Posts by Matthew Poole
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Oh, no, I'm completely incorrect. See this photo for an example from Christchurch.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Has anyone ever seen these “special marked areas”?
I would presume that they're the green-painted spaces that start before the advance boxes and run back along the centre-line. It's not clear what they're for, but that's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for their existence.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I think it’s accepted that new motorways must now be accompanied by new cycleways.
Which is a good thing. But NZTA really fought hard to avoid that becoming accepted practice.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Hugh Wilson,
with footpaths & bike lanes, is the upshot that local authorities have to fund these
There's a separate fund for cycle infrastructure, but it's still a shared cost between the local authority and central government if that fund is accessed. NZTA has been having to (reluctantly, let's be honest) build pedestrian/cyclist infrastructure alongside their new motorways out west, but those are the exceptions. For footpaths and cycle infrastructure otherwise, if the road is controlled by a local authority they're that authority's cost.
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Hard News: Local journeys on the cusp of…, in reply to Hugh Wilson,
I'm not intimate with the NZTA funding model, but this is a general approach, and the crucial element is the 'in part' bit, meaning there is another source - typically consolidated revenue, which is made up of taxation receipts from multiple sources and - gasp - includes $ from non-motorists. In this way road funding is widely misunderstood , not to mention the fact that many drivers are also periodic walkers and/or cyclists.
NZTA's roading budget is almost entirely covered by fuel excise and RUC, except for a relatively small sum ($100m or so, from memory) from the consolidated fund that's guaranteeing future revenue for PPPs.
It's non-state highways that are funded predominately from other sources, being general council revenues, at a 50:50 ratio between NZTA and the relevant local authority. -
Hard News: Behind those Herald…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
NZ Inc is still behind the 8-ball on telecommuting.
I don't know that we are, TBH. A lot of our employment is simply not suited to remote working (hard to milk cows and show tourists around without being present, at least for now), and knowledge industries actually benefit from in-person contact. There's a reason that Google et al put an amazing amount of effort and capital into getting their people into the same approximate physical locations, and it's not just because it means they get to tout the various benefits as part of their recruitment spiel.
I can do my job from home, largely, and could in my previous role too (though if I had to assemble or install a computer, hands-on was the only option), but I find it to be far more valuable to be in the same building as my colleagues and able to have casual chats over the coffee machine or the lunch table; chats that, quite often, wouldn't happen without that proximity because they result from the unintended mutual presence instead of being actively sought out. I have resolved more than one minor niggle through those chats, and they also build good rapport that's highly desirable for workplace congeniality.
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Hard News: Behind those Herald…, in reply to Alfie,
Here's today's effort from the Herald. A nice young man who found that merely making his own lunches gave him enough money to buy his first rental
... in Rotorua. He hasn't bought in Auckland.
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Hard News: Behind those Herald…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Islam's issue is charging interest, not banking itself. A point which seems to pass by many of SWB's detractors.
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Hard News: Behind those Herald…, in reply to Moz,
stop non-citizens or non-residents buying real estate.
Or, at the very least, do what the Australians do and prohibit them from buying existing housing stock. If their money is welcome in the housing cycle it should be right at the genesis of a property.
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Hard News: Behind those Herald…, in reply to Ian Tinkler,
That one stinks like fortnight-old fish. Too good to be true.