Midway through March already? The years flying by. Here's some things we saw this week that caught our attention.
This week in Greater Auckland
On Tuesday Matt took a look at AT's Upper Harbour Bus changes.
For Wednesday we had a guest post by Malcolm McCracken exploring what else is needed to maximise the value of CRL.
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CRL testing success continues
City Rail Link testing appears to be an ongoing success. Yesterday they announced they've now had trains up to the line speed in the CRL of 70km/h. They've also tested being able to recover a train from the tunnels by pushing or pulling it with another train.
Also CRL, Te Waihorotiu will have some of it's walls lined with artwork by children and this has now going in.
Te Whau Path sneek peak
A few weeks ago we highlighted a video on the construction progess of the Te Whau pathway. Earlier this week some locals got a look for themselves.
Yesterday residents of Bridge Avenue and surrounding streets had a guided of the two sections currently being built. It was a great turn out with about 60 locals attending. Amy O’Donnell, Project Manager at HEB Construction, gave a short presentation on the progress of the pathway and then gave a tour along the Horowai Connection (between Bridge Avenue and Roberts Road). Locals were then invited to walk on the Northwestern Connection which links the pathway from Bridge Avenue to SH16 and the Northwestern Cycleway.
Once completed I suspect the pathway will a fantastic addition to the area and one I suspect will be fare more successful than anticipated.
Hobsonville Rd cycleway
On the theme of active modes, Auckland Transport have confirmed the design for the Hobsonville Rd cycleway and that it will start construction in the middle of the year. The designs are mostly okay but there are some bits that aren't great, such as they're not making anything more than minor changes to the intersection with Brigham Creek Rd which still has the the same design as when this was a rural state highway. Even just putting aside the cycleway, this intersection is dangerous for cars and there have been many crashes there over the years, including some serious ones.
Te Huia on a Sunday
Te Huia rail service has been a hit for weekend day trips to Auckland to the extent that plans are underway to add a Sunday service between Hamilton and the super city.
Despite being set up as a weekday commuter service, Te Huia’s patronage has been on the up, according to the latest public transport stats for the Waikato region.
The rise is especially striking on Saturdays with a 42% passenger increase compared to the same quarter of 2023.
Plans are in the pipeline to add a Sunday service to further cement the rail link between New Zealand’s largest and fastest growing cities, officials told the Waikato Times.
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Te Huia’s average fourth quarter (Q4) weekday passenger numbers were up 9% compared to 2023, with the train service’s total passenger numbers up 16%, from 17,361 to 20,089 over the same period.
This is great to see.
Quality Air Quality Outcomes
People in London have been breathing significantly cleaner air since the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (Ulez), a study has found.
Levels of deadly pollutants that are linked to a wide range of health problems – from cancer to impaired lung development, heart attacks to premature births – have dropped, with some of the biggest improvements coming in the capital’s most deprived areas.
Sadiq Khan had faced severe opposition to the 2023 expansion of Ulez to outer London boroughs. But on Friday as the report was published, the mayor of London said the scheme had driven down pollution, taken old polluting cars off the roads and brought cleaner air to millions more people.
He said: “When I was first elected, evidence showed it would take 193 years to bring London’s air pollution within legal limits if the current efforts continued. However, due to our transformative policies we are now close to achieving it this year.”
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The report found London’s air quality was improving at a faster rate than that of the rest of England. It said this was particularly notable in outer London, where concentrations had improved more rapidly over recent years and were now similar to the average for the rest of England.
Climate-heating gases have been substantially reduced, with carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to nearly 3m one-way passenger trips between Heathrow and New York saved.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, Newsroom reports:
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has deferred work on a long-awaited update to air quality rules to 2026.
The regulation updates were first consulted on in 2020. A decision was made at the time to wait for the World Health Organisation to provide its own updated recommendations, which came in 2021.
Little progress has been made since then, despite the urging of the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment – New Zealand’s top environmental watchdog. Newsroom reported last year that the commissioner, Simon Upton, had written to Simmonds to express his concern that just one full-time equivalent staff member was tasked with air pollution work at the environment ministry.
The current regulations were implemented in 2004 and last updated in 2011.
A briefing to Simmonds, obtained by Newsroom under the Official Information Act, shows a decision was taken in June last year to delay further work on the regulations until 2026.
Awesome gift to Auckland
In an extraordinary act of generosity, Auckland philanthropist Rosemary Platt has gifted 5.63 hectares (approximately 14 acres) of ecologically significant land to the people of Tāmaki Makaurau.
In exchange for this gift, Auckland Council has committed to protect the botanical site as a regional park in perpetuity so that future generations can access and enjoy its remarkable collection of trees and open space.
Mayor Wayne Brown says the newly acquired land will become an important destination in the Auckland regional parks network, once it can be opened to the public.
“This is an overwhelmingly remarkable gift to the city. I’m delighted to be able to accept this impressive Greenhithe property on behalf of Aucklanders.
“We will honour accordingly the vision and meticulous work Mrs Platt and her late husband Graeme Platt have put into it since they bought it back in 1983,” Mayor Brown says.
“Thanks to Graeme’s pioneering expertise in horticulture, this property has become an impressive sanctuary of open space and rare tree specimens that are not found anywhere else.
“It has one of the greatest collections of kauri trees in the country, including a forest grown from seed of the great Tāne Mahuta, as well as a genetic replica of the giant ‘God of the Forest’ kauri tree itself,” says Mayor Brown.
HOP Promotions
Spotted advertising on Stuff, we haven't looked at the details but this looks to be a direct impact of AT opening up HOP to more payment methods, something they report has already been used over a million times to pay for buses, trains and ferries across the region.
How far you actually walk
A good piece on one aspect of driving and parking that people often forget.
Hand-Made Streets
Another great video from Not Just Bikes on street design.
Have a great weekend.
As an art nerd I absolutely adore the over 3000 artworks by school Children in the rail link station. They are wonderful & I'm glad they are there to be enjoyed by members of the public.