Hope everyone’s been keeping dry! Here’s some interesting news that’s caught our attention this week.
This Week in Greater Auckland
- On Monday Connor did a deep dive on NZTA’s self-conflicting decisions for the SH16 Brigham to Waimauku project.
- Wednesday Matt take a look at the Transport Plans for Downtown West.
- On Thursday Tim Adriaansen asked what really needs fixing at Auckland Transport.
This post, like all our work, is brought to you by the Greater Auckland crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join our circle of supporters here, or support us on Substack!
The magic of through-running (ie what CRL will do in Auckland)
If you want to know what CRL will bring to Auckland’s passenger rail network, check out this piece by Benedict Springbett which explores how adding through-running to cities like Munich and London transformed their legacy transport lines into modern metro networks.
One of the Holy Grails of transport policy has thus been a way to turn these legacy lines into something like a modern metro system. The solution developed by many transit authorities is known as through running. This means taking suburban lines on opposite sides of the city, and joining them up by running trains through the city center, usually in a tunnel. This tunnel does not necessarily have to be very long: in some cities, only a handful of kilometers is needed, because the rest of the infrastructure (the legacy lines that are joined together by the tunnel) is already there. For the price of a comparatively small section of tunnel, a large number of suburbs can get metro-like service directly into the city center.
Through running has convergently evolved in many places. This article looks at two of them, Munich and London. Munich is distinctive in having used through running to create what is probably the best transit network on earth, relative to the size of the city. London is distinctive in the sheer size of its legacy network, due to its enormous size in the nineteenth century. This means that through running has offered it opportunities of unique scale and complexity.
How more ‘less structured’ play space in cities is better for kids’ creativity
New research explores how more freedom for creativity in cities doesn’t come from playgrounds “built for safety”, but through self-organising ‘open play’ spaces. Comparing Venice and Auckland, Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez from the University of Auckland and Gregor Mews from the University of the Sunshine Coast finds that other cities can learn:
From our research, we can draw lessons for how urban spaces might be reimagined to better support children’s wellbeing and autonomy. This includes:
- Designing public spaces with natural elements, “risky art”, loose parts and creative equipment for open-ended play that balances safety without compromising opportunities for discovery and risk-taking
- reducing the number of cars and slowing speeds to achieve better outcomes for children
- reclaiming streets so that all people and animals can have positive adventures
- prioritising policies for car-free or traffic-calmed areas across neighbourhoods and in proximity to social places (schools, libraries, shops, parks) to contribute to a culture where safety is a collective responsibility and a commitment towards a stronger social cohesion
- proactively involving children in urban design through place-making and temporary appropriation; it is their right to be heard and listened to through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- encouraging participatory co-design workshops and action-focused initiatives to harness children’s insights to design spaces that meet needs
- considering nuanced and emotional indicators for success such as belonging, curiosity, joy and inter-generational exchange rather than just efficiency or maintenance cost
- and collaboratively modifying the environment over time.
Unsafe speeds kick in… just in time for the school holidays
The 1 July deadline embedded in Simeon Brown’s Speed Rule landed this week, in the first week of the school holidays. The reversal of safe speeds in neighbourhoods is pretty cruel timing for would-be free-range kids, as noted by this media release from Brake, the road safety charity, and an alliance of road safety experts:
Just as the school holidays get under way, children around the country will be at higher risk on streets in their neighbourhoods as the Setting of Speed Limits Rule (the Rule) introduced by Minister Simeon Brown and implemented by current Minister of Transport Chris Bishop requires councils to revert to dangerous higher speed limits from 1 July, with variable speeds in place only at school gates at the start and end of the school day.
“Children across the country are at risk from higher speeds when they’re walking, biking or scooting around their neighbourhoods. If hit by a vehicle going 50km/h, children have an 80% higher likelihood of being killed or seriously injured than at 30km/h.”
…
The higher speeds kick in on 1 July, during the school holidays, and the reality of central government overriding evidence and local preference is only just becoming clear to many communities.
What can councils do about rising temperatures in NZ cities?
Timothy Welch in The Conversation looks at rising temperatures and extreme heatwaves we are seeing more often around the world, including New Zealand, due to climate change – and looks at what we can do differently. He sees that there are five things councils can do:
Summer is six months away – maybe not enough time to do all the work needed, but certainly enough to get a plan in place. Here are five things councils could do.
- Plant trees now: winter is planting season. Focus on car parks and heat-vulnerable neighbourhoods. Use fast-growing natives and protective rings to ensure survival. Trees planted now will provide shade by December.
- Install modular planters: test cooling locations with movable infrastructure before committing to permanent changes. Order now for spring placement when residents can see the benefits.
- Schedule paving replacements: when resurfacing is needed, switch to permeable options and get heat-reducing surfaces in place before summer.
- Design shade structures: plan and budget pop-up shade for the hottest areas. Having designs ready means quick installation when temperatures spike.
- Organise spring planting days: line up community groups now, source trees through winter nursery contracts, and hit the ground running in September. Small investments in coordination yield big cooling dividends.
The City Centre: good enough to renew a 25-year retail lease
The Crane Brothers menswear retailer renewed a 25 year lease on High Street recently. Turns out rumours of the demise of the City Centre are overstated, as the Herald reports owner Murray Crane saying:
Crane said a lot had changed since the store opened, from how people shopped to how the city functioned.
“But the essence of what we do remains the same. We’ve always focused on quality, craft, and care.
“The way we deliver that has evolved; we’ve embraced technology and digital integration, but the fundamentals haven’t shifted.
“We still vacuum and polish the brass every morning, clean the windows every week. That consistency, that discipline, is part of our rhythm.”
Crane said the business was tracking on par with the last financial year, but importantly it was seeing same-store growth despite the addition of a second Auckland location in Ponsonby.
The business’ online sales also continued to trend upwards.
He said that while high rent and land-use challenges persist at the Ponsonby location, there was a genuine appetite for experiential, local retail.
“I believe both areas are contributing to the wider recovery of retail in Auckland in their own way. I wouldn’t compare the two directly – they’re different environments, and both serve a purpose.
“What’s more important is recognising that strong retail can take many forms.”
Crane had been outspoken on the reasons behind the closing of retail stores like Smith & Caughey’s, and the article reports him saying:
Crane still backs that critique today, arguing that the core message he was trying to convey is that while things like construction and city disruption are real, they shouldn’t be the only story.
“We need to shift the narrative and focus on what’s working – not just what’s hard. Running a business like ours has never been easy.
“We chose to sell designer menswear in one of the smallest, most challenging markets in the world. We face adversity daily.
“That reality has shaped who we are – we’re focused, agile, and used to making things work under pressure.
“It’s part of our culture, and I think it’s one of the reasons we’re still here. We’ve stayed close to our customers, adapted quickly, and continued to invest in the places and people we believe in.”
Some videos and interviews!
Business Insider chatted with Dan Gardner, one of the co-authors of “How Big Things Get Done”, which George Weeks reviewed in a guest post last year.
Streetfilms had a look at Church Street in London, which recently removed traffic to create a walking, cycling, and transit street:
Jesse Mulligan and Simon Wilson chatted about speed limits and road safety.
Redesigning Disney World to be ‘better’ for cars:
Great Western Railways battery train out of testing!
Match made in heaven for this discovery by a rail engineer!
New York City sees lowest road toll since 2018
2025 has seen only 87 traffic deaths in New York City – the lowest since 2018, as the New York Times explains:
City officials attribute the declines so far this year to programs begun under the Vision Zero initiative, including adding protected bike lanes, redesigning intersections and lowering maximum speeds on e-bikes to 18 miles per hour. Last month the city slowed e-bikes down a bit more, to 15 m.p.h.
But 2025 comes with an asterisk. Sarah Kaufman, the director of the Rudin Center for Transportation at New York University, noted that congestion pricing in Manhattan, a program managed by the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had reduced vehicle traffic in the zone where drivers have been charged $9 since early January. “Along with less traffic comes fewer accidents and less road rage,” she said. “If you’re angry behind the wheel, you’ll make rash decisions that could hurt pedestrians.”
Miki Rapu Waiata: Taonga
Check out this installation and experience in Te Komititanga Square:
An eye-catching installation in Te Komititanga Plaza will alert passersby to Miki Rapu Waiata: Taonga, an app-based audio experience audiences can choose to do at any time.
From this starting point, download the locally developed PickPath app and be taken on a journey to significant points around the waterfront, where you will uncover hidden tracks, including archival recordings of well-known waiata Māori provided by Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision and new covers with a contemporary twist.
The covers honour the archival pieces of history and give them a modern perspective, showing the relevance of their message in this era.
2022 research on e-bikes, e-scooters, and young people
Improving safety when young people ride e-scooters and e-bikes compiles the evidence around injuries and fatalities for children and young people resulting from e-scooters and e-bikes, risk factors, and how Queensland’s road rules and laws surrounding their use compares to other jurisdictions.
Horizons Regional Council fully funding public transport improvements
Despite central governments failure to provide funding for co-investment, overwhelming public support in consultation has led Horizons Regional Council to fund public transport improvements.
About 57% of submitters preferred the option of three high-frequency routes and two hourly routes.
This would mean three routes similar to Te Ngaru The Tide operating across the city every 20 minutes and two routes running hourly, extending further into Aramoho.
The improved service would replace existing school routes because of increased connectivity across the city.
Whanganui District Council’s representative on Horizons’ passenger transport committee, Anthonie Tonnon, said the responses were pleasing.
“Seeing that kind of response come through has been fantastic and it has been great to see such a great design go through to our timetable as well,” he said.
Also in Whanganui: a creative town with affordable homes
Via Stuff, an article on “The artsy town where renting is ‘tricky’, and first home dreams come true”:
Cheap house prices brought an influx of new residents to Whanganui over the past decade, and now visitors are picking up on the city’s appeal.
Singer Stan Walker calls it home, as does musician Anthonie Tonnon, who runs the 103-year-old Durie Hill Elevator, New Zealand’s only public transport elevator.
In 2021, Whanganui became the country’s only UNESCO City of Design, recognising its contributions to art and creativity through the years.
Now, there’s a growing buzz about it generally, said artist Lorene Taurerewa. She returned to her home town from Brooklyn, New York, in 2020, during the Covid epidemic.
Wanting to be part of the city’s blossoming vibrancy, Taurerewa opened Ann Parker Gallery in the centre of the arts hub last August.
“It really is something else. People come into the gallery and they’re amazed how wonderful everything is here. It’s a destination.”
From the socials
Streetcar with bicycle racks, 1898
That’s it for us this week, have a great weekend!
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The Chinese have been leding the way with infrastructure.
Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge is 164.8-kilometre-long. China leads the world as the top producer and user of solar energy. China builds a 10 storey apartment building in a day, China builds apartment to house 20 000 people. China is known as the “kingdom of bicycles” and has a massive number of bicycles in use, estimated to be around 200 million. China just opened the world’s largest high speed station in the world. China’s HSR accounts for two-thirds of the world’s total high-speed railway networks.
Here in NZ we stuggle to accept apartments, bikeways and rail.
I don’t think it’s that useful to compare ourselves to China. They have good and bad reasons both as to why big things happen there.
We should compare ourselves to mid-size countries like Denmark, Norway etc – or with cities in Australia – and ask why we’re not managing to get closer to those good things they manage. I think comparisons with gigaprojects in other countries doesn’t really help much…
Interesting, New York City kills less persons in traffic than we do as a motu. And New York City is home to a lot more persons than our tiny isles. Perhaps we could learn something?
Persons don’t kill persons, the machines kill persons. Reduce the machine presence in our lives, and increase our chances of survival?
bah humbug
Interesting? Or just how cities work?
Auckland’s road toll is only 10% of the country’s with 1/3 of the population
Ultimately if you want to use the roads in a city, whether driving or cycling, it’s safer to do so in a city because the busyness of the roads means people are slower, more careful
More to do with the relative speeds of traffic in urban vs rural environments. Most of our veh-kms travelled are in urban areas but we kill or seriously injure more people on our rural roads (esp. with so many 100kmh roads that shouldn’t be). It is only our more vulnerable road users on foot or bike who tend to be more over-represented in urban areas, where they are more present – again, the stats would be a lot better if we had a lot more 30/40km/h streets…
Just in case it’s not clear above, Horizons is the Manawatū-Whanganui Regional Council. It covers much of the central-lower North Island including Palmerston North City, which boasts NZ’s only all-electric bus fleet.
Anyway, I took The Tide (in) about two months ago. I got on at the Castlecliff terminus and off at Trafalgar Square in the centre of town about 20 minutes later. I was the only passenger.
The regional council has made a real effort to upgrade the bus networks in Palmerston North and Whanganui.
In contrast, most councils have shown little interest in improving local bus services. Nelson also deserves praise here but that’s it (outside Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch).
However, even in smaller cities with good bus networks (and $2 fares) patronage is still disappointingly low.
Cost of living crisis or not, almost everyone chooses to drive almost everywhere.
I think Palmy has those smaller electric buses for many routes? Do I recall that correctly?
That’s right:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/510834/palmerston-north-buses-go-100-percent-electric-in-first-for-nz
There is an almost frequent service between the airport and Massey via the city:
https://www.horizons.govt.nz/HRC/media/Media/Bus-Route-Timetable/101-Airport-Massey-individual-timetable.pdf
Didn’t Murray Crane bitterly oppose the removal of parking spaces on High St.? It would be nice if he could admit that he was wrong.
Fought against change for High St for the best part of a decade. Probably the main reason why it didn’t go to full pedestrianised space, as it should have.
He’d never concede it was a success, either way..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVM9mQNLCww
Some nice shared path sections showing in this Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway – Flyover.
And in Devonport Flagstaff Margot McRae (Devonport Heritage) thanks the government for concentrating intensification around the railway lines, rather than allowing it to occur in Devonport. https://devonportflagstaff.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SMALL_DevonportFlagstaff_4July2025-1.pdf
Apparently intensification, rather than unregulated on-street parking, also hinders emergency vehicles.
If anyone like me has thought this spot on the NW cycleway is a bit dangerous, AT doesn’t agree, their reply to me is below. It is at the point where bikes are travelling west and must give way to cars coming down Virginia Ave W in Eden Terrace. My suggestion was to rotate the give way sign 90 degrees so that the cycleway has right of way to continue straight, as I’ve seen a few near misses here.
“We’ve now reviewed the details of your case
A Traffic Engineer has looked into the concerns you’ve raised.
This is a local road and cul-de-sac, where a low traffic volume is expected.
Moreover, speeds are managed by existing speed-calming measures before the intersection with the cycle route, such as speed humps and side friction by parked vehicles.
A cycle sign is in place to advise drivers of cyclists on the road.
Road markings and signage are implemented on the cycle routes to advise cyclists to give way to oncoming vehicles; they are expected to slow down. We did not identify visibility issues with the give way signs and road markings.
Given the reasons outlined above, we are unable to justify making any changes to the current road layout.
Thanks for reaching out”
Fun fact: That (the road giving way to the bikeway) was what I (Bike Auckland’s infrastructure liaison at the time) suggested when this was built years ago.
I argued that it made a lot of sense from an instinctive perspective as well, because cars approach from the “stem of the T”, which is what normally gives way anyway. However, despite our transport system occasionally arguing that people on bikes are “vehicles”, it doesn’t seem that this is seen as sufficient…
Auckland really in desperate need of more ‘Rapid Transits’ across Auckland! RoNS needs to be changed by scrapping some roading projects for rapid transit projects and placing scrapped roading projects for next parliamentary cycle! There needs to be more of a focus on ‘Rapid Transits’ and not just heavily investing in roads after roads! Commuters and voters are asking for more fast ‘Rapid Transits’ which improves their daily lives since most people currently are having long commutes via public transport or even own private vehicle! With public transport, some commuters need a second public transport service to commute from home to work, vice-versa, usually taking past an hour which is eating up commuters quality of life. As for private vehicles, they’re creating bottlenecks in the roading system due to no alternative, no rapid transit present meaning longer commutes and congestion!
What Auckland needs to see is ‘New Density Rules’ implemented in Eastern & Southern line suburbs. For Eastern line, Glen Innes, Panmure & Sylvia Park. For Southern line, Newmarket, Greenlane, Ellerslie & Otahuhu!
Takapuna not going to see more high density residential complexes and become a Metropolitan anytime soon since its not convenient to commute or quick 15 mins commute via public transport from CBD and currently one bus only goes directly to Takapuna from Midtown, not from Britomart, Newmarket & K Road. Which makes residential investing in Takapuna undesirable due to lack of flexibility and direct options of PT routes for potential residential buyers to live/stay. Takapuna really in-need of a Rapid Transit (tunnelled Heavy Rail) from Britomart and temporarily terminating at Smales Farm!
4-car light metro can carry 600-780 passengers, running at 2.5-3 minute headways (20-24TPH) as studied by the NZTA equals 12,000 to 18,720 people per hour each way.
6-car heavy rail train can carry 750-800 passengers, running at 4-5 minute headways (12-16TPH) as studied by the NZTA equals 9,000 to 12,800 people per hour each way. 9-car trains carrying 1125-1200 passengers were limited to 12TPH, which means a capacity of 13,500 to 14,400 people per hour per direction.
Heavy rail is not the only option. Driverless light metro provides the same speed and similar if not greater capacity, can be built on steeper gradients and lighter axle loads, and does not have to share trackage with mainline freight and passenger trains.
Also most North Shore heavy rail studies show a line from Parnell tunnelling under Wellesley Street before crossing the Waitemata via Wynyard Quarter. It will not be easy to build a grade separated junction at Britomart now the skyscrapers have gone in over the CRL connection.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/18392/response/70939/attach/5/Auckland%20Rapid%20Transit%20Plan%20Stage%201%203%20Summary%20Report.pdf
“Also most North Shore heavy rail studies show a line from Parnell tunnelling under Wellesley Street before crossing the Waitemata via Wynyard Quarter.“
North Shore line via Britomart is achievable! You do by tunnelling underneath current H&M store, Customs Street and Fanshawe St. Create underground station at Wynyard. Travelling through all the way to Takapuna with Belmont included and terminating at Smales Farm. Very accomplish-able !
Okay, and how do you do that without shutting down the CRL tunnels that were already built under said H&M store?
How do you achieve enough grade separation for the northbound North Shore line to cross under the citybound City Rail Link tunnel? You would need more than 5 metres clearance if I’m not mistaken, within about 100 metres distance. Heavy rail can’t do a 1 in 20 gradient, our trains aren’t designed for that.
Or are you convinced that 30 to 40 trains per hour each way can share a flat junction with track crossings? Since you seem to think that people will happily wait 20 minutes for a train under Dominion Road instead of 5 minutes for a more frequent tram that’s not much slower, I guess you might not have a good grasp of practicalities like that.
Why not use Aotea station which has been designed to accomodate another line running East-West below the current line? It is also more central in the CBD
well this is the kind of guy who thinks the Avondale-Southdown link is “already paid for” and that construction will somehow only be $100 million.
i don’t think old hat heavy rail brigadiers are that smart tbh. they seem to think tracks can just be laid down anywhere with zero regards for construction or practicalities – jon reeves advocating for the airport cycleway to be replaced with a single-track rail line, and now this anon. then they act like light rail is suddenly the most complex and insurmountable thing.
they also assume things won’t change – that intensification wouldn’t occur around a Dominion Rd tram line, that midtown won’t rebound once the CRL opens
“….residnetial investing in Takapuna (is) undesirable…”
669 units in just three new developments.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360589449/aucklands-takapuna-hits-boom-time-can-infrastructure-keep-growth
I don’t think rail to Takapuna is necessary. Or it might be a second line built in 50yrs time, with the priority being the Wynyard route. Merely optimising the bus priority and frequency on both sides of the bridge would be a cheaper, quicker win.
You’ve missed overall point of the article! In that article, sure three apartment blocks but isn’t enough for Takapuna! There’s also the Milford and Birkenhead, why haven’t they grown?!
The article highlights the need for a ‘Rapid Transit’ in Takapuna! Included Auckland councillor highlighting the need for ‘Rapid Transit’!
“I would love light rail or rapid transport to Takapuna” he said
“I’ve been long an advocate of rail to the Shore, rail to Takapuna, and the reason why is because it’s always been designated for housing growth, planned for decades and long before I was around.”
surprised you’re not going off on said councillor for supporting light rail, since you’re so ideologically opposed to it.
BRT.
Or for a fraction of the cost and similar benefit we could just build the Onewa Station, like originally intended just south of the Onewa Rd interchange on SH1. All cross-harbour buses transfer and you can transfer from any bus to any other bus going into or out of the city. Right now the 82 is direct but only serves a small point in the CBD like you said. The other options are to take local buses and transfer at Akoranga. That’s fine but the options are infrequent and non-direct, hence they take longer. Frequency is freedom. Frequencyxfrequency (via well-placed transfer points)=ultimate freedom.
“Redesigning Disney World to be ‘better’ for cars” – I think that video is a bit unrealistic. I mean most of those redesigned roads still have footpaths on both sides. There could have been some proper value engineering done.
But that way the ‘active modes’ budget pays for the restructure. We can remove them once traffic is so bad that we just need one more lane.