Posts by BenWilson
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Not the V8 thing again, I beg you.
Dude, give me some credit. If I was going to suggest an international racing event for NZ it wouldn't be V8 "Supercars", so named to explicitly exclude all of the faster cars the rest of the world makes. It would be Formula One, and I would certainly be screaming for Ferrari.
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Having said all that, I did almost get wood when both potential mayors promised us both a new bridge and a central city loops. Something good might actually come of having a super city after all. If they're telling the truth, that is.
Edit: Curveball idea for the Banks team. Cycleways could also be ponyways, hint hint.
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Jeremy, you and I have a different idea of locked up. For me locked up doesn't mean "moving slowly but steadily". What's the average commute for a car driver? Half an hour? Less? That's pretty quick, really. Naturally people on buses go slower. That needs to improve, but I'm not sure if the cart can travel before the horse.
Basically cars are still a really bloody convenient and quick way to get around Auckland, so people use them and that makes buses less economic (as a business proposition). If you see buses more as a basic service (as I do), then you'd be basically subsidizing them, to really build up their patronage. Buses don't need to take way longer than cars if there's frequent service and enough express services and rush hour bus lanes.
I doubt they can ever be as attractive as a car to anyone who is prepared to spend the money. But that cost steadily rises, and deserves no subsidization.
So I'm not overly concerned about Auckland's public transport, we just need to keep chipping away, as we have been for decades, preferably on all angles, cars, buses, trains, cycleways, transit lanes, and most importantly, encouraging people to live closer to where they work with appropriate residential planning. There's just no transport crisis, and that's why I'm mystified that something as vital as who gets to be the mayor of 30% of all NZers is all coming down to transport. Is the place really that sweet?
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George, you're right I got my fares mixed up there. That was another one on the same trip. But the real price doesn't seem that bad to me, I must say. Yeah, it's got an airport 'tax' in it, but so do the cabs.
The difference between them is night and day.
They did an awful job of communicating that. Or Banks did a fantastic job of obscuring it. I don't trust him, don't worry. If it's a choice between Brown and the guy trying desperately to look like Brown, I'll choose Brown.
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I found the Sydney airport link bloody fantastic last time I used it. It was a truly novel experience to be in the center of the city 17 minutes after coming through customs, for the princely sum of $6.50. Yes, I did have to wheel my suitcase along a bit, but it was designed for that. If my hotel had been more than a few hundred meters from the train station I could always have caught a cab for a few more dollars.
It's never going to be the only solution, but for a lot of people it's a good solution.
I'm amazed how little difference there is in the promises of the candidates. Practically the only thing that divided them seemed to come from Banks impassioned statement that Brown wanted to divide the city up on race. I heard a whistling noise then, and it might just work. Yes, Auckland is the biggest Polynesian city in the world. But it's also still the biggest concentration of white New Zealanders, too, and they're still the biggest voting bloc by far.
I find it quite amazing that transport really is the number one issue, and virtually to the exclusion of the others. I mean honestly FFS Auckland's bloody easy to get around, I always think that when I get back home from anywhere, even places that have frikken awesome public transport. It's got a bloody motorway right through the middle of it.
Yeah it could and should get better, but, as Russell says, is that it? Honestly?
I guess I should be happy that's our number one concern, maybe it is an awesome place after all. Other cities in the world are worried about things like crime, poverty, sanitation, fires, corruption, homelessness. Or do we outsource all that to central government?
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I admire the force of your conviction, Don, but I worry about your blood pressure. Your shuttle to Wellness will arrive soon.
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Whenever I drive through Waipu, I always think "Why not?".
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Until the last line, Ian, I didn't get it. I read it as Oh-farter.
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I found a van with advertising on the side, "Bad Design".
That has to be intentional. Design is not a German word. I expect Bad Orb is famous for Bad Jokes.
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Let's get back on topic, Rodney Hide and the Super City.
LOL, that's actually an attempted threadjack, try here for that.
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