Transport nerd who made it his career. Also a bit of a writer. Views definitely my own.
Wellington
Joined November 2009
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Says it doesn't need drivers or a dedicated corridor but it surely needs a segregated corridor to operate with no driver, so basically its just an expensive bus?
stuff.co.nz/nz-news/35027086…
I dont think I have ever questioned my initial opinion of a politician as much as I have of Wayne Brown: "...we’ve been subsidising trucks in Auckland. I don’t like paying rates just to have some bugger in a truck."
"It isn't the law you have to get to school in a BMW" - Wayne Brown, Mayor of Auckland.
Put that on every bus and train.
Didn't Luxon say National was for devolution and localisation? This sounds like the opposite to me.
National says it'll scrap a plan to remove cars from Wellington’s Golden Mile if a contract for the work remains unsigned - & it comes into power.
This after the Herald revealed the contract for major works, due to begin mid-next year, has not been signed.
nzherald.co.nz/nz/election-2…
His modeling is probably "increase GST but don't say anything about it until after the election".
National leader Christopher Luxon has refused to release the specific modelling behind his party's election tax policy, which has come under scrutiny from experts 1news.co.nz/2023/09/10/luxon…
But he made a pledge card
National’s @chrisluxonmp says they haven’t done any modelling on what reintroducing interest deductibility, lowering the brightline test, changing the tenancy laws, and removing compulsory medium density will mean to the price of housing
He says there will be “downward pressure”
This is the most "I'm not racist, but..." drivel that has ever arrived in my mailbox.
It's also mostly incoherent ramblings. Yet, whilst it's easy to write off as a joke, the key themes im this waste of paper are being subtly pushed by mainstream politicians to win votes.
Jared Humm retweeted
There are definitely parallels between #vaping and NZs BZP party-pill buzz in the 2000's. Interesting insights (and a surprise appearance from me) in this insider article.
We’ve already witnessed a legal, “offramp” drug become a dangerous fixation for young people in this country. thespinoff.co.nz/society/29-…
Damien Grant is like a canary in a coal mine for these types of thing. If he's making a song and dance that a wealth tax is a bad idea then it's safe to assume it's actually a good one.
OPINION: This isn’t about paying for more health care or extra pay for teachers, but the pleasure of bringing down a peg those who have worked harder, who have achieved more. dlvr.it/SsDdlY
Business owner shuts down business. Blames it on a thing that hasn't happened yet. Doesn't have any evidence to back up their claim other than reckons. But let's use this headline anyway.
nzherald.co.nz/nz/wellington…
The comments below this story are so depressing. We don't have a hope if people remain so resolutely misinformed about these things.
stuff.co.nz/national/welling…
Suggesting that buses can magically provide the same kind of service as rail with barely any capital investment is extremely misinformed and misleading. This opinion piece unfortunately relies on several long ago debunked myths.
OPINION: The city's spread out nature could mean a simple train trip into town could require a walk, a bus, a train, a bus, and another walk. dlvr.it/ScnC8j
I'm now a Hutt and train commuter. Feels good to be on a train (mostly) full of people whizzing past parked cars filled with 1.2 people each.
So when I yelled at the guy who ran me over on the pedestrian crossing "what the f@#! were you doing?" his response was "I was busy watching the traffic" like that was a valid defence. Luckily its my foot that went under and not my head. Car culture is poison.
This is an extremely effective article that uses solid and easy to understand evidence to illustrate the bias of a car dependent perspective on urban/transport policy. A must read.
Is the Central City Fit for Purpose? talkingtransport.com/2022/10…
This is an amazing graph that illustrates the size of the problem in one of New Zealand's major cities to reduce vkt. But it geniusly also shows how it isn't impossible, and is a good way to start imagining up ideas to generate the shift needed.
