the future”.

Now compare the figures with Joyce’s Holiday Highway. It has a transport cost-benefit of 0.8 – less than a dollar back for every dollar spent.

And the wider benefits? Just 1.1. Pathetic versus 3.5 for the CBD loop. We certainly need to upgrade SH 1, it’s just that we don’t need to do it with a brand new motorway.

How can Joyce justify spending up to $2 billion on that road when this case is so compelling.

Our rear-vision minister will need to be creative with his figures to justify his spending.

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Filed under: Auckland, transport
25 Comments

It wasn’t meant to end this way

Posted by Phil Twyford on November 2nd, 2010

John Key and Rodney Hide were like awkward guests at someone else’s party at last night’s inauguration of Mayor Len Brown and the new Auckland Council.  The Town Hall was packed with Len’s mob who had come to hear the ‘it’s our time’ message so it is not surprising Key and Hide were given only a polite reception.  Key delivered a wooden written-by-officials speech suprisingly lacking in heart for such a big occasion.

It wasn’t meant to end this way. John Key had all but endorsed John Banks for mayor. The Nats set out to remake Auckland in their own image.  But Len Brown’s campaign was driven along by deep public unease with Hide’s over-centralised and corporatised super city. In the end Aucklanders gave a thumping mandate to Brown’s inclusive vision, his pledge to protect communities and save our assets, and his promise to build a modern rail network.

This puts Key in an interesting spot. Any public goodwill for having unified Auckland was long ago corroded away by Hide’s handling of the process. The Nats must be furious with Hide for having stuffed their Auckland agenda and lost the mayoralty for Banks. That alone must be reason enough for pulling the plug on Epsom.

Aucklanders’ expectations however have now been raised.  The mayoral election made one thing clear.  If the super city is to mean one thing it has to mean action on public transport. Len Brown has staked his political career on this. He has invoked the memory of Robbie’s Rapid Rail. But he cannot deliver the level of investment needed on his own. Only central government can do it.

The Mayor dropped several references to rail into his inaugural speech. John Key didn’t take up the challenge, and noted that on some things ‘we will disagree’. National-ACT don’t get it. Auckland cannot go on building motorways, and now must invest in rail the equivalent treasure it has sunk into motorways over the past few decades. Steven Joyce is wedded to his Holiday Highway but won’t commit to the central city rail loop.

So what is Key to do:  Embrace a left-leaning mayor and council who ran against his plan for Auckland? Wean his party off its historic dependence  on the roads lobby by cranking up a big investment in rail?  If he doesn’t, and National are seen to be white-anting the popular mandate of the new Mayor for all of Auckland, I predict Aucklanders will make National pay at the polls next year.

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Filed under: Auckland, Rail, Uncategorized, local government, transport
20 Comments

No brains for guessing who will stand in Rodney

Posted by David Shearer on October 27th, 2010

It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion: Steven Joyce will stand for Rodney now that Lockwood Smith has announced he will stand only on the National Party List at the 2011 General Election.

Key has been grooming his Minister of Motorways for this role since National was elected in 2008. It’s now clear why the Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Party Significance is being fast-tracked. Why otherwise would a road with a rate of return of less than a dollar be given priority?

But just to show that there are better cost effective solutions to improving this road have a look at this. Transport Blog has a thorough analysis of the economics of the holiday highway.

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Filed under: Rodney electorate, Uncategorized, infrastructure, roads, transport
20 Comments

Thank you Labour

Posted by Darien Fenton on September 24th, 2010

IMG00232-20100924-1129

The $36 million transport interchange at New Lynn was officially opened today.

Cudos to Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey and his Councillors, along with ARTA and Mike Lee from the ARC who all worked hard to achieve what Bob describes it as the new heart and soul of New Lynn.

The joint Waitakere City Council, Auckland Regional Transport Authority Council and Central government development has been more than five years in the making and includes an underground train station and a revamped bus interchange.  New Lynn looks like a town that’s going places with the redevelopment of the town centre to follow.

New Lynn Labour MP David Cunliffe was instrumental in convincing the then finance minister Michael Cullen and Prime Minister Helen Clark to back the council’s plans. Dr Cullen signed off $140m for the project despite objections from Treasury.

While the Governor General and Transport Minister Joyce did the official business today, I thought it was great that the locals recognised the Labour government’s contribution and particularly that of Michael Cullen, with this banner.

Thank you Labour.

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Filed under: Labour Party, Rail, Waitakere, infrastructure, transport
31 Comments

Rail links – yes, holiday highway – no. Time to listen to Aucklanders, Mr Joyce

Posted by David Shearer on September 20th, 2010

Steven Joyce might want to think about the Herald’s digipoll that asked what Aucklanders most want. Top of the list – and what they’d be willing to increase rates for – is a rail link to the airport. Improving public transport was right up there too. In fourth place was improving roads – Joyce’s infatuation.

Joyce’s rear visionary thinking is not in line with what Auckland wants, or needs.

An inner city loop rated lower but is necessary before a link to the airport becomes feasible. It’s impossible to run the frequency of trains from the airport without it. It’s fair to say the case for the loop has yet to be made as clearly as it could to Aucklanders.

So let’s sink the Holiday Highway – one of the Roads of National Party Significance Joyce is blindly championing – and get in behind what people want, rather than fight on with 1950s thinking.

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Filed under: Auckland, Uncategorized, local government, transport
42 Comments

Taking the public out of transport

Posted by Phil Twyford on August 22nd, 2010

National-ACT’s determination to corporatise Auckland’s transport operation has been one of the most controversial aspects of its super city plan. They rammed it through against the advice of three government departments who argued a council-owned company would be less accountable to ratepayers than if it was run in house. The transport agency, governed by a hand-picked corporate board, will spend 54% of the super city budget and have 1000 staff.

There is no doubt getting progress on transport is top of Aucklanders’ must-do list for the super city. If it fails on this it will be judged harshly. And more specifically, it will be judged on its success or failure in ramping up public transport.

Which is why it is worrying there are early signs public transport might not be top of mind for those setting up the new transport agency.

For starters it appears the Auckland Transition Agency has overlooked the need for ongoing development of the bus system, which still carries the majority of Auckland public transport passengers.

It has specialists on urban design, storm water, cycling and walking, and several parking meter specialists. But no bus system development specialists. These are the people dedicated to the initiatives that give buses priority, from bus lanes to special signals at traffic lights, and the green patches in the middle of intersections that allow buses to queue jump.

Huge numbers of Aucklanders, especially in the outer suburbs, depend on the buses to get around the city. And the buses also feed the railway stations.

This public transport blind spot is reflected in the agency’s 306-page workforce plan which is mostly about roads. Bus stops, bus shelters, and bus priorities only get one mention each in the entire document. The words bus lane only get one mention, and that is in the context of revenue collection.

Josh Arbury over at the Auckland Transport blog has more to say on the apparent lack of focus on public transport in the new transport agency. He is also concerned about a lack of integration with urban design and land use planning, a point well made to the select committee when the bill was being considered.

The announcement of the newly appointed interm chief executive of the transport agency David Warburton gives further cause for concern. Mr Warburton does not appear to have any significant experience in urban transport.  While the ATA says he has a PhD in environmental engineering, he did his thesis  on dairy shed effluent at Massey. He was Wanganui District Council’s CEO under Michael Laws, and then led a Melbourne-based engineering firm that does very little urban transport work.

He may well be a good manager, but don’t we need leadership on urban transformation? It has been reported urban transport high fliers from Perth and London pulled out of the recruitment. Perth is the public transport success story of Australasia. They are where we would have been if we had adopted Robbie’s rapid rail 25 years ago. Perhaps the Perth candidate got wind of Steven Joyce’s roads fixation and a super city being set up by people who just don’t “get” public transport?

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Filed under: Auckland, local government, transport
12 Comments

The Nat Love Affair with Helicopters

Posted by Sue Moroney on July 27th, 2010

What is it about National’s Tertiary Education Ministers and Helicopters?

First off, we had Anne Tolley taking the tertiary sector literally when they suggested she should take a “helicopter view” of the sector -she had them stump up for a costly ride in a chopper over Auckland.

Now, we have Steven Joyce telling the country that he would prefer fund helicopter trips for commuters between Hamilton and Auckland than to subsidise a passenger train service between the two cities.

He seemed to have borrowed Simon Power’s strategy of heavily inflating the cost to the taxpayer, so he could justify his idealogical postition against trains and for more and more roads. Joyce claimed the  train would cost $15-16,000 per trip which is complete rubbish.

Power used this tactic to try to justify the closing down of Hamilton’s successful trial youth justice facility, Te Hurihanga.

Maybe they just think people can’t do maths in Hamilton. Sonething of a miscalculation, if you excuse the pun.

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Filed under: Hamilton, Rail, Uncategorized, education, infrastructure, transport, waikato
15 Comments

Is this an important issue or what?

Posted by Clare Curran on June 8th, 2010

Hillside March 001

Today nearly two hundred plucky workers from Hillside Engineering in Dunedin joined by dozens of cold, wet but staunch fellow Dunedin-ites stood in the Octagon in a freezing southerly to tell the National Government that we need a strong rail industry.

Kiwi jobs for kiwi workers was the message, along with Can we build trains in Dunedin? Yes we can is the answer. At a competitive price. And in NZ Inc’s interests.

The case has been made. We have the skills and the capability. If we can’t compete on labour costs with the likes of China, we certainly can on quality and whole of life costs. And ability to deliver on time. The case for kiwi content stacks up.

Across New Zealand, people think it’s important that we build here, rather than go overseas. It’s a no brainer. Especially right now. We need to build confidence in our homegrown industry. We need to retain a manufacturing base. It’s at the heart of Dunedin’s economy, let alone important for the rest of NZ.

Why should the profit go elsewhere? At the very least, the bulk of the actual work should be done here even if we don’t hold the contract.

The EOI contains a limp clause about NZ content. It’s not good enough. There are two particular people standing in the way of NZ’s rail engineering industry having a future. Transport Minister Steven Joyce and Kiwirail CEO Jim Quinn. Neither of them believe in rail’s future. Both are trying to talk it down and to cast those who do support it as emotional rail enthusiasts.

Interesting, given the huge resurgence that rail is having elsewhere in the world.  Quinn has a job to do. Joyce has a political imperative. The thing about Joyce is that he’s too cold, too clinical and economic rationalists don’t always resonate.

And he’s made a mistake. He slagged off at Kiwi skills. And he hasn’t even bothered to come and have a look at Hillside.

Leaving aside jokes about animal behaviour, if Steven Joyce can’t make it to Dunedin to have a look at Hillside’s ability to manufacture trains, then he’s chicken. It’s obviously not a priority.

Today Labour had five MPs at the rally. Myself, Pete Hodgson and David Parker from Dunedin. Trevor Mallard from Hutt South (where Kiwirail has its Woburn workshops) and Darren Hughes, Labour’s Transport spokesperson. Phil Goff sent his apologies and his support along with a bunch of other Labour MPs.

Labour thinks that Kiwi content should have preference in the tender for the carriages and engines for Auckland’s rail system.

What does the Government think? Is this important or isn’t it?

So Steven, come to Dunedin. Are you chicken or what?

Watch this clip from Local Channel 9 to see footage  from today’s rally

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Filed under: Manufacturing, Rail, economy, infrastructure, jobs, transport
110 Comments

The logic of losing KiwiRail in the north

Posted by David Shearer on May 19th, 2010

Despite the $750 million announcement for KiwiRail, the Auckland-Northland rail link appears to be under threat. I can’t understand the logic.

Steven Joyce is intent on building the ‘Holiday Highway’ from Puhoi to Wellsford – a road with a negative cost-benefit ratio – at a cost of up to $2.1 billion as part of his Roads of National (Party) Significance. That’s three times the amount he is spending on the KiwiRail nationally.

Here’s the incomprehensible part –
- the reason for the Holiday Highway is to optimise movement and freight to the north. Cutting the rail link simply shifts freight on to our roads. (It occurs to me that maybe that’s part of the Joyce masterplan to lift the Holiday Highway’s negative BCR.)

- increasing heavy trucks on these roads and congesting it further for other motorists raises safety issues, another reason he has cited for the Holiday Highway. Obviously much of that pressure could be relieved with more freight going by rail.

- our deepest – and alternative main port – is at Marsden Point. The rail link there is strategically very important.

Yes the rail line needs some long overdue upgrades, but the potential is enormous.

Btw, what KiwiRail appears to be doing is making small, non-headline grabbing improvements to rail that should greatly lift its efficiency. That same strategy for SH1 in the north would result in much more cost-effective improvements: a diversion around Warkworth for example, or straightening and widening other parts of SH1 would remove the need for a brand new motorway and at a fraction of the cost.

Non-headline grabbing I said. I guess that’s not so attractive National’s new Mr Think-Big.

Filed under: Rail, Uncategorized, infrastructure, transport
39 Comments

What shall we do with the drunken drivers?

Posted by Darien Fenton on April 19th, 2010

Over the weekend, I visited the SADD (Students against Driving Drunk) conference, which was attended by young people from colleges throughout the upper North Island.

SADD is a peer education programme with the primary objective of reducing the harm caused on our roads by drink drivers and is run in secondary schools by students. It can also be incorporated into the school curriculum.

During the time I was there, SADD members reported back from group work on educating others, both at school and in the community, on the impact of drunk driving. This was entertaining, and very powerful, as they talked about the impact of a crash on families, the school, on students and the community.

We also saw videos of the winners of the Turners Short Film Competition, 2009 and a video, prepared by SADD with student involvement that they hope will make the main TV channels.   I was impressed by these young leaders, who are taking on an issue that isn’t necessarily that popular among their peers – or for that matter older people!

With road safety in the news, I took the opportunity to ask SADD members their views on increasing the driving age. It’s fair to say their views were mixed, but all were firm on increasing driver education and supervision.

The next big issue Cabinet will consider is the NZ drinking limit for all ages. Should we lower the blood-alcohol limit from 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres to 50mg? If so, what difference do you think will it make?

The Automobile Association says that there is no evidence that lowering the blood-alcohol limit will reduce road deaths.

Is the alcohol limit the problem, or is the problem those who drink a lot more than 0.8 (or 0.5%) and who are recidivist drunk drivers? (and there’s been a few in the news lately). And if the latter, what should we do with them?

I would be interested in your views.

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Filed under: policy, transport
33 Comments

What a trucking nightmare

Posted by Darien Fenton on April 18th, 2010

When truck drivers hit the roads before the 2008 election to protest an increase in Road User Charges, perhaps they should have been protesting about their pay and how they are being driven into the ground.

The Sunday Star Times reports today that truck drivers are driving up to 100 hours a week, scrimping on maintenance, not taking breaks and speeding – all to try to earn a living as owner drivers in an intensely competitive industry.

I know some of these drivers. They borrow to buy the big rig, put their name on the side and are all set to go into their own small business.

Trouble is, as owner-drivers, they have little or no bargaining power. If the company decides to slash their contract price, the only recourse they have is to the Courts – requiring expensive lawyers and thousands of dollars the drivers don’t have.

I met some of the drivers mentioned in the SST. They work for large well-known iconic companies and they are at the end of their tether, so have decided to speak out.

They told us that driving 100 hours, seven days a week is common, how they put bald tyres scraping on the rims onto the inside of the truck because they can’t afford replacement tyres, how some of them found themselves asleep at the wheel, and how one had a crash on the way home from work because he was so knackered.

We heard how the company had unilaterally cut $700 a week from their pay, and there was almost nothing they could do about it without spending thousands of dollars they don’t have on lawyers and court action.

In Australia, after several enquiries, clear links have been established between the pay of truck drivers and safety and  the government is moving to establish a “safe rates” system, where there is minimum pay for truckers and better bargaining power across Australia.

In New Zealand, we’ve implemented just about every type of safety law and rule you can imagine to improve truck safety since 1999, when there was a Select Committee enquiry into serious safety concerns in the trucking industry.  Steven Joyce seems to have run out of ideas, except to permit heavier and longer trucks.

However, with one person a week dying in truck related crashes in New Zealand, the government needs to think more about this issue.

National boasts about being the friends of small business. Well, here’s some small business owners who have so few rights they are breaking the law and putting themselves and other road users at risk to make a living.

Filed under: transport, workforce
70 Comments

Cooperation on cycling

Posted by Chris Hipkins on April 5th, 2010

A few weeks ago I attended a cross-party meeting on cycling. MPs from Labour, National and the Greens were all in attendance and Bike NZ gave us an excellent presentation on practical steps they thought we could take to make our roads safer for cyclists. We had quite a lot of discussion about our ‘car is king’ culture. I have to admit that despite being a frequent cyclist myself I’m probably not the most cycle-aware driver when behind the wheel of car.

I’m interested in feedback on some of the suggestions Bike NZ put forward, such as:

  • Lower speed limits in urban/rural areas (eg. around schools, shops, where the road is narrow)
  • More comprehensive ‘Share the Road’ and ‘1.5 metre’ campaigns (should 1.5 metres be the legal passing space?)
  • More designated cycle lanes and cycle routes (and should school kids be allowed to ride on footpaths?)
  • A national bike skills in schools programme
  • Better integration with public transport (eg. allowing bikes on trains and buses)
  • Higher penalties for distracted driving

We also talked about the fact that a lot of government agencies (including local government) are doing bits here and there on cycling but there doesn’t appear to be an over-arching strategy. That’s certainly something I’d like to see the government address.

Kiwi enthusiasm for cycling is certainly increasing. It’s better for our health, reduces traffic congestion and carbon emissions, and it’s cheaper! We’ve still got a way to go if we’re going to properly address all the issues around cycling, so it’s great to see MPs from across the spectrum coming together to talk about it and work with each other.

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Filed under: recreation, transport
53 Comments

Very poor optics Mr Joyce

Posted by Grant Robertson on March 15th, 2010

It has not been the best week for Steven Joyce. Both his pronouncements on limiting access to student loans and reviewing the Super Gold card have seen him run an issue up the flagpole only to have to run it down again in very short order.

It seems that it all got the better of him on a visit to New Plymouth on Friday. The Taranaki Daily News has reported some very odd behaviour at the official opening of the Bell Block By-Pass. It sounds like a big local event with New Plymouth Mayor Peter Tennant in attendance along with former MP and Regional Councillor Roger Maxwell. The Daily News reports

But Mr Tennent was not long into his speech when Mr Joyce’s press secretary approached the minister and handed him a note. Mr Joyce then continually texted on his cellphone while Mr Tennent, then Mr Maxwell, spoke. And then, when it was the turn of New Zealand Transport Agency regional director Jenny Chetwynd to speak, Mr Joyce left his seat and walked behind a nearby bush so he could talk on his phone.

Apparently when the National cabinet are discussing their plans Mr Joyce is the first to raise the “optics” of a situation, ie how it will look to the public. I would say that texting at a public event is not good optics. Hiding behind a bush is also not good optics.

He was still behind the bush when all the speeches had finished, which forced organisers to postpone a ribbon-cutting ceremony for several minutes. When Mr Joyce wandered back out into the open, the remainder of the official opening continued without any further delays. After ceremonially cutting a ribbon and declaring the bypass open, he was then taken for a drive down the new section of highway in a big truck driven by New Plymouth MP Jonathan Young – and even then he was texting during most of his time in the cabin.

For the record, delaying a ribbon cutting ceremony because you are behind a bush talking on your cellphone is really poor optics, not to mention just plain discourteous. I am not sure about the optics of texting when Jonathan Young is driving “a big truck”, but it probably pays to keep half an eye on the road!

Now all of this took place on Friday. What was happening on Friday? Ah yes. That was just about the point that the review of the SuperGold card was turning into a rapidly descending flag. It would be fascinating to know who was on the other end of the phone, but I am guessing his first name was probably John.

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Filed under: humour, infrastructure, national, senior citizens, transport
52 Comments

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