Auckland needs your opinion! [UPDATED]

There’s a lot going on with transport  around town. Auckland Council and Auckland Transport wants to know what you think.

Draft Long-term Plan meetings and roadshow 

Come along to a local board event or visit an information stand in your local shopping mall, market or town centre. You can find out more about some of the key regional and local projects and initiatives proposed, as well as proposed changes to our rates system. Click here to find when and where Local Board meetings are being held and when the roadshow will be rolling into your neighbourhood. note the Mayor will be attending Botany Downs secondary college on 13 March (7pm) and the Sunderland Lounge, Marine Parade, Hobsonville Point on 20 March (6-8pm).

Electric Trains for Auckland

Auckland Transport would like to invite Cycle Action Auckland members to the first cycle focus group session for the new EMU’s. This session is intended to focus on short listing cycle storage and restraint options. The aim is to look at the many options available and short list/agree those that warrant physical trial when Auckland Transport have the full size carriage/saloon mock-up here in June later this year. There won’t be any final decisions yet but Auckland Transport wants to start shortlisting preferred solutions.

NOW UPDATED We had a productive meeting with Auckland Transport’s rail experts. It was sobering, but also interesting, how many constraints go into designing a train to fit all users adequately, and we realise how hard these folks will be pushed to please everyone.

That said, a couple of high-level suggestions were agreed on, for example that “hanging racks” for bikes were likely not the way to go (train aisles too narrow, difficulties of racking heavier bikes up, especially in a moving train etc…) and that the official racks (unlike the overflow areas) should allow bicycles to be stored without requiring them to all be leaned against each other in a heap (which would make it very difficult to get one out if you want to get off earlier than the other cyclists). The downside of such decisions is of course that this may reduce the number of “official” bike spaces in the trains – though as noted, unless the train is really full, there will always be the overflow areas.

Another interesting element was that the train interiors will be very modular, i.e. designed so that interior setups can be swapped for different layouts in the future – not on a whim of course, but much easier than usual for trains. So if taking your bike on the train takes off, there is always the opportunity to discuss getting more dedicated bike carrying capacity.

Join us

Bike Auckland is the non-profit organisation working to improve things for people on bikes. We’re a people-powered movement for a better region. We speak up for you – and the more of us there are, the stronger our voice!

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