OK, more serious reply. The point about public transport is that if it is good public transport, it take a lot of the load off the road network. That doesn't mean it eliminates all road traffic, but it does make it a lot easier for your people to deliver those servers. Good public transport cannot be created overnight. It is a gradual, long-term process that requires genuine commitment and investment from successive governments. And the longer until someone starts, the longer it will be before anyone benefits. 

MikeB4: The train services in Wellington are very good.

Really? Seems like I hear about train services being delayed, or completely unavailable at least once a week!

You and I obviously have different opinions of very good. Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Paris all have very good train services. No where in NZ is even on the same planet as those. 

I guess maybe you mean very good compared to nothing, or very good by Wellingtons standards? 

MikeB4: Given that Wellington is beside one of the worst stretches of water and is subjected to storms the number of unplanned outages are small. There has been one strike the first in a long time. There has been the odd issue with individual units, AirNZ would have more technical issues.
There has been planned outages in the weekend to upgrade tracks and overheads and to put in permanent track repairs for storm and earthquake damage.

The train service is reliable with clean comfortable stock.

Well, two points, 

1) Every time I heard a conversation about Wellingtons trains, esp from people who live in Wellington, I've never heard someone give the same positive feedback. Wonder why there would be such a disparity? I have customers in Wellington and the Hutt who would have not a good thing to say about the trains. 

2) If it's so great, why do more people not use it, and why is Wellington traffic so horrible?

If it wasnt for the last Government Wellington would still be trying to run 100 year old trains.(slight exaggeration). Now they are modern and have become extremely expensive to ride. 

Regional Council has continually played with fares making them overly expensive. $100 for a 10 trip now from Kapiti to Wellington..so $20/day.

Pumpedd:

 

If it wasnt for the last Government Wellington would still be trying to run 100 year old trains.(slight exaggeration). Now they are modern and have become extremely expensive to ride. 

 

Regional Council has continually played with fares making them overly expensive. $100 for a 10 trip now from Kapiti to Wellington..so $20/day.

 

Haha, sounds brilliant! No wonder people are flocking to public transport by the billions. NOT. 

I recall when I moved from CHCH to Auckland I couldn't believe how much buses cost. I used to go from Sumner to CBD for $1.80 and if you came back within 4 hours, it was free. I think my first bus ride in Auckland was from Block house bay to the CBD and it was 4.50 and 4.50 back again. I nearly died, because at the time, those two rides made up 8% of my benefit payment for the week.

Speaking to our principal last night he was super unimpressed at Labours intention to drop the bonuses.  He was saying recruitment is an absolute nightmare right now and that just makes it worse. He cannot understand how they could do such a dumb thing.

networkn:

MikeB4: Given that Wellington is beside one of the worst stretches of water and is subjected to storms the number of unplanned outages are small. There has been one strike the first in a long time. There has been the odd issue with individual units, AirNZ would have more technical issues.
There has been planned outages in the weekend to upgrade tracks and overheads and to put in permanent track repairs for storm and earthquake damage.

The train service is reliable with clean comfortable stock.

Well, two points, 

1) Every time I heard a conversation about Wellingtons trains, esp from people who live in Wellington, I've never heard someone give the same positive feedback. Wonder why there would be such a disparity? I have customers in Wellington and the Hutt who would have not a good thing to say about the trains. 

2) If it's so great, why do more people not use it, and why is Wellington traffic so horrible?

MikeB4:

networkn:

 

MikeB4: Given that Wellington is beside one of the worst stretches of water and is subjected to storms the number of unplanned outages are small. There has been one strike the first in a long time. There has been the odd issue with individual units, AirNZ would have more technical issues.
There has been planned outages in the weekend to upgrade tracks and overheads and to put in permanent track repairs for storm and earthquake damage.

The train service is reliable with clean comfortable stock.

 

 

 

Well, two points, 

 

 

 

1) Every time I heard a conversation about Wellingtons trains, esp from people who live in Wellington, I've never heard someone give the same positive feedback. Wonder why there would be such a disparity? I have customers in Wellington and the Hutt who would have not a good thing to say about the trains. 

 

 

 

2) If it's so great, why do more people not use it, and why is Wellington traffic so horrible?

 

I don't know the exact numbers but they are in excess of 30,000 in peak time

What is they?

Pumpedd:

If it wasnt for the last Government Wellington would still be trying to run 100 year old trains.(slight exaggeration). Now they are modern and have become extremely expensive to ride. 

Regional Council has continually played with fares making them overly expensive. $100 for a 10 trip now from Kapiti to Wellington..so $20/day.

networkn:

 

What is they?

 

You have lost me??????????

MikeB4:

 

A homeless person does not need more motorways or more aircraft with roundels, someone on an ever increasing waiting list does not need more motorways or more aircraft with roundels , a child in an over crowded classroom does not need  more motorways or more aircraft with roundels, a child going to school with inadequate clothing and hungry does not need  more motorways or more aircraft with roundels, multiple families living in one house or in a garage does not need  more motorways or more aircraft with roundels, victims of domestic violence or victims our appalling child abuse does not need  more motorways or more aircraft with roundels.

 

Nationals main priority was for increasing wealth when more and more New Zealanders needed a warm home, a dry bed, a safe house, not to be hungry and able to see a doctor. The Western ring or the Kapiti expressway means nothing to a hungry child walking to school with leaking or no shoes.

 

You are taking IMO a VERY myopic view of that. Of course, those people don't DIRECTLY need more roads, but they need the Money generated by the taxpayers to provide the social services which will provide for them.

If you don't balance supporting business (which is roads, infrastructure, tax supports) then ultimately the number of people who need social services increases exponentially and with a smaller and smaller base of people to pay for it.

Did National get it 100% right, of course not, but hardly as bad as you seem to want to paint it. 

MikeB4: The train services in Wellington are very good.

Good one. The train "services" on the Wairarapa line are a complete disgrace, with lower punctuality than most trains I have used in developing countries.

They are almost always late, three days out of 5 last week my wife reported no air conditioning in the carriages and having to stand most of the journey several days as well despite paying almost $400/month for her ticket and they still rely on doddering oldies punching pretty holes in cardboard tickets rather than any form of modern ticketing system/

"very good" are not words I would employ when talking about that train 'service' - ignoring the fact that the lazy ******** were inconveniencing every user by going on strike the other day as well.