Loomio

Public Transport Concerns

LM Lois McClintock Public Seen by 27

As New Zealand grows, apparently our Public Transport does not. If you look at cities just across the sea in Australia you can see fantastic networks of trains, trams and ferries. These all enable the cities to run efficiently and reduce the numbers of people in cars. This minimises congestion and contributes towards a reduction in petrol consumption and other environmental factors.

What does NZ need to do to improve our Public Transport?
What are the pitfalls?
What are some quick wins in regards to public transport?

LM

Poll Created Mon 14 Jul 2014 8:19AM

Free Daytime Public Transport for the Elderly Closed Wed 16 Jul 2014 8:08PM

Free public transport between 9am and 5pm for old people would be a quick public transport win combined with a quick win for the older generation.

Results

Results Option % of points Voters
Agree 100.0% 3 CD DU LM
Abstain 0.0% 0  
Disagree 0.0% 0  
Block 0.0% 0  
Undecided 0% 12 CE P KK FL RS JWP RK MW JC MK AH KH

3 of 15 people have participated (20%)

CD

Colin Davies
Agree
Mon 14 Jul 2014 10:56AM

Good idea !
The timing might need to be changed slightly to avoid rush hours. I am sure the current gold cards could be used for this. Transport operators should be remunerated for this of course, so it would be a subsidy.

MW

Marc Whinery Mon 14 Jul 2014 9:14PM

"What does NZ need to do to improve our Public Transport?
What are the pitfalls?
What are some quick wins in regards to public transport?"

Buses are burning money.

There is no "gain" from a bus. No lasting infrastructure. They are the worst possible long-term mass transit.

I was involved in a proposal to provide rural Internet over satellite. The government refused. The official response is that 30+ years from now, fibre in the ground is still there, but a satellite has a useful life of only 20+ years. So they wouldn't fund a 20+ year plan. I didn't agree then, but assuming consistency, look at buses.

A bus has a value for 30 minutes. The mass transit is paid for per-line per-bus. So AT pays Richies to run a bus. At the end of that bus run, Richies has cash, and the government has nothing.

100% of busses is "lost" In most cases (Auckland and Wellington), the buses aren't owned by the council, but privately owned and run for a profit on government/council money.

We should not pay for elderly (or anyone else) to use a bus, a taxi, or other such wasteful transit.

Instead, we should build an infrastructure that connects people with where they want to go. Personal Rapid Transit is cheaper and faster than buses. And in 10 years, you are left with the lines, so it's good forever (with maintenance) like fibre. Not wasted, like satellite or buses.

I link to http://www.skytran.us/intro/ as an example. I have no connection to them, nor desire to use them above any other specific maker. They cost less than $1,000,000 per 2 km (based on some numbers for their first install, I imagine it would drop if we installed 1000 km. Though I think 100,000 km would be a more realistic number, and still cheaper than planned transport upgrades (which we wouldn't need if we had a working PRT system).

Then let the elderly ride it for free. Charge $10 per ride in rush hour (for everyone), and free for everyone outside those hours. Faster, safer, cheaper to run than buses. And once it's paid for, it's owned and good indefinitely.