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Archive for the ‘transport’ Category

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
52 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

Investment in rail

Posted by Chris Hipkins on March 14th, 2010

Last week I posted about the current woes of our rail network, noting that under private ownership there had been a lack of investment in upgrading and maintaining the trains and tracks. In hindsight perhaps the then Labour government should have bought back the whole lot in 2003, not just the tracks, and now we’d be 5 years further ahead than we are. I’m not sure that was even an option back then, but regardless of the history, looking to the future it’s clear a big investment is needed if rail is going to be a viable transport option in New Zealand.

It’s interesting to note that the New Zealand government are one of the few around the world who haven’t included investment in rail as part of their economic stimulus package in response to the global recession. In the US they’re spending $17.7 billion on ‘transit and rail’ to reduce traffic congestion and petrol use. Italy are spending 960 million euro in rail and another 480 million euro in local public transport. Korea are spending KRW 11 trillion on ‘green transport’. The Aussies are spending 1.2 billion on rail, the Canadians 480 million and France 300 million. The list could go on…

Here in New Zealand Steven Joyce is obsessed with roads as if they are the only viable form of transport. Roads are convenient, and for a lot of passenger trips they are the most logical choice, but for freight and suburban transport, rail remains a viable and important option, but only if government backs it. As I noted last week, freight within NZ is expected to increase by up to 75% in the next 20 years – does National want to see all of that going onto the roads? Why aren’t we following the rest of the world and looking to rail to ease traffic congestion and reduce our reliance on imported oil?

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Filed under: economy, infrastructure, public services, transport
29 Comments

Joyce not keen on the Auckland CBD rail loop reports the Herald

Posted by David Shearer on March 11th, 2010

Great to read the joint ARTA-KiwiRail press release this morning on the preferred route for the CBD rail loop project.

The cost is roughly similar to the Puhoi-Wellsford road, the benefits are far greater, so why is Joyce not keen on this one? An interesting question. What do you think?

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Filed under: Auckland, transport
9 Comments

National’s neglect of rail

Posted by Chris Hipkins on March 9th, 2010

Wellington commuters who regularly use our local trains live with the day to day realities of the last National government’s disastrous decision to privatise what was then NZ Rail. Between its sale and eventual buy-back in 2008, very little was spent on upgrading or even maintaining rail services. Some of the trains running on Wellington’s rail lines are literally museum pieces.

The last Labour government started to repair some of that damage. For example the new trains that will start arriving in Wellington later this year were purchased only after central government stumped up most of the cash. The problems that have plagued our local trains over recent months are largely due to the huge backlog of maintenance and upgrading that’s now being done. Had it been done over the past decade and a half we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.

Like a lot of Wellingtonians, I’m disappointed the new National-led government seem to have so little faith in rail. From the outside looking in it seems as though they want it to fail so that they can carve it up, sell it off, or close it down. They’re now talking about closing down regional lines, what a sell-out. Freight within NZ is expected to increase by up to 75% in the next 20 years – does National want to see all of that going onto the roads?

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Filed under: privatisation, public services, transport, wellington
22 Comments

Improving local rail services

Posted by Chris Hipkins on February 14th, 2010

A bunch of people travelling from Upper Hutt to Wellington by train yesterday almost missed the replacement bus because TranzMetro thought that a tiny poster beside the train timetable was enough to alert us to the fact that the trains weren’t running. Nobody got off the bus to check there was nobody on the platform, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a number of people were left wondering why the trains never came.

I totally understand that the train lines need to be closed from time to time for maintenance and upgrading. I think they’re doing a good job, but why not put big signs on the platform to alert travellers that buses are replacing trains? In this instance it seems TranzMetro were more concerned about sticking with their corporate branding (the poster looked just like all their advertising posters) than communicating effectively with their customers.

It did prompt a bit of discussion about what sort of changes people would like to see to our local rail services. I’ve talked about this with a number of people in recent weeks and here are some of the things on their wish lists:

  • WiFi on all train services so that people can work/play on the train (even if there was a small cost involved)
  • Decent coffee carts on train platforms during peak hours, or on the trains themselves
  • Slightly more room between each seat so that people can work on laptops or read the paper without bashing the head of the person in front
  • More room for bikes (currently only 2 allowed per train)
  • Electronic signs on the platforms saying when the next service is due
  • Step-free access from platforms to make it easier for those with pushchairs/wheelchairs
  • More enclosed shelters on the station platforms
  • Integrated/electronic ticketing (like the Snapper cards)
  • More carparks at some stations
  • More frequent services / more express services during peak hours

Some of these things are coming when the new train units arrive later this year (eg. step-free access, more bike space), while others could actually prove revenue-generating opportunities (eg. user-pays WiFi or coffee carts). Others (integrated ticketing) could save money. I know the Regional Council are working on some of this stuff, but I reckon they could pick up the pace a bit. If we want more people using public transport we should be doing more to make it an attractive/convenient option.

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Filed under: public services, transport
28 Comments

Hamilton Election Promise Broken Already

Posted by Sue Moroney on February 9th, 2010

“Promise on Road Project Broken” screams the front page of the Waikato Times today. It was being delivered to homes all over the Waikato just as John Key was delivering his speech outlining his Government’s programme for the year ahead. How appropriate!

The NZ Transport Agency came to Hamilton yesterday to deliver the news that the Hamilton leg of the expressway is now not scheduled for completion until 2024. The problem is that the Nats made an election promise to complete the Waikato Expressway inside ten years – that is by 2018.

The other problem is that the Minister has reversed the order of construction so that the Hamilton by-pass comes last. That will create a bottleneck effect as the construction takes place to the north and the south of Hamilton first.

It means larger volumes of traffic will be delivered to congested Hamilton streets until 2024.

It looks like the Hamilton Government National MPs, David Bennett and Tim MacIndoe lack the influence and the ability to get their major election promise delivered.

Oddly enough, even though John Key used his speech to announce the Kopu Bridge replacement for the 11th time, the Waikato Expressway didn’t feature in his speech at all today. Hmmmmm………curious.

Filed under: Hamilton, Uncategorized, infrastructure, transport, waikato
5 Comments

Here’s an idea – bigger fines for richer people

Posted by Darien Fenton on January 13th, 2010

Summer is the time when road safety is big on the news, with accidents solemnly reported on the news every day.

The latest this week has been the call for tourists to be better educated in New Zealand road safety before they get behind the wheel. This does of course assume that foreign drivers are not as safe as New Zealanders and I’m not sure that’s true. There have been some awful crashes involving tourists this summer, but in most cases, it was not their driving that caused the accident.

So I was interested to read in the NZ Herald today that European countries are pegging speeding fines to income as a way to punish wealthy offenders who ignore tickets. Apparently, Swiss voters approved a 2007 penal law overhaul that lets judges fine people based on personal income and wealth for moderate offences including excessive speeding and drunk driving.

The latest is a millionaire Ferrari driver in Switzerald, described as a “traffic thug” by the Swiss Court, who was fined F295,000 (NZ $392,000)

Apparently, the court took into account the man’s history of similar offences and his estimated personal wealth of more than US$20 million.

Germany, France, Austria and the Nordic countries all issue fines based on a person’s wealth. In Germany the fines can be as much as US$16 million compared with only US$1 million in Switzerland.

While the average driver is likely to get a more modest fine, Switzerland does seem to have had a real problem with wealthy foreigners hiring cars and conducting races on Swiss roads.

Last year a court fined six men from Hong Kong up to €95,000 after they raced through Switzerland in hired Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and Audis at speeds of up to 230km an hour. A Frenchman was fined 70,000 francs after being caught on a highway doing 243 km/h.

I haven’t noticed a lot of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other luxury cars speeding dangerously around New Zealand roads, but I am intrigued by the idea of fining people who break the law according to their wealth. Something for Mr Joyce to think about as he prepares his policy announcements on the 2020 Transport Safety Strategy.

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Filed under: international, policy, regulation, transport
77 Comments

The driving age.

Posted by Jacinda Ardern on January 4th, 2010

You might have caught up on the latest Herald survey, which claims 80% of us want the legal driving age to be raised to 18 or higher.  Personally I can’t quite imagine a system where young people can learn to drive a family sedan at the same age they can enlist in the army and learn to drive a tank.

Darien Fenton and I were chatting a while back about the Government’s proposal to increase the driving age and decided we hadn’t heard much from young people on the issue. We threw together a quick survey, which Young Labour has made available here.

Grateful for your feedback.

Filed under: Uncategorized, transport, youth
31 Comments

Hamilton Passenger Train Service Gathers Steam

Posted by Sue Moroney on December 2nd, 2009

Around 100 people attended a public meeting in Hamilton last night to discuss the proposal to get a passenger train service for commuters between Hamilton and Auckland.

The meeting was hosted by the Campaign for Better Transport and the business case for the train service is well-established.

Unfortunately, Nanaia Mahuta and I are the only local MPs supporting the train service – the two National MPs told the meeting all the reasons it shouldn’t go ahead.

The National Party rhetoric goes something like this:

*Hamilton is too small to sustain the service;

*Hamilton should be grateful that it is getting funding for an expressway;

*Waikato Mayors just want the expressway completed in 10 years time instead;

* There is a private bus company that commuters could use.

Their arguments don’t stack up. Masterton and Palmerston North have passenger train services to Wellington and they are a lot smaller than Hamilton.

The expressway, when completed at a cost of $2b in 10 years time, will save 10 minutes on the journey to Auckland – that is until Waikato cars get to the Southern Motorways and sit in traffic jams for ages!

The Waikato Mayors have always argued for a balanced transport system for the region and they didn’t anticipate the Government was going to cut city public transport funding for Hamilton to fund the expressway as they have.

Oh duh… the buses to Auckland get caught in the traffic jams too.

I reckon the real reason David Bennett and Tim MacIndoe are talking the proposal down is they agree with the Don Brash Taskforce comissioned by John Key when it recommended the sale of state assets.

KiwiRail will be the first up for sale and they won’t want a whole lot of Hamilton commuters up in arms when they sell it off.

Filed under: Hamilton, infrastructure, privatisation, transport, waikato
21 Comments

Gerry’s biofuels shambles

Posted by Chris Hipkins on November 28th, 2009

Continuing with the theme set this morning by Colin James (see Grant’s post) I’ve found another example of how governments get things wrong when they rush things through. Late last year the newly elected National government rushed through a repeal of Labour’s biofuels obligation under Urgency. The obligation would have meant that the fuel you purchased at the pump would have had to have a certain percentage of biofuels within it. It would have been a useful step in reducing our carbon emissions.

National decided to rush through a repeal, thus pulling the rug out from under the biofuel industry that had been scaling up to take advantage of the new obligation. Labour MPs presented examples during the debate of businesses that would suffer, we presented the cost to NZ in terms of higher carbon emissions, and we argued, as we have with the ETS, that ultimately it should be the polluter that pays.

Gerry Brownlee argued, as National have done with the ETS, that the taxpayer should pay. In this year’s Budget National introduced a Biodiesel Grants Scheme as a partial replacement for the sales obligation. It set aside $36 million in taxpayer subsidies to encourage the production of Biodiesel. So how has it panned out? Well so far they have spent less than $44,000 of that money. In other words, it’s been a total flop. Another example of a bad law rushed through. Another example of National not looking at the evidence of what actually works.

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Filed under: climate change, legislation, transport, urgency
10 Comments

UK approach to bad drivers

Posted by Trevor Mallard on November 8th, 2009

A cross-party group will have a discussion in a couple of weeks following my incident and Nikki’s accident. We think that there is an opportunity to promote cycle safety.  This article in The Guardian outlines one approach.

In the interim, I will try a 115k fun ride in the Waiarapa today as the last long ride before the Nikki-less Taupo ride.

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Filed under: sport, transport
10 Comments

Joyce out of step with Auckland

Posted by David Shearer on October 28th, 2009

John Banks recently wrote in the NZ Herald that Auckland needs an inner city underground railway loop. He joins fellow aspiring mayor, Len Brown, the chair of the ARC, Mike Lee and just about every smart thinking Aucklander in believing that Auckland needs this piece of infrastructure urgently.

So why is the National Party so out of step with the rest of Auckland? Stephen Joyce has instead prioritised roads; the most farcical being the new Puhoi to Wellsford motorway. This $2.3 billion folly will swallow up capital that could make the tunnel and electrification a reality. That stretch of road north of Auckland carries about the same number of vehicles as Sandringham Road. It’s full for only a handful of days a year when everyone tries to go north during the holidays – not even economically productive days. He’s planning to waste $100 million on a feasibility study.

The reason for the rail tunnel is simple. Currently, trains come into Britomart anad have to go back out again on the same lines . The loop would allow them to continue under Queen St, K Rd and then join the line again at Mt Eden allowing for a doubling, at least, of trains going  through Britomart. That would increase the frequency of trains and lead to greater patronage – 3 or 4 times more. And, as other countries know, it stimulates growth and vitality in the inner city and ar0und stations. Simple really. Maybe too simple.

The only hitch is that diesel trains can’t use an underground loop because of fumes. That’s a key reason why we should move full steam ahead on electrifying Auckland’s rail. But on this Joyce is vague. Possibly 2013 he says. Possibly? He should forget the holiday highway and invest in what Aucklanders want and need – a first class rail service.

Filed under: Auckland, Uncategorized, infrastructure, transport
29 Comments

ACC and the bikers

Posted by Chris Hipkins on October 18th, 2009

Like most MPs I’ve been getting heaps of emails from angry motorbike riders about the National government’s massive ACC levy hikes. Yesterday I even had people come to talk to me about it at my regular constituency clinics.

Rick Barker put out a great statement last week which I’m sure reflects the views of bikers everywhere. Rick points out that the cut-off points in terms of cc ratings don’t take into account the relative power of motorcycles. He also points out that many bikers will own several bikes but they can only ride one at a time:

“I have friends who own up to seven bikes, each for different purposes: off-road, trail, touring and collectables – and they could end up paying about $5000 just to ride their bikes. They can only ride one at a time.

Rick also argues that many motorcycle accidents are actually caused by car drivers, not the biker:

“How is it fair that a motorcyclist is knocked off their bike by a car and then charged much higher levies for the experience? This means the victim pays.

Of course motorbikes are also better for the planet because they use less fuel, not to mention they take up less space in the carpark.

I suspect the National government are secretly quite happy that people are getting angry about ACC. They’ll then use that anger to justify their privatisation agenda. How cynical.

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Filed under: privatisation, transport
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