Fifty-two people were trapped on an Auckland train last night with no access to toilets, no food and no information from Auckland transport, for over three hours. A city bound train on the Eastern Line struck something outside the Meadowbank station just before 8:30pm on Thursday and the train was still stuck there at 11:50pm, … Read more
Able-bodied commuters who think they’re up against it would do well to take a moment to consider the challenges faced by disabled people on the same journey. Robyn Hunt writes. My daily commute these days is a few steps to my home office in my PJs and barefoot if I want. But I’ve done the … Read more
The Spinoff concludes Commute Week by sharing commute images from you, our lovely readers. *We received exactly one (1) photo from the South Island. The Spinoff hosted Commute Week last week, seven days committed to discussing all things transport. Throughout the week we asked for pictures of your commute and you all delivered. The main … Read more
Commute week: For Sarah Dowie, the commute from Invercargill to work in Wellington typically eats up at least half a day. The most fascinating thing about National MP Sarah Dowie comes in a tantalising line from a since deleted Young Nats post: she is a “a one-time member of a travelling dance troupe in Russia”. … Read more
Commute week: The arguments for ditching your four-wheel addiction are overwhelming, writes public health expert Caroline Shaw Commuting to work, study or school bookends most people’s days. Love it or hate it, it takes time. According to the NZ Time Use Survey we spend on average 46 minutes per day traveling to work and 52 … Read more
Commute Week: Sam Brooks muses on the commutes of his life – what they meant to him at the time, and what they mean now. As a near lifelong Aucklander, I’m also a near lifelong participant of the Auckland commute – a commute which I will apparently spend 20 working days in each year. This is … Read more
Commute Week: The rush-hour drive from Rangiora into Christchurch is bad enough to give Auckland a run for its money. But Jamie Small finds it’s no longer a commute from hell. The morning run into Christchurch from the north is famously terrible. The burgeoning population of the neighbouring Waimakariri District adds to the congestion problem, … Read more
Commute Week: Last year New Zealand imported a massive 20,000 e-bikes and that number is likely to grow exponentially. But what do you need to know before you buy one? Russell Brown has the lowdown. If you think you’re seeing more e-bikes on the road, you’re not wrong. In 2014, according to Statistics NZ, there … Read more
Is there nothing that public transport can’t do? My commute nearly killed me. And it also came pretty close to dismantling my marriage. To get from my home in Titirangi to my previous job in Penrose, I had little choice but to drive. The journey by car was 30 minutes to an hour depending on … Read more
Planned and implemented in the right way, these projects can lead to the creation of high quality urban places at the same time as reducing the need for travel, writes urban designer Alistair Ray. Patterns and modes of transportation shapes cities. Types and intensity of land use are directly linked to the types and methods … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Parkable co-founder Brody Nelson whose business is using technology to shake up traditional parking. ONE: How did Parkable start and what was the inspiration behind it? Parkable started in 2015 when its … Read more
From a wee toddler singing on the bus to entertaining unsuspecting commuters on Auckland’s trains, Geneva Alexander-Marsters reflects on her life on public transport and the POP Waiata project she initiated in 2017. I used to sing on the bus as a kid. My mother would take me with her on the morning commute to … Read more
If you’ve ever caught one of Auckland’s Link buses, you’ve probably spent a good chunk of the ride sitting at a bus stop, not moving. But why? On Monday morning I got on the Inner Link bus at Victoria Park on the way into Britomart at 9.21am. It had just stopped for a driver changeover. … Read more
Commute week: In the second of his new 5 people series, Toby Morris sizes up the lord guardian of the extra seat, and other passengers we love to hate. Jay Barker, bag-dozer Jay’s got a bag full of textbooks and his head in an essay that’s due on Wednesday morning that he hasn’t started. … Read more
Commute week: You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, unless perhaps it’s a human placenta or a cello. We present the most bizarre items left behind on public transport. Amid the seething mass of humanity who drag themselves from light-polluted sleep to the various cars, coaches and carriages which deliver us to work … Read more
Trams are almost certainly returning to Auckland, backed by the government, the council, and now even the Super Fund eager to invest. But is it really the answer to the city’s transport challenges, asks former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp There are four key elements in the government’s new transport plan for Auckland. They … Read more
How could it be Commute Week without an ode to New Zealand’s favourite mode of transport? Public transport is definitely on the rise but for many Kiwis the car is king for a couple of vital reasons: it runs to your schedule and you don’t have to share it with anyone else. Oh, and it … Read more
Matt Lowrie thinks and writes about transport in Auckland a lot. Here the Greater Auckland director describes a daily commute that takes him from West Auckland to Takapuna, and looks to the direction of travel for public transport in NZ’s biggest city. As Auckland continues to grow and options for getting around the city without … Read more
Commute Week: When Julian Ostling moved to Warkworth six years ago, he was surprised to find there was no way to bus into the city. Fast-forward to today and Ostling’s private bus company – the Mahu City Express – runs from Warkworth to the CBD six times a day, five days a week. Theoretically, getting … Read more
Commute Week: If you’re tired of scrolling through your bleak Facebook feed or your even bleaker Twitter roll, Adam Goodall has a few ideas to distract you from the mindless grind that is your commute. Look, I know. It’s hard to play Pokémon Go on public transport. You’re sitting on your Link bus going 50 … Read more
Nicky Elliott loves her daily commute from Wairarapa to Wellington. It’s the heart of her social life, and she’s already on to her second train husband. My train journeys started about nine years ago when my husband was offered a job in the Wairarapa. I didn’t even know where that was; I had married a … Read more
As we grapple with futuristic questions about driverless cars, mobility on demand, and end-to-end trips, is the two-wheeled answer right under our noses? Jolisa Gracewood and Sam Finnemore of Bike Auckland make the case Faster than walking and peak hour driving, cheaper than a private car or a taxi or Zoomy or Uber, the bicycle joins … Read more
Paul Brislen writes an ode to that most European method of transport, the humble scooter. It’s Friday afternoon in Auckland city and, as the offices let out, the roads seize up. There’s traffic as far as the eye can see and each green phase of the lights allows one car through, to join the tailback … Read more
Commute Week: The many failings of my daily bus commute experience show that money alone will not prise Aucklanders out of cars, writes Todd Niall in an article first published on RNZ. Like many Aucklanders, I want to believe that a “world-class” transport system is do-able with the proposed $28 billion budget, over the next … Read more
Last October, Onzo rental bikes, with no gears and airless tyres, appeared around Auckland city as a commuter option. Madeleine Chapman decided to see just how far she could commute on one in a day. It took nine hours for me to feel genuine fear on my Onzo bike ride to Huntly, and it was … Read more
All this week on The Spinoff, we pick up the NZ commute, shake it and peer at it from every direction. As the tote-bag wisdom teaches, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Or to be more specific, for our immediate purposes, it’s about the journey to work and the journey back home. … Read more
With heavy rain and wind pounding away at New Zealand, what does it mean for the buses, trains and roads? It’s a little more complicated than you might think. What sorts of weather lead us to change our daily travel behaviour? How do we respond to scorching heatwaves, sapping humidity, snow and frost, strong winds, … Read more
Hayden Donnell might be living far from New Zealand these days, but there’s no escape from the relentless idiocy of our transport policy debate. He runs down the latest media salvos in the battle between road warriors and public transport champions. I’ve been in London for a while now. It can be tough being so … Read more
The new government yesterday announced its blueprint for an overhaul of transport funding in New Zealand. Matt Lowrie of Greater Auckland delivers his verdict. I couldn’t help but think of Joe Biden’s phrase “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value” following the release yesterday of … Read more