While the National Party is promising a ‘Pothole Repair Fund’, the ACT Party has released a far more ambitious roading policy that would utilise tolls to change the way new and existing roads are funded echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0);   There is no such thing as a free road. Continue →

The Te Huia passenger train from Hamilton to Auckland has been ordered to terminate early in Papakura until further notice after instances of it running red lights — Darren Davis explores how it came to this and who will ultimately pay the price echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Te Huia has had a rough ride and already faced significant challenges to its very survival before the shock announcement on Tuesday 11 July 2023 of the service’s enforced truncation to Papakura. Continue →

The Future is Rail conference was held in Wellington on June 28th – Suraya Sidhu Singh and Laurie Winkless give a brief summary of what was discussed and the challenges facing rail in New Zealand echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0);Credit: Richard Young Rail as essential infrastructure: Passenger rail is a vital piece of infrastructure like water, power, telecommunications etc. Continue →

Waka Kotahi needs to review its closure policy and risk profiles for managing Auckland’s Harbour Bridge as yet another day of productivity is lost to Auckland’s economy, says the Employers & Manufacturers Association (EMA) echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); The current policy continues to look like a knee-jerk over reaction to the one serious damage accident we’ve had in 70 years of operation of the bridge, says EMA Head of Advocacy, Strategy and Finance, Alan McDonald. Continue →

New bike and walking paths being installed around Evans Bay are a double-win for the environment, providing the means to get about in climate-friendly ways and reducing waste by making use of recycled materials echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Work is underway on the 780-meter section of new walking and biking paths on Evans Bay Parade between Weka Bay and Little Karaka Bay. Continue →

While the Capital Connection train route between Palmerston North and Wellington will soon have a new fleet of refurbished rolling stock, there appears to be no firm plans to make best use of them to provide better service than the status quo, writes Darren Davis echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); The Capital Connection, Aotearoa’s longest-running inter-regional commuter train, running between Palmerston North and Wellington, will experience a Lazarus moment with “new” refurbished rolling stock soon entering service. Continue →

Asking everyone what they think of every transport micro-decision is an enormous waste of time and resources, says University of Auckland Senior Lecturer Timothy Welch, who wants Auckland Transport to stop asking and start doing echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Your transport agency would like to know if it’s okay to paint the side of the road with a broken yellow line. Continue →

This project has had an incredibly long history, with previous versions incredibly expensive, somehow detrimental to transport outcome targets and massively environmentally damaging, Greater Auckland reports echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); The government is beginning public engagement on options for the Waitemata Harbour Connections project. Continue →

Auckland Airport is undergoing its biggest redevelopment since the airport opened in 1966 with a brand-new domestic terminal to be fully integrated into the international terminal echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Replacement of 57-year-old domestic terminal confirmed Single biggest redevelopment since the airport opened in 1966 Domestic and international travel to be housed under one roof Resilient and built to meet climate change goals and to create a more sustainable airport 2,000 additional jobs created at the height of construction echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0);“This is a major investment for Auckland Airport, one which we have been working towards for many years,” says Auckland Airport Chair Patrick Strange. Continue →

While the cost of living and climate crises continue to bite and New Zealand’s transport infrastructure falls into disrepair, the left and right are both criticising Labour’s fourth extension to its inflationary fuel tax cut, calling it “dumb, election year populism” echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Introduced in March 2022 as a temporary three-month measure, the Government has once again extended its “cost of living support” until 30 June 2023 as the cost of living crisis continues. Continue →

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has announced the challenge topics for its second round of innovation funding after 24 projects were approved for round one echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Waka Kotahi received more than 110 applications for the initial round of funding for the $15 million innovation fund Hoe ki angitū, launched in June 2022 to help accelerate the development of solutions to challenges facing the land transport system. Continue →

A focus on the sustainable funding of any new passenger rail infrastructure, including its operation and ongoing maintenance, was discussed in Infrastructure New Zealand’s submission to an inquiry into the future of inter-regional passenger rail echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Submissions closed recently for an inquiry opened by Parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee. Continue →

Contactless debit or credit cards and digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay will be available on public transport throughout the country as part of the National Ticketing Solution (NTS), however it will not be fully rolled out until 2026 echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Whether it is on the bus, train or ferry, there will be a single payment system across New Zealand, with the signing of the National Ticketing Solution contract with American public transportation and defense corporation, Cubic. Continue →

The annual Bentley Systems Going Digital Awards honors the extraordinary work of software users advancing infrastructure design, construction, and operations echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Eleven independent jury panels selected 36 finalists from over 300 nominations submitted by more than 180 organizations from 47 countries encompassing 12 categories. Continue →

An Austroads research report aims to help transport agencies maintain their services and minimise disruptions in day-to-day journeys echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Multimodal Incident Management (MMIM) explores the ways transport agencies can manage unplanned incidents that disrupt the operations of more than one transport mode. Continue →

While the world moves to phase out fossil fuels and advance transport infrastructure, New Zealand is spending over a billion dollars just to maintain the status quo echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); A 25-cent tax cut on every litre of fuel may seem like a welcome initiative given the spike in global oil prices, but it comes at the cost of over a billion dollars in lost tax revenue. Continue →

Infrastructure Decision Support (IDS), WSP and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s Strategic Maintenance Investment Justification Project won big at the 2022 Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) Excellence Awards on Wednesday night in Adelaide echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); It won the ‘IPWEA Australasia 2022 Excellence in Asset Management’ category and the prestigious ‘IPWEA Australasia 2022 Public Works Medal for Project of the Year.’ Waka Kotahi engaged IDS in May 2019 to answer the “billion-dollar” question around how much investment is needed to maintain the roads and road surfaces within the New Zealand State Highway network over a three-year funding period. Continue →

Electrical energy can be transferred in an inductive process from a magnetic coil in or on the road pavement to a receiver coil in the vehicle, eliminating many of the issues currently holding back electric vehicles, Movemnt reports echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); This allows for many short but high-speed charging processes – for example at shopping centres, in multi-storey car parks or even at home. Continue →

As traffic density continues to increase with population, keeping society from grinding to a halt often rests on our tunnel infrastructure, Mainmark Civil and Mining Operations Manager Matt McLean says echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Tunnels help to alleviate congestion, promote smoother traffic flow, and minimise disruption in built-up areas. Continue →

The starting point has to be Mayor Robbie’s Rapid Rail scheme in the 1970s – Tāmaki Makaurau would be unrecognisable had the plan gone ahead, says Transport Minister Michael Wood This was first posted on Greater Auckland pre-dating this week’s light rail announcement echo adrotate_group(33, 0, 0, 0); Its failure was one of the key junctures that set us on a path of congestion, urban sprawl, and car dependency in the ensuing decades. Continue →