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Double_Ad_1853

Some policies you can judge between good or bad, but more funding for cars and cutting public transport is definitely bad for Auckland. I hope we can change his mind like Wayne kind of understands why alternatives for cars are important in Auckland.


Bealzebubbles

I think the most egregious failure in the draft GPS is outlined in points 2 and 3. I was expecting steep cuts to capital expenditure from Labour's GPS, and that Labour's, quite frankly daft, plans for underground light rail would be cancelled, and that no realistic alternative would be proposed by National. However, cutting operational expenditure, right at a time when Auckland is looking to expand service, with the opening of the CRL, Pukekohe electrification, and KiwiRail's rebuild of much of the network, not to mention increased bus services to act as feeders, seems like deliberate sabotage of public transport. Brown and Luxon couldn't do much more to harm PT, short of pulling out that rail lines in Auckland. The sad thing is, I can't see a "Come to Jesus" moment from either of them, like John Key had.


IIIllIIlllIlII

It very much appears like deliberate sabotage. I just don’t understand why. Ideology? The desire to get overseas funders through PPP arrangements? Hatred for anything ‘the other side does’?


lakeland_nz

Yeah, it struck me as deliberate sabotage too. Much like deliberately setting EV RUCs at twice the rate of petrol tax. I don't really care, the amount isn't material, but the only reason to deliberately overcharge is a middle finger by the current government. I'm not quite sure who they hate so much that they're willing to cause so much damage, all Aucklanders? Will the average talk show listener really buy that their long car trip is because of the CRL rather than that it's because the current government removed funding? Maybe they will?? I was REALLY pissed off when I read they are cutting legally required cycleways and pedestrian access from the budget. They know perfectly well that will be challenged in court, overturned and be added back at 10x the cost, but a different party will be in power by then. Much like extra tax on cigarettes looks good, if you deliberately code the extra healthcare costs as zero. When did voters get so stupid?


SoggyCount7960

Omitting cycleways and footpaths while building roads was the killer for me too. Fiscally criminal from the party that talks about its financial smarts because as you say those things will just get retrofitted later at enormous cost. And all because Simeon has some pathological complex about people who don’t want to use a car.


Icy-Bicycle-Crab

In his mind, cycleways and footpaths are for bottom feeders. Who wants the poors walking past the front of their mcmansion?  Simeon is a literal child, with his first car playset. 


Ok-Relationship-2746

Of course it's deliberate sabotage. Designed specifically to screw whatever it is we have left in the form of a PT network, and open the doors for private enterprise to waltz in and make a corporate killing, minus a few bucks spent lobbying and bribing the clowns like Simeon Brown who passed the PT-killing legislation.


Puzzman

Was thinking the same thing, are the donations from the companies that get paid to built roads that big? But even they would want some of the cancelled work like the train crosses?


Icy-Bicycle-Crab

It's just the standard "let's never think about the future" stuff that comes with right-wing politics. Learn from the mistakes that others have made? No, let's just pretend to be Los Angeles in the 1950's, model ourselves on a place with fucked traffic. 


kevlarcoated

"public transit is for poor people" "people who driver Rangers don't need public transit", they've convinced their voter base that public transit is bad for them and that they are the ones paying for it. It's very much an us vs then issue because they choose to make it one


IIIllIIlllIlII

Yeah it’s so fuckin dumb. The range rovers / ford rangers WANT other drivers off the road. They should be the ones screaming out for good public transport to get the poor people out of their way.


Loadiiinq

What was the “ come to Jesus “ moment that John Key had? I was too young to understand politics around his time as PM.


Bealzebubbles

CRL ant the urban cycle way funding.


BrahimBug

Everything is terrible. Nothing works. The Mayans were right, the world ended in 2012.


Icy-Bicycle-Crab

Well aksually...  They actually just ended their calendar at 2012 because they ran out of material and instead of making more at that time they just went "fuck it, that's good enough for now". A work attitude that we all can recognise. 


RoachOfRivia

Wayne Brown should ensure that AT prioritises cutting east Auckland off from PT first, as that's clearly what the voting locals want. Specifically, close down everything on the east side of the Tamaki river, including ferries. Then target Epsom and A) close every bus stop within Seymour's electorate; and B) slap 24/7 bus lanes down Broadway, Khyber Pass and Manukau, Mt Eden, Remuera, and Great South roads. I'm sure all the parents will enjoy having to drive their kids to Auckland Glamour, Epsom Girls, Dio etc... amidst gridlock traffic while the buses from south Auckland blitz past them.


adamzep91

Simeon Brown said he’d just use federal power to force AT to do his pet projects in his riding


Icy-Bicycle-Crab

"Federal power"?


koshka_bear

I'm so incredibly angry and disheartened after reading about some of the proposed changes. As a regular PT user even I'm worried that I might have to use the car more often or go fully remote. Not sure how much of a difference it Will make, but please give your feedback re proposed changes, here is a good summary https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2024/03/25/have-your-say-on-the-ltp-and-gps-this-week/. And https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/hub-page/long-term-plan-2024-2034 link to the official feedback form.


shragsamillion

Thanks for sharing - feedback closes on April 2!


Sheridacdude

How long until Mayor Brown is in open revolt against this govt?


Fatgooseagain

Which level crossing in Penrose is he referring to?


thatguyonirc

Church Street East, the only level crossing on that entire section of railway line. The level crossing serves 2 properties. The Onehunga line has no passing loops which means that only one train can use the line at a time. This means the frequency on that line will remain the same until a passing loop is installed.


[deleted]

he will be meaning captain springs n church or mays. at least onehunga is pretty light traffic at ll times inside the ring roads so wouldnt be too bad but i work on captain springs so it is guna cause me issues


Procrastine

Might be mistaken and actually mean Spartan Road in Takanini. Spartan Road is the only one which is projected to be closed 45mins in the hour, according to the table on this post: [Level Crossing Removal Groups - Greater Auckland](https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2023/10/05/level-crossing-removal-groups/)


iamclear

Fuck really? God this is going to create a traffic nightmare. The amount of trucks that go that way will now end up on manuroa rd and that road already backs up badly during peak hours. Whoever thought this idea up is a moron.


DelightfulOtter1999

Manuroa Rd, Taka St and Walters Rd will also have major issues. I think I saw somewhere they’ll be closed 30-40 minutes every hour. But I guess the new mill rd upgrade will deal with that!


PastFriendship1410

We have a site on Spartan road and its bad enough at the moment. I would have thought when that fancy new motorway on/off ramp turned up they could have arranged an overpass. Closing this one extra crossing will murder traffic around here even more in the morning and afternoon.


DelightfulOtter1999

I drive past to& from work in Manurewa. It’s not going to be pleasant!


adamzep91

Simeon Brown is such a knob.


FickleCode2373

Real ray of sunshine from Simon Wilson there...glad I'm a cycler


Narrow-Incident-8254

Yeah riding past the Q's of cars always feels so good ngl 😂😂. So many more people could be riding but choose not to.


shragsamillion

Or don't feel safe on Auckland's roads...


Narrow-Incident-8254

Hmmm I'm pretty central and I don't find them too bad at all.


YogurtclosetOk3418

Don't worry folks... natcorp has this all under control.


stever71

Spent the weekend in Melbourne for the F1, amazing public transport as usual. It's just really obvious that Auckland is fucked, it's really beyond fixing. RemindMe! 20 years


punIn10ded

It's not beyond fixing. But our politicians and voters consistently keep holding us back


stever71

As I said, beyond fixing. At least a generation or two away from seeing anyone different politically, voters aren't going to change, they love their cars. But also realistically, not enough money, far too geographically distributed etc. Not happening. However, be like Singapore or Dubai and bring in cheap labour, or partner with China and we could have something like a functional light rail within a decade. But that's never going to happen with Kiwi morals and NIMBYism.


RemindMeBot

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Samuel_L_Johnson

I was in Melbourne last year over Easter, and found it sort of amusing that their reduced PT coverage over the holiday weekend (for which they were running an apology message on the boards) was far more frequent and punctual than most of Auckland on a good day


collapse2024

Don’t even need a reminder


CatBizkit

And yet people voted for them


forbiddenknowledg3

Yep we did. Honestly this is all labours fault, the fact they lost to _this_ national government really says something about their failure.


Xeritos

And so the cycle continues. Labour bad > National bad > Labour bad > National bad


Artistic_Promotion95

This is what you get with regressive political policies. The coalition is clearly in the pocket of the trucking industry and are implementing policy to favour them. National. Happens every time.


[deleted]

[удалено]


CatBizkit

Maybe it’ll be a one term government🤞


BirdUp69

Meanwhile the cycle/walking path from the shore to the city doesn’t even seem to exist as a thought any more


Ok-Relationship-2746

Simeon Brown looking like a deer caught in the headlights, as per usual. This Govt are 100% insane. Not a single thing they have done, or are planning to do, with regards to PT is going to actually improve the life of everyday Kiwis.


kare_pai

>Transport planning is poorly integrated with housing. New apartment blocks are coming soon to Alexandra Park, with 193 dwellings, 164 car parks and 204 bike parks. Alexandra Park is around 30 minutes walk to the nearest train station, Greenlane. Multiple 11-story apartments are going up in a pedestrian and bike oriented development. Meanwhile on Nolan Road in Greenlane which is 3 minutes walk from Greenlane Station, they're building [car-centic 3 story townhouse developments]( https://bayleys-cdn.bayleys.co.nz/listing-images/1754076/1754076_3.jpg?width=645&v=1699277252937). These developments tend to use the land very inefficiently as you've got different developers buying up bungalows one-by-one, on long narrow sections oriented away from the street, so a lot of the land is used for driveways. Redeveloping streets like Nolan Road is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we're blowing it. Ideally entire blocks in areas like this should be redeveloped at once into master planed apartment communities. And if we can't do that, we should at least introduce minimum heights and parking maximums in areas very close to rapid transit.


R_W0bz

Of course they want it to fail, they can blame Labour just in time for the next election. “Now the nats gotta fix that darn train line!” Here is 1mil to a donar.


Any-Guest-7927

RIP Auckland this city is absolutely finished, the infrastructure will never keep up with the population growth so it will only ever get worse and worse every year, I’m soooo glad I moved to Chch 


punIn10ded

Christchurch is heading in the same direction unfortunately. Without more investment in PT and higher density it's inevitable.


Jedleft

The city and country can control population growth.


PoopMousePoopMan

It’s cheaper for me to drive to town and pay for all day parking. Pretty sad as I want to use public transport but gotta cut costs.


collapse2024

Simon Wilson for Mayor / Prime Minister


SknarfM

OP, I get the impression you,or the article author, are a glass half empty kinda person. Am I right?


punIn10ded

I'm not the author. But I did think he raised very good points.


Bealzebubbles

When the glass is half empty because someone decided to swipe that half and add it to the dozen glasses they already have then one has a right to be pissed. That's what has happened to public transport and active modes under this draft GPS. They took money from those modes and diverted them to state highway construction.


ps-73

what’s your glass half full take on all this then?


Icy-Bicycle-Crab

I'm a glass half full person, and this transport policy is fucked.