OK, so the weather didn't play ball, but we still had a great time! The Mayor and Deputy Mayor rode with our MP and Councillor Alan Stallard, leading the Santa convoy from Victory Community Centre, along the Railway reserve all the way to Broadgreen Intermediate School.
Join us to help bring about
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Tauranga City Council has produced these great little videos.
The first video shows why building more roads won't solve congestion. The second video offers simple tips on behaviour change when encouraging public transport . If you want people to start using buses, then it must be at least as convenient and fast as driving their car - and this means bus lanes. NELSUST has sent both videos to the Mayor and Chair of the Nelson Regional Transport Committee with the hope they might consider producing communication like this for Nelson. |
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NELSUST's Submission on the Nelson-Tasman Future Development Strategy
Controversially, the FDS proposed urban sprawl as a large part of the solution for the projected population growth. In addition (and somewhat deviously we think) the strategy referred to additional rural dwellings as intensification. In response, we strongly recommended that Settlement Patterns determine transport demand, and pushed for the allowance of additional inner residential housing (townhouses - not necessarily apartments). The submission can be found below:
Controversially, the FDS proposed urban sprawl as a large part of the solution for the projected population growth. In addition (and somewhat deviously we think) the strategy referred to additional rural dwellings as intensification. In response, we strongly recommended that Settlement Patterns determine transport demand, and pushed for the allowance of additional inner residential housing (townhouses - not necessarily apartments). The submission can be found below:
| future_develop.strat._ncc_tdc__2019_nelsust.pdf |
INDUCED TRAFFIC 101:
Increasing road capacity increases driving: congestion is not relieved
Some people still believe that you can ease congestion by building more roads.
More roads, less congestion, its obvious isn’t it?
Only it's wrong. It's an myth that roadbuilding eases congestion - as shown anywhere in the world, where it has only ever worked in the short term.
NELSUST has challenged prospectus road builders, asking them to show us their modelling and where it has worked - always resulting in no answer and no model.
Research shows building more roads to ease congestion results in a greater number of people living further out, more people not being able to use a bus, more people not cycling to work and so, more cars - and back to more congestion.
In 2017, the Rocks Road boulevard progress was halted when it was linked into the Southern Link road building plan. Despite every study that has been done showing the Southern Link won't work, The National Party have stated they will still build it. This is failed policy and we hope to change their minds in favour of evidence based decision making.
All these years and still no way for a baby-buggy and a mobility scooter to pass on the footpath without one of them going on the road. It's time to put the solution of roadbuilding out of congestion to bed: it's a myth. It's time to progress with the plans to build our generous -width esplanade that will become Nelson’s jewel. Its time to make it safe for kids to get to school on their own. It's time for express buses to run on clearway lanes on Whakatu Drive and Waimea Road South - away from Rocks Road. It's time for more people to enjoy living closer to the city.
Dan Dolejs stated in the Nelson Mail that Whakatu Drive is an example of new roadbuilding easing congestion, but in fact it has done the opposite. You can clearly see in NCC traffic counts that traffic numbers surged upon the opening of Whakatu Drive. People were encouraged to live outside of town in the new rural residential zones resulting in more cars on the road and traffic congestion is now worse than it ever was. Even in Stoke, traffic numbers are up from 14,000 vehicles in 2006 to 17,500 in 2016. In comparison, Rocks Road traffic numbers have reduced with less cars in 2016 than 2006.
With his statement, Dr Dolejs highlights the myth that the Southern Link will become a congestion buster. Extensive research has actually found the Southern Link will actually increase congestion: it won't be more efficient, it will not improve safety and it will significantly degrade air quality.
We need to put the Southern Link congestion-busting myth to bed; and build the Esplanade and we have shown how this can be done cheaply and efficiently while protecting the road from wave splash.
Increasing road capacity increases driving: congestion is not relieved
Some people still believe that you can ease congestion by building more roads.
More roads, less congestion, its obvious isn’t it?
Only it's wrong. It's an myth that roadbuilding eases congestion - as shown anywhere in the world, where it has only ever worked in the short term.
NELSUST has challenged prospectus road builders, asking them to show us their modelling and where it has worked - always resulting in no answer and no model.
Research shows building more roads to ease congestion results in a greater number of people living further out, more people not being able to use a bus, more people not cycling to work and so, more cars - and back to more congestion.
In 2017, the Rocks Road boulevard progress was halted when it was linked into the Southern Link road building plan. Despite every study that has been done showing the Southern Link won't work, The National Party have stated they will still build it. This is failed policy and we hope to change their minds in favour of evidence based decision making.
All these years and still no way for a baby-buggy and a mobility scooter to pass on the footpath without one of them going on the road. It's time to put the solution of roadbuilding out of congestion to bed: it's a myth. It's time to progress with the plans to build our generous -width esplanade that will become Nelson’s jewel. Its time to make it safe for kids to get to school on their own. It's time for express buses to run on clearway lanes on Whakatu Drive and Waimea Road South - away from Rocks Road. It's time for more people to enjoy living closer to the city.
Dan Dolejs stated in the Nelson Mail that Whakatu Drive is an example of new roadbuilding easing congestion, but in fact it has done the opposite. You can clearly see in NCC traffic counts that traffic numbers surged upon the opening of Whakatu Drive. People were encouraged to live outside of town in the new rural residential zones resulting in more cars on the road and traffic congestion is now worse than it ever was. Even in Stoke, traffic numbers are up from 14,000 vehicles in 2006 to 17,500 in 2016. In comparison, Rocks Road traffic numbers have reduced with less cars in 2016 than 2006.
With his statement, Dr Dolejs highlights the myth that the Southern Link will become a congestion buster. Extensive research has actually found the Southern Link will actually increase congestion: it won't be more efficient, it will not improve safety and it will significantly degrade air quality.
We need to put the Southern Link congestion-busting myth to bed; and build the Esplanade and we have shown how this can be done cheaply and efficiently while protecting the road from wave splash.
Nelsust's
Top 3
congestion busters
Top 3
congestion busters
| q_a___big_3_congestion_busting_ideas.pdf |
Questions & Answers about the SLink (Southern Link) - how to answer those awkward questions!
| q_a_-_long_version.pdf |
The space 200 commuters
take up
depending on their mode of travel:
take up
depending on their mode of travel:
One of the real problem with car commuting -
they are space eaters!
We want our cities vibrant with people,
not choked with cars.
they are space eaters!
We want our cities vibrant with people,
not choked with cars.
The Stoke Bypass has not stopped Stoke traffic growth!
How to read this graph:
The fine dashed lines show the traffic counts for different roads. You can see a lot of fluctuations in the figures above, which tend to come from seasonal traffic. This "noise" often disguises the overall trend, shown by the heavy straight lines, which depict the annual average traffic volume, with each colour representing a different road.
Main Road Stoke traffic volumes have continued to increase despite the creation of the Stoke Bypass/Whakatu Drive.
Waimea Road traffic only surpassed 2008 levels in 2017, despite record regional population growth (graph by Nelson City Council). Although there are times when traffic is congested, this has only really started to occur in the last 3 years, despite population growth over the last decade. It should also be noted that as the traffic becomes more two way (i.e. not just into Nelson at peak times, but also those commuting in the opposite direction towards Richmond), traffic count numbers will increase but congestion may not necessarily do so. This may be what is happening on Waimea Road. Rocks Road traffic is still less than it was a decade ago.
The fine dashed lines show the traffic counts for different roads. You can see a lot of fluctuations in the figures above, which tend to come from seasonal traffic. This "noise" often disguises the overall trend, shown by the heavy straight lines, which depict the annual average traffic volume, with each colour representing a different road.
Main Road Stoke traffic volumes have continued to increase despite the creation of the Stoke Bypass/Whakatu Drive.
Waimea Road traffic only surpassed 2008 levels in 2017, despite record regional population growth (graph by Nelson City Council). Although there are times when traffic is congested, this has only really started to occur in the last 3 years, despite population growth over the last decade. It should also be noted that as the traffic becomes more two way (i.e. not just into Nelson at peak times, but also those commuting in the opposite direction towards Richmond), traffic count numbers will increase but congestion may not necessarily do so. This may be what is happening on Waimea Road. Rocks Road traffic is still less than it was a decade ago.
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Our Feedback to NZTA on the Southern Link Investigation
The process has of course a predetermined outcome with the then Minister of Transport Gerry Brownlee quoted as saying "the government has not put up $12 million outside of the land transport fund to get a report to say don't do it" (Nelson Mail, Dec 30 2014). However we still submitted a 30-page feedback to the study, highlighting its flaws and proposing our solutions to Nelson's transport issues. Here it is at the right: |
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Auditor General Investigation into Southern Link Study Funding
The Office of the Auditor-General agreed to review our concern that funding yet another investigation into the Southern Link represents a poor use of taxpayer money. To qualify for the Accelerated Regional Roading Programme, a project must be both needed in the near future and lack significant prior investigation. The Southern Link does not meet these criteria: the comprehensive 2010–11 Arterial Study concluded that no road expansion would be necessary for at least 25 years, and if expansion were eventually required, the Southern Link would not be the preferred option. While the Auditor-General ultimately declined to pursue the matter further, they did not dispute our concerns. Rather, they stated that “our mandate does not allow us to criticise a public entity for giving effect to a policy decision made by elected officials.” To the right is our original submission to the Auditor-General, outlining the key issues with the current Southern Link investigation. |
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Complaint to the Commerce Commission on the NZTA
The NZ Transport Agency, although a government body, is bound by the Fair Trading Act: they must not do anything misleading or deceptive. We think this is exactly what they have been doing in the latest appearance of the Southern Link Zombie - the NZTA's so called "Business Case Study”. Here is our 19 -page submission that was sent to the Commerce Commission. In the end they declined to take this further but again, did not say we did not have a case. |
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Proximity as a
Transport Solution Here is an article from the Greater Auckland Transport Blog. The multi-story unit shown here is obviously more appropriate in Auckland than Nelson, but there are still lessons to be learnt from living close so commuting is much simpler. |
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This school year, Auckland University will be opening up housing for 600+ students at the City Centre Campus, including the 55 Symonds Street building pictured above. This is a welcome addition to the meagre (though increasing) supply of student housing of about 3,100 units.
For reference, 600+ people is close to the number of cars on one traffic lane running along Symonds Street through the campus during a peak AM hour. Of course, very few students travel by car, so the new residents are more likely to be releasing valuable seats on packed public transport services during the already oversubscribed peak period.
Students living in these new facilities will travel much shorter distances overall than their counterparts scattered across the city. People located in central locations travel shorter distance since they are close to their primary place of “work” and have a concentration of services and destinations close by. As students, they are not captured in conventional journey to work surveys and their daily walking trips aren’t even considered.
Here is an interesting article by California planning guru William Fulton in Governing Magazine, “A Low Cost Solution to Traffic” where he poses one obvious solution to the 21st century transport challenge as described in Austin Texas.
A couple of generations ago, we would have solved this problem pretty simply, by foolishly spending a lot of money to plow new freeways through existing communities. But attitudes have changed…
Which brings us to proximity. One of the few ways around this problem is to build more housing close to the urban cores — or, at least, close to the dense suburban job centres. Urban planners often argue for locating more housing along high-frequency transit lines, which makes sense because many people can commute by transit.
What’s not well understood, however, is that well-located housing can cut down on the amount of driving — and hence the need for additional road space — even if people are still tethered to their cars. One famous study in the San Francisco Bay Area found that people living in Berkeley and Oakland drive only half as far as people in the outer suburbs — not because they take transit more, but because the places they have to go are closer together.
As we develop transport solutions for the challenges of regional transport and city centre access, this is one area we could do much better in. Every new housing unit comes with a built-in transport requirement - what if centrally located or rapid transit proximate housing was funded/or supported as a transport investment? As the housing cycle inevitably slows, is there a role for government to support housing options that will also help solve the city’s transport problems, instead of exacerbating the issue by focusing on far flung, car-dependent development?
Proximity as a transport solution is something NELSUST has been advocating Council on. Rather than forcing people to live further from the city centre (such as Ngawhatu, Atawhai or Richmond) due to lack of alternative options, we have:
- asked the Council to allow two dwellings as of right for close-in suburbs (e.g. 1.5 km from Cathedral)
- suggested a townhouse zone donut of inner residential housing be created within the inner city fringe.
Both of these recommendations would use existing infrastructure (including roads, water supply, stormwater and sewerage). We also suggested elements such as low-flow water fittings, rainwater tanks and grey water re use, meaning no extra load on existing pipe works.
Allowing more close-in living will not increase traffic demand as these are the very areas where people can easily and actively transport themselves around the city. The image below is an examples of townhouses built close to the city centre - Hathaway Court opposite Trailways. Alongside this image, is a Japanese example of how the street around these buildings can become a playground - where the cars become the guests, rather than the main event.
Getting Trucks off Rocks Road - Log Barging
In 2018, we wrote a preliminary report exploring the feasibility of transporting logs from the South of the city (where most forests are) via barge from Rabbit Island, as an alternative to trucking them along Rocks Road.
Our proposal involved no additional cost, by replacing the current double-handling of logs on valuable port land with direct transfers from trucks to barges on the South Eastern side of Rabbit Island. When a log ship arrives at the port, the barges would be positioned on the seaward side of the vessel, allowing the ship to be loaded from both sides: logs from the south would be delivered by barge, and logs from the north delivered via the port. While this wouldn’t remove all heavy trucks from Rocks Road, it would remove 35,000 of the largest trucks from Rocks Road, Tahunanui, and Richmond roads annually, without requiring a lengthy detour over the hill.
Despite the potential benefits, we have yet to receive uptake from either the Port or the City Council to proceed with a more detailed investigation. Our full preliminary report is available below.
In 2018, we wrote a preliminary report exploring the feasibility of transporting logs from the South of the city (where most forests are) via barge from Rabbit Island, as an alternative to trucking them along Rocks Road.
Our proposal involved no additional cost, by replacing the current double-handling of logs on valuable port land with direct transfers from trucks to barges on the South Eastern side of Rabbit Island. When a log ship arrives at the port, the barges would be positioned on the seaward side of the vessel, allowing the ship to be loaded from both sides: logs from the south would be delivered by barge, and logs from the north delivered via the port. While this wouldn’t remove all heavy trucks from Rocks Road, it would remove 35,000 of the largest trucks from Rocks Road, Tahunanui, and Richmond roads annually, without requiring a lengthy detour over the hill.
Despite the potential benefits, we have yet to receive uptake from either the Port or the City Council to proceed with a more detailed investigation. Our full preliminary report is available below.
| barging_logs_nelsust__small_file__copy.pdf |
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Nelson Residents Association hear alternative Vision
to pushing the State Highway through Victory. |
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WE NEED YOUR HELP
Please express your support for the Rocks Road Esplanade by writing letters to the editors of local papers, and engaging on social media. Every little effort counts! If you are keen to be more hands-on, please sign up to our email list or contact us via the contact button at the top of the page! |