City Rail Link

Forums › Off topic › City Rail Link

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#1565242 3-Jun-2016 17:17

joker97: Can you increase rates in Auckland for foreign property owners?

That would probably violate every free trade agreement we've signed for 30 years.

In NSW they get around that by restricting foreigners from buying property. They weren't strongly enforcing it for a while and real estate agents were signing contracts that ignored this, but I read recently the NSW government moved to enforce it and forced the re-sale of about AU$1 BILLION in real state because they had been illegally bought by foreigners.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#1565244 3-Jun-2016 17:19

Linuxluver:

joker97: Can you increase rates in Auckland for foreign property owners?

That would probably violate every free trade agreement we've signed for 30 years.

In NSW they get around that by restricting foreigners from buying property. They weren't strongly enforcing it for a while and real estate agents were signing contracts that ignored this, but I read recently the NSW government moved to enforce it and forced the re-sale of about AU$1 BILLION in real state because they had been illegally bought by foreigners.

That is the ideal way to be honest, let investors and speculators fund the construction of new apartments and dwellings and leave the actual existing stock to people that need to live in them... Best of both worlds, new stock funded neatly and existing available for ownership and tenants.

Handle9

11926 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9679

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1565245 3-Jun-2016 17:20

Davy:

That's the objection - the Auckland council treats the North Shore as a newly gifted cash cow to provide themselves with gold-plated train services while Shore residents are stuck in motorways and having to keep buying cars and petrol. This in return for massive rates increases.

For the sake of being factual, the North Shore City Council was a financial basket case with tons of debt, including the white elephant Albany Stadium. The old Auckland city has been smashed for the excessive debt of the other councils rather than the other way round.

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#1565246 3-Jun-2016 17:21

Kyanar:

Imagine if it connected to the airport like in other First World Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, San Francisco, London... the list goes on!

AT are planning light rail or heavy rail connections to the airport. Heavy rail moves more people, whiel light rail is cheaper to build. The light rail tracks would run right down (in part) the middle of the existing road to the Airport. Check out transportblog.co.nz and the AT web site. The former is a daily source of information about public transport, most of which you never see on TV and rarely see in the Herald.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#1565247 3-Jun-2016 17:23

Linuxluver:

Kyanar:

Imagine if it connected to the airport like in other First World Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, San Francisco, London... the list goes on!

AT are planning light rail or heavy rail connections to the airport. Heavy rail moves more people, whiel light rail is cheaper to build. The light rail tracks would run right down (in part) the middle of the existing road to the Airport. Check out transportblog.co.nz and the AT web site. The former is a daily source of information about public transport, most of which you never see on TV and rarely see in the Herald.

Heavy rail is slightly quicker due to only 3 planned stops, light rail opens up 80000 more people through the provision of 7 stops but has more issues negotiating the central city and is slower by about 10 minutes.

My preference is for LRT as it provides trunk capacity along Mt Eden and dominion all the way to Mangere down the southwestern... Having recently returned from Portland, US their LRT system does the same and was pretty cool.

Benoire

2878 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 681

#1565248 3-Jun-2016 17:25

Handle9:

Davy:

That's the objection - the Auckland council treats the North Shore as a newly gifted cash cow to provide themselves with gold-plated train services while Shore residents are stuck in motorways and having to keep buying cars and petrol. This in return for massive rates increases.

For the sake of being factual, the North Shore City Council was a financial basket case with tons of debt, including the white elephant Albany Stadium. The old Auckland city has been smashed for the excessive debt of the other councils rather than the other way round.

Same as Waitakere... They where almost on the verge of going bankrupt and the supercity effectively saved them; they spent too long trying to attract development and subsidising them by building infrastructure rather than forcing the developer to pay their way.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

jmh

458 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 141

#1565474 4-Jun-2016 08:11

Linuxluver:

Dingbatt: As someone who suffers the commute from the west, I would like AT to think about the other end of the journey. What is the point of bus lanes and ferry's if there's nowhere to park your &#@*! car to catch public transport. Not all of us live within walking distance a terminus. Northshore Park and Rides are full by 6.30 in the morning, so what the hell, you may as well just hit the motorway and park in town.

I did like Paul Henry's comment this morning. He said Len Brown wants a world class city and his performance at yesterday's opening was a world class embarrassment (dancing fool).

We choose where to live. Each house I have bought in Auckland over the years was / is within a 5 minute walk of at least a bus stop on a major route....or a train station.

Even so....it's possible to drive near a bus stop and park one's car on the street nearby early in the morning. On my street in Greenlane people do exactly this......then walk to either the train station or out to Great South Road and get a bus. During the day, our street is packed with cars such people.

What's the answer here? Proximity to public transport should be a key consideration when deciding where to live. If for no other reason than - like a former co-worker of mine - one day something happens (stroke, eye injury, whatever) and you can't drive a car anymore. Then what do you? You have no Plan B......though maybe you can ride a bike like my former colleague.

I've been watching people choose car-dependent locations.....then something happens and they have absolutely no option but to shift because without the car they can't go anywhere. They also seem to forget their kids can't drive, either....and having a bus for them to ride to school or wherever removes a huge time burden from busy parents.

I've taken the buses from New Lynn station to and through Titarangi. The service is pretty good. The trains from New Lynn are frequent and go right downtown (via Newmarket).

But it's hard to get people to change how they think. My own mother is 80 and diabetic and now must be tested for driving every two years and medically assessed to both diabetes and dementia (standard). So where does she live? Somewhere that is only practical if she can drive a car. "I'm not taking any bus!" she cries........but one day soon there won't be a choice in it....and at 81 or 82 she will have to find somewhere else to live where she CAN get a bus......or she won't be going anywhere. On that day, she wil have to pay the price of such a place. Shame she didn't lock it in much cheaper years ago. She just didn't think.

Yeah, my dad is in that situation. He had a stroke 18 months ago and suddenly couldn't drive. Fortunately his wife can drive but he lost his independence and hates relying on someone else.

Dingbatt

6804 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3694

Lifetime subscriber

#1565478 4-Jun-2016 08:18

Linuxluver:
Dingbatt: As someone who suffers the commute from the west, I would like AT to think about the other end of the journey. What is the point of bus lanes and ferry's if there's nowhere to park your &#@*! car to catch public transport. Not all of us live within walking distance a terminus. Northshore Park and Rides are full by 6.30 in the morning, so what the hell, you may as well just hit the motorway and park in town.

I did like Paul Henry's comment this morning. He said Len Brown wants a world class city and his performance at yesterday's opening was a world class embarrassment (dancing fool).

We choose where to live. Each house I have bought in Auckland over the years was / is within a 5 minute walk of at least a bus stop on a major route....or a train station.

Even so... .it's possible to drive near a bus stop and park one's car on the street nearby early in the morning. On my street in Greenlane people do exactly this......then walk to either the train station or out to Great South Road and get a bus. During the day, our street is packed with cars such people .

What's the answer here? Proximity to public transport should be a key consideration when deciding where to live. If for no other reason than - like a former co-worker of mine - one day something happens (stroke, eye injury, whatever) and you can't drive a car anymore. Then what do you? You have no Plan B......though maybe you can ride a bike like my former colleague.

I've been watching people choose car-dependent locations.....then something happens and they have absolutely no option but to shift because without the car they can't go anywhere. They also seem to forget their kids can't drive, either....and having a bus for them to ride to school or wherever removes a huge time burden from busy parents.

I've taken the buses from New Lynn station to and through Titarangi. The service is pretty good. The trains from New Lynn are frequent and go right downtown (via Newmarket).

But it's hard to get people to change how they think. My own mother is 80 and diabetic and now must be tested for driving every two years and medically assessed to both diabetes and dementia (standard). So where does she live? Somewhere that is only practical if she can drive a car. "I'm not taking any bus!" she cries........but one day soon there won't be a choice in it....and at 81 or 82 she will have to find somewhere else to live where she CAN get a bus......or she won't be going anywhere. On that day, she wil have to pay the price of such a place. Shame she didn't lock it in much cheaper years ago. She just didn't think.

I live in a medium density area, and in my 400m walk to catch the ferry, I pass streets lined with cars that are parked on the roadside of narrow residential streets because of inadequate space at the ferrry terminal. In an area where curb space is a premium anyway, those residents that have chosen to live close to public transport have their days blighted by parking problems. I can see before too much longer that 'residents only' signs are going to be erected, once again forcing people to abandon public transport and drive to work. My point is, if you put an impediment at the start of the journey then that is enough excuse for people to abandon any attempt.
Perhaps the question needs to be, why do so many people need to congregate in the centre of the city anyway?

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Davy

200 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 66

#1565489 4-Jun-2016 08:39

Dingbatt:
Linuxluver:
Dingbatt: As someone who suffers the commute from the west, I would like AT to think about the other end of the journey. What is the point of bus lanes and ferry's if there's nowhere to park your &#@*! car to catch public transport. Not all of us live within walking distance a terminus. Northshore Park and Rides are full by 6.30 in the morning, so what the hell, you may as well just hit the motorway and park in town.

I did like Paul Henry's comment this morning. He said Len Brown wants a world class city and his performance at yesterday's opening was a world class embarrassment (dancing fool).

We choose where to live. Each house I have bought in Auckland over the years was / is within a 5 minute walk of at least a bus stop on a major route....or a train station.

Even so... .it's possible to drive near a bus stop and park one's car on the street nearby early in the morning. On my street in Greenlane people do exactly this......then walk to either the train station or out to Great South Road and get a bus. During the day, our street is packed with cars such people .

What's the answer here? Proximity to public transport should be a key consideration when deciding where to live. If for no other reason than - like a former co-worker of mine - one day something happens (stroke, eye injury, whatever) and you can't drive a car anymore. Then what do you? You have no Plan B......though maybe you can ride a bike like my former colleague.

I've been watching people choose car-dependent locations.....then something happens and they have absolutely no option but to shift because without the car they can't go anywhere. They also seem to forget their kids can't drive, either....and having a bus for them to ride to school or wherever removes a huge time burden from busy parents.

I've taken the buses from New Lynn station to and through Titarangi. The service is pretty good. The trains from New Lynn are frequent and go right downtown (via Newmarket).

But it's hard to get people to change how they think. My own mother is 80 and diabetic and now must be tested for driving every two years and medically assessed to both diabetes and dementia (standard). So where does she live? Somewhere that is only practical if she can drive a car. "I'm not taking any bus!" she cries........but one day soon there won't be a choice in it....and at 81 or 82 she will have to find somewhere else to live where she CAN get a bus......or she won't be going anywhere. On that day, she wil have to pay the price of such a place. Shame she didn't lock it in much cheaper years ago. She just didn't think.

I live in a medium density area, and in my 400m walk to catch the ferry, I pass streets lined with cars that are parked on the roadside of narrow residential streets because of inadequate space at the ferrry terminal. In an area where curb space is a premium anyway, those residents that have chosen to live close to public transport have their days blighted by parking problems. I can see before too much longer that 'residents only' signs are going to be erected, once again forcing people to abandon public transport and drive to work. My point is, if you put an impediment at the start of the journey then that is enough excuse for people to abandon any attempt.
Perhaps the question needs to be, why do so many people need to congregate in the centre of the city anyway?

I think the answer here is for public transport to be available to more people all over Auckland rather than making people drive somewhere else to get anywhere. We can't have a city of public transport haves and have-nots.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1565498 4-Jun-2016 09:03

Davy:
I think the answer here is for public transport to be available to more people all over Auckland rather than making people drive somewhere else to get anywhere. We can't have a city of public transport haves and have-nots.

If they were smart they would have factored this into their city planning about 15 years ago.

Where they've ended up now it's easier to pay people to give up their cars and cycle everywhere and allow for 60 min extra travel time both ways, than to build anything that doesn't fit into their planning.

UHD

655 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 298
Inactive user

#1566812 7-Jun-2016 00:06

networkn:

Linuxluver:

networkn:

So a video has been released which shows what the final product will look like.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11649347

What I kept thinking watching that video, was how much empty space was everywhere! Real estate is so expensive in the city, surely they could fill it with shops, or make it smaller or something!?!

People take up space.

The South Concourse at Central Station in Sydney is a big, wide, long corridor......This is how it looked a few days ago around 5pm on a weekday.

They don't take that much space! We have 1.4m people in Auckland, bugger all of who take public transport, and even less who would use this particular thing.

I don't argue it shouldn't be built, I argue there is too much waste valueable space.

Way to ignore the comment regarding the future. It is not being built to handle tomorrow's capacity requirements but to be able to handle the requirements in 25 years time.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

Kyanar

4089 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1684

ID Verified

Trusted

#1566813 7-Jun-2016 00:18

Linuxluver:

joker97: Can you increase rates in Auckland for foreign property owners?

That would probably violate every free trade agreement we've signed for 30 years.

In NSW they get around that by restricting foreigners from buying property. They weren't strongly enforcing it for a while and real estate agents were signing contracts that ignored this, but I read recently the NSW government moved to enforce it and forced the re-sale of about AU$1 BILLION in real state because they had been illegally bought by foreigners.

That is actually a whole lot of completely incorrect. The Australian Federal Government (not the NSW State Government) restricts purchase of established real estate by non-resident borrowers without Foreign Investment Review Board approval - though new builds and off the plan is OK. State governments enforce a Land Tax, and exempt the PPOR (Principal Place of Residence), and the Victorian government actually charges 1.5% extra land tax to foreigners - which, by the way, does not violate any free trade agreements.

UHD

655 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 298
Inactive user

#1566814 7-Jun-2016 00:32

sbiddle:

IMHO Auckland should pay a fuel tax to fund roading and transport. When fuel in lots of areas of Auckland & Waikato is already 20c - 30c per litre less than the national price paid in places such as Wellington due to discounting it's not as though anybody would even notice.

Those us us outside Auckland are subsidising both your public transport and roading infrastructure (which I'm sure most people wouldn't disagree with on principal) but now we're even subsidising your petrol.

Isn't petrol less due to pipeline vs. trucked fuel supply?

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#1566828 7-Jun-2016 07:11

Benoire:

Linuxluver:

joker97: Can you increase rates in Auckland for foreign property owners?

That would probably violate every free trade agreement we've signed for 30 years.

In NSW they get around that by restricting foreigners from buying property. They weren't strongly enforcing it for a while and real estate agents were signing contracts that ignored this, but I read recently the NSW government moved to enforce it and forced the re-sale of about AU$1 BILLION in real state because they had been illegally bought by foreigners.

That is the ideal way to be honest, let investors and speculators fund the construction of new apartments and dwellings and leave the actual existing stock to people that need to live in them... Best of both worlds, new stock funded neatly and existing available for ownership and tenants.

That's the worst idea ever. You simply end up like Australia where investors buy off the plan and you have entire apartment buildings with nobody in them as they have no need to rent them out - they're simply waiting for the price to increase before they sell them.

sbiddle

30853 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9996

Retired Mod

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

#1566829 7-Jun-2016 07:12

UHD:

sbiddle:

IMHO Auckland should pay a fuel tax to fund roading and transport. When fuel in lots of areas of Auckland & Waikato is already 20c - 30c per litre less than the national price paid in places such as Wellington due to discounting it's not as though anybody would even notice.

Those us us outside Auckland are subsidising both your public transport and roading infrastructure (which I'm sure most people wouldn't disagree with on principal) but now we're even subsidising your petrol.

Isn't petrol less due to pipeline vs. trucked fuel supply?

No it's less due to discounting. Becuase of Gull's cheap petrol others are forced to follow.

Right now you've got areas like Wellington effectively subsidising the discounting of fuel in parts of Auckland where it's being sold below the importer margin,

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7