Greater Auckland

The secrecy of mega-projects - Greater Auckland How is it that mega-projects costing billions get such little public involvement and scrutiny? That’s a question that Mayor Wayne Brown effectively hits on in

"Building a short section of cycleway, or proposing to take away a car park, gets more column inches in the media – and more scrutiny from both local and central government politicians – than any multi-billion-dollar mega-project ever experiences.

All of this is the opposite of how it should be."

Perfectly good citywide bike network buried under all those cars, too, just awaiting daylighting.

Electrifying the Golden Triangle The Golden Triangle of Aotearoa's Upper North Island is home to 40% of the nation's population with huge flows of people and freight. Electrifying its rail could make a real difference to its mobility

#RailNews: The Golden Triangle is home to 40% of NZ's population with huge flows of people and freight. Electrifying its rail could make a real difference to its mobility

By @darrendavis.bsky.social via Adventures in Transitland: adventuresintransitland.substack.com/p/electrifyi...

omg so true bestie, totes #twinning over here too 🚗✨

paved sidewalk with grey squares next to green space on left and cafe tables and trees on right.

Light brown sand/park with trees overhead.

Grey pavement and green space and picnic tables.

Here's one of Barcelona's famous superillas, or superblocks, on Rocafort-Consell de Cent. All of this used to be asphalt and space for moving and storing cars. Now it's green, quiet, calm, and safe.

Despite the so-called “war on cars”, there are still lots of roads in Montreal to drive or park your car on. Most of them, actually.

"Pedestrian seriously injured after being hit by car, Botany Rd in East Auckland closed." Screenshot of a news story in the NZ Herald from Monday 29 September 2025. The first line of the story reads: "A worker close to the site where a pedestrian was struck by a car in East Auckland said he heard a loud “bang” noise before a rush of sirens." This year, Botany Rd was one of over 1400 Auckland streets that had its speed limit raised by order of the current government, in this case, from 50km/h back up to 60km/h. In a move that runs counter to evidence and good practice, the government's new Speed Rule (authored by Simeon Brown and rolled out by Chris Bishop) *reversed* speed reductions implemented since 2020 on the spurious grounds that safer speeds impacted "productivity". The speed reductions were aimed at making roads safer for everyone using them, whether in a car or not. A quick search of "Botany Rd serious crash" explains why Botany was one of them. Today's crash seems to have happened along a stretch of Botany Rd that has shops and bus stops on both sides of the road, but the nearest signalised crossings are around half a kilometre away in either direction.

"Six hurt in SH1 crash near Taupō." Screenshot of a Radio NZ news story from Monday 29 September 2025. This stretch of State Highway 1 recently had its speed limit raised back up to 100kmh from 60kmh. The speed limit had been lowered due to a history of serious and fatal crashes along this key route. Many locals were appalled by the reversal, as the highway runs through popular and busy holiday towns. For context, see this story from June 2025, in which the Taupō District Council's deputy mayor describes it as "grossly inappropriate”. https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/360717092/holiday-communities-livid-about-speed-limit-reversals and this NZ Herald story https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-speed-rules-100kmh-through-a-lake-taupo-campground/G2VZI4VSJZCTLKP3K444D6H2VU/ which describes some of the worst crashes in this area. "Until 2020, the speed limit remained 100km/h. Between 2000 and August 2023, there were 284 crashes reported on the 10km stretch of road from Motutere to Hallets Bay. Nine were fatal and 22 others were serious."

"'Significant delays' afer stock truck rolls on SH5 Napier Taupō Road." Screenshot of a Radio NZ news story from Monday 29 September 2025. SH5 had its speed limit raised this year back up to 100km/h from 80km/h, as a priority of the current government. Speeds had been reduced to 80km/h due to the ongoing history of serious and fatal crashes on this highway, which is the only link between Napier and Taupō. The return to 100km/h sparked concern from road safety experts. For further context, see this story from February 2025: "An independent study released after the drop to 80km/h concluded the lower speed limit on Napier-Taupō Rd prevented 34 crashes in the first 12 months following its implementation. Crash data also showed there had been fewer crashes on Napier-Taupō Rd since the drop to 80km/h." https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/napier-taupo-rd-speed-limit-rise-to-100kmh-sparks-safety-debate/5QTIH2LPTFGAFAAOWTME3AD7IE/

Three major crashes today on roads where the current NZ govt *increased* the speed limit (previously lowered for safety reasons) in pursuit of "productivity"?

Serious injuries. Lengthy closures. Costly disruptions to lives, whānau, the transport network, our health system. This is not productive. 😞

🎉🚲 It’s (nearly) the most wonderful time of the year… and no, it’s not Christmas! 😉

Biketober is here — a whole month packed with rides, workshops, and celebrations all across Tāmaki Makaurau.

Check out the full calendar at biketober.nz and join the fun!

#Biketober #BikeAKL #BetterByBike

We’re in this list and we like it. 😊#GlobalUrbanists

Making Te Huia a permanent service Te Huia's five-year trial is fast coming towards its close on 30th June 2026. What needs to happen to make it a permanent part of Aotearoa's public transport system?

It’s just over nine months until Te Huia’s five year trial comes to an end in mid-2026. There’s lots to be done to secure it as a permanent service between Auckland and Hamilton. Read on for what this involves.
open.substack.com/pub/adventur...

Electrifying the Golden Triangle The Golden Triangle of Aotearoa's Upper North Island is home to 40% of the nation's population with huge flows of people and freight. Electrifying its rail could make a real difference to its mobility

In my latest blog post, I delve into KiwiRail's emerging thinking on the electrification of the Golden Triangle linking Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.
open.substack.com/pub/adventur...

From Steam to Sustainability: How Railways Could Help Calm the Climate Crisis Born in the age of coal, the rail industry helped ignite the climate crisis. Today, rail — celebrating its 200-year anniversary — is reinventing itself as the greenest mode of mass transport.

Happy 200th birthday to passenger rail travel!

Although, as my piece shows, actual history is messier than that: www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...

Wow look at this street. There must be incredible productivity gains on this crucial economic route from Simeon Browns blanket speed increases. So safe, and so fitting at 50km/h!

Hi @npr.org! We worked late tonight putting together this handy pocket guide!

It doesn't address road design issues, but if we're going to educate road users, we should include drivers.

It's the size of a folded business card. Print it, fold it, put it in your wallet!

Four departing mayors tell us what they really think They want to keep Māori wards, think rates capping will fail, and say the government is being patronising and paternalistic.

There’s a lot wisdom in here, thanks @haydendonnell.bsky.social
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-...

Weekly Roundup 26-September-2025 - Greater Auckland Welcome to another Friday. Who’s ready for Daylight Saving Time this weekend? And it’s almost October, aka World Bank’s report puts it: “[…] there are no other risk factors that have such a substantia...

Our Friday roundup, featuring stories about cities and transport that caught our eye this week. Have a great weekend, and roll on Daylight Saving Time (and Biketober)! www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2025/09/26/w...

I want to live in cities where a scene like this is fairly unremarkable.

A viable cycling network is a vital safety-net for people and the economy. Is the cheapest transport network to install and maintain. A measure of a city’s competence and civility.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/pinchpo...

🙏

Vote for a Bikeable Auckland - Bike Auckland Our long-running campaign to encourage voters (with their votes), and candidates (with policy and actions) to fight for a Bikeable Auckland.

A timely question! Here are a few useful resources for figuring out where candidates stand on the issues...
Bike AKL: www.bikeauckland.org.nz/campaigns/bi...
Gen Zero: localelections.nz
Policy NZ: policy.nz/2025

a bicycle is chained to a metal fence in the snow Alt: a bicycle is chained to a metal fence in the snow

Use this simple trick to ensure parking is always free.

Plan Change debate: more housing was the winner on the day - Greater Auckland Housing has been much in the headlines recently, with a few Auckland Councillors fighting tooth and nail to prevent more of it in their own neighbourhoods and instead push it out to other parts of the...

More housing was the winner on the day: our wrap-up of this week's decision by Auckland Council to move ahead with the new Plan Change. www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2025/09/25/p...

'What the city needs': Council votes to notify housing plan change after showdown The showdown vote came after a marathon council hearing with some fiery exchanges.

"The showdown vote (won 18-5) came after a marathon council hearing with sometimes fiery exchanges between supporters of the plan for greater density, and staunch opponents."🔥

Simon Wilson reports in detail on Auckland Council's decision to crack on with putting new homes where it makes most sense.

It's weird - but now in Oslo, there's so many EVs that you notice the noise and the smell from individual ICE cars, and you realise how much we've been normalising it for ever. You can smell them half a street away.

And inside parking lots are just *quiet*.

KiwiRail Maps Rail Industry’s Transition To A Lower Carbon Future “As an example of how we’re ramping up our efforts, with Government support we’ve procured 66 new efficient diesel locomotives - 47 will replace our aging locomotive fleet in the South Island and 19 w...

#RailNews: KiwiRail has unveiled its plans to transition to a low carbon, climate resilient business as it prepares the network for the growing impacts of climate change.

Via Scoop: www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU25...

Text from the linked Spinoff article by Hayden Donnell. This snippet reads: Wtf is going on Waitematā councillor Mike Lee is speaking against today’s proposed plan change. Or at least I think he is. He’s talking about the Byzantine emperor Theophiles, who reigned from 829 to 842AD. “The emperor was processing from one end of Constantinople to another as he did every week and he was stopped by an elderly widow who complained to the emperor that a relation, I think it was his brother-in-law, was expanding the palace so much so to block all her light,” he says. “And the emperor responded by having his brother-in-law tear down the palace. And I think we should take an example from that.” Something to think about, for sure.

Another snippet from Hayden's coverage of today's meeting, this time Maurice Williamson's choice of metaphors for the two options. It reads: Incisive stuff. But then, a controversial moment. “We’ve been almost given the choice between the firing squad and a lethal injection,” says Williamson. There’s a hubbub around the council table. It’s not the first time councillors have used questionable metaphors when opposing dense housing, with Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa councillor Christine Fletcher comparing the townhouse law to “gang rape” in a meeting four years ago. “I’m asking for the violent language to stop when we talk about housing,” says committee chair Richard Hills. “It’s a metaphor,” grouses Williamson, though he agrees to amend to “two ghastly options”.

"Wtf is going on?" You can count on @haydendonnell.bsky.social to ask the major questions – and today's live-blog of Auckland Council's housing debate was no exception. (Includes faithful transcription of some highly questionable metaphors.)

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-...

The outcome of today's debate at Auckland Council: the city will now move ahead with Plan Change 120, enabling more housing near town centres & transport links (and not in areas prone to flooding).

Still to come: public consultation and hearings. But housing was, and will be, the winner on the day.

Live: 'Lost the plot': D-day for Akl housing plan, key vote at showdown council meeting The Auckland Council meets today to decide which zoning rules to adopt for consultation.

Today's big Auckland Council debate, re whether to:

🏙️🚆🚌 update the zoning plan to intensify housing around town centres & public transport (and away from flood-risk areas)

OR

🛣️🏘️🚗 stick to the existing plan, of 3x3-storey units pretty much everywhere

...is being live-blogged here by Simon Wilson:

Yes we can retrofit Perimeter Blocks! - Greater Auckland This is a guest post by Alex Bonham, Yasmin Tapiheroe, and Nic Williams of

Wondering how Auckland can cleverly (and beautifully) retrofit more medium-density housing into areas already well-served with transport links, shops, jobs, schools, trees and other stuff people love to live near?

Check out yesterday's guest post on perimeter blocks, by Women in Urbanism Aotearoa:

Live: D-day for Auckland's housing plan, key vote at showdown council meeting The Auckland Council meets today to decide which zoning rules to adopt for consultation.

Key points, as illuminated by Simon Wilson here:
• both options work towards a theoretical capacity of 2 million total homes
• the debate is about *where* to put more housing - everywhere, or close to transport & town centres?
• if Council opts for the new plan, the next step is public consultation