Kent Lundberg

Car-less days? Government mulls Muldoon-era mandates as prices soar Legislation under review gives ministers the power to force car-less days or limit the sale of petrol.

Govt considering emergency legislation that gives ministers “power to force car-less days, limit the sale of petrol, or provide fuel coupons to ration access.” www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

“Replacing surplus on-street parking and 20% of street space with vegetation could reduce all-cause mortality by around 0.8%, while reaching 15% of vegetation coverage in each IRIS could prevent around 3% of deaths yearly in Paris as early as 2040.”

Replacing car-dedicated space with green spaces: an assessment of the mortality benefits in Paris Increasing urban vegetation coverage is associated with improved human health and well-being, reduced environmental impact of cities and enhanced urba…

Research: Replacing car-dedicated space with green spaces: an assessment of the mortality benefits in Paris. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Interested in how to get public transport that works, even in traffic-heavy suburban cities?

My book lays out the ins and outs of transit planning, with theory and practice grounded in years of experience on what works.

Now available in print and eBook formats: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GRPZ4VHD/

This is nuts.

Holy moly. We went from oil *might* go over $100/barrel to this in a week.

Service led stans from NZ

📣 my colleague’s new book just dropped. www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GRPZ4VHD @mrcagney.bsky.social @nicolas-reid.bsky.social

This is great 👍

Supply of fertilizer will be an issue too - yikes

On The Kaka by Bernard Hickey. Following up from his coverage a few days ago about us having 21 days of diesel supply. I was betting on next week being the time NZ wakes up to the implications

Media already softening the blow for Luxon calling it a ‘bad luck’ for the economic recovery. Meanwhile his LNG proposal and fantasy, unfundable roads programme are stinking the place up. A meaningful recovery starts with replacing imported fuels with local energy supplies.

It's nuts.

NZ economy is tightly connected to diesel prices. Getting off this stuff should be a national imperative.

Just heard the first mention on NZ media of the possibility of "rationing" fuel.

It also has 3 new stations, 2 being underground. And it’s super short. Other projects have some easy sections, CRL is uniquely only difficult parts. I think when it’s open we’ll understand that one of the underground stations is over sized.

The local impacts of the war in Iran are completely foreseeable, except to the New Zealand government for which the easily accessible and common sense information below will come as a total shock as soon as disruptions hit April’s scheduled deliveries

Interesting updated charts from Transit Costs Project. NZ (CRL) is still an outlier but now noted as 100% tunnelled project. transitcosts.com/new-data/

Gas prices up by around 50% today.

A painful reminder that relying on imported fossil fuels is a risky strategy.

This didn’t age well.

This one weird trick. Allowing townhouses in central areas has crushed house price growth in Auckland. www.oneroof.co.nz/news/the-20-...

How to get people excited about transit "It will literally be your best selling t-shirt, it will get you so much PR, and if anyone interprets this inappropriately that's a them problem"

I wrote about the one actually great thing that happened this week

I think those were imagined as letting George Court residents out that way. I doubt that is the plan anymore

Light rail revival? Scrapped Auckland corridor 'a problem worth solving' The Transport Minister says the public transport corridor from the city centre to the airport, previously intended to be a light rail line, needs to be worked on.

Legend @connorsharp.bsky.social keeping the OG light rail project alive. www.1news.co.nz/2026/02/28/l...

Dawn blessing / opening of the new traffic filtered streets around the new train station. ✨✨

Is Mount Victoria tunnel 'all go', or still under consideration? The Transport Minister says holding off on a second Mount Victoria tunnel is something under consideration, but the Finance Minister insists the project is "all go".

How does Willis commit to the Wellington tunnels AND balance the books? Seems to be painting herself into a corner. 🍿 www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Important. Chunk up the projects in stages matching the political terms (and budgets).

Auckland “light rail” missed this wildly.

Govt:
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell says the country is in a "perpetual cycle of response and recovery", with 25 local states of emergency declared in the past two years.

Also Govt:
Here’s a list of unfundable fantasy roading projects that we will waste 3 years on

I don’t know how many people join Bluesky each day, but my sense is that more & more people are discovering the outstanding community/conversation here (best on social media) about better cities. I still think STARTER PACKS are a superpower. I’ve made many, but here’s my first again. Please share.

Why not spend $2.7b on solar & batteries instead? Govt to pay up to $180m/year or $2.7b over 15 years to lease LNG re-gasification plant, paid for by $15-$30 'levy' per household per year. That $2.7b would build four Benmore Dams worth of electricity

FYI I’ve opened this up for full public reading, listening & sharing after requests from paying subscribers. Their support allows me to do this kind of public interest journalism on Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate & poverty in public. #nzpol thekaka.substack.com/p/why-not-sp...