Posts by Bart Janssen
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Hard News: Paths where we actually ride, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
observer bias
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Hard News: Paths where we actually ride, in reply to Glenn Pearce,
It’s great the facilities are being utilised and locals may benefit from cycle lanes but these amenities are used by people from all over Auckland and NZ who, like it or not, travel to them in large numbers by car.
I know. But to some degree it's a chicken and egg problem. People travel there by car because they expect to be able to park their car when they get there. Nobody expects to be able to park on Queen St anymore so nobody tries (well there is always one plonker).
Public transport doesn't bother establishing services for such events because they expect everyone will drive their car.
At some point you need to cut through the knot. There IS parking off the (main) road. There IS some (not enough) public transport. There is also a reluctance to make more parking because it just encourages more drivers.
Taking the step to say it's more important to have cyclists than parking isn't easy and it certainly isn't appropriate on all routes but there are some pretty obvious cases where making one side no parking and replacing it with a separated cycleway is doable. Eventually you'll get to the point where folks no longer expect to be able to leave their car on a major thoroughfare.
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One thing that would make cycle paths much easier would be to stop accepting that people should be allowed to leave their cars blocking main transport routes.
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There is another factor in this. There is the possibility that Trump does so badly in the presidential race that he drags the republican party down with him. That could have serious impacts on republican senates races occurring at the same time. There also could be serious issues with internal fractures in the republican party.
In short, Trump could do so much damage to the republican party that they could lose both houses.
While from the distance of left wing socialist NZ that might seem like a good thing, the fact is the US system works only because of balance. A democrat party dominated congress senate president and supreme court is possible if still unlikely. I don't think anyone knows where that might lead.
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I thought this analysis complete with all its caveats was interesting.
TLDR Trumps loses to any candidate Sanders beats any candidate.
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Hard News: The unstable Supercity, in reply to nzlemming,
Government procurement is arse, much of the time.
To be fair Govt procurement is horrendously hamstrung by regs. Often the folks doing the actual work know they are pissing money down the proverbial, but they have no option to do otherwise.
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Hard News: The unstable Supercity, in reply to Russell Brown,
And WTF are we paying MBIE nearly $5 million for?
Committee meetings.
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Hard News: The flagging referendum, in reply to BenWilson,
the things I write might have more impact
no that path leads to madness
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Hard News: Paths where we actually ride, in reply to Katy,
Giving Ponsonby Rd and K-Rd cycle lanes would hands down be the biggest game changer for the inner suburbs, everything else would follow…
Great Nth road through to Grey Lynn shops has tonnes of room for a cycleway. Sure the car yards wouldn't be able to park their cars on the footpath but you could have an awesome ridgeline route.
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only for the whole climb to be thrown away on the descent on the other side
This.
Auckland is hilly, it's a fact of life. But cyclists love routes that reduce wasted effort. Even if it's longer it's usually much more fun to ride around a ridge than go down into a valley and then have to climb straight back out (unless you really love hillclimbing).
And if you are trying to encourage less fit riders then steep hills are the pits.
Also exposed routes may have lovely views but are vulnerable to wind.
I'm glad they are consulting, lets hope folks who don't ride but would like to share their thoughts.