Category: media

Save the Basin Campaign: Basin Reserve Confusion And Mixed Transport Messages Weaken Welcome Light Rail News

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign has welcomed elements of the “Let’s Get Wellington Moving” Wellington transport plans revealed last night, especially the news that light rail is to be included as a priority element of those plans.

But Save the Basin, which was one of the groups that helped defeat the 2011 Basin Reserve flyover proposal, has criticised the continued uncertainty over the future of the Basin Reserve area, and the mixed messages contained in the leaked plans.

Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said “If the Dominion Post report is accurate, there are some good things in these plans. Save the Basin supports the development of a high quality, sustainable Wellington transport network, and getting on with implementing a light rail spine using an appropriate route would be a major contribution to this. So that’s great news.”

“Yet many other things in these plans aren’t so great,” Mr Jones continued. “First of all, Save the Basin has consistently supported at-grade roading changes at the Basin – that is, changes at the current street levels. But these latest plans appear to include grade separation, which means some roads going over or under others. The Dominion Post article talks in very vague terms about tunnels near the Basin, but detail is completely lacking. Save the Basin is absolutely opposed to a Basin Reserve bridge or flyover, and we cannot support any grade separation plan for the Basin that doesn’t explicitly rule out such bridges or flyovers.”

“It’s great to see that cycling would get a boost in these plans,” Mr Jones said. “But, as a group that supports walkability, we are disappointed that walking appears to have been treated, yet again, as the unwanted guest at the party.”

“But the worst thing about these proposals,” Mr Jones commented, “is that they continue to entrench the dominance of roading, by proposing to spend billions more dollars on State Highway 1. Despite the Government’s stated commitment to evidence-based decision making, this proposal appears to ignore the immense body of evidence that says that building more road capacity merely ends up putting more cars on the roads.”

“One of Let’s Get Wellington Moving’s stated objectives was to reduce Wellingtonians’ dependence on private vehicle travel,” said Mr Jones. “Where is the evidence that these proposals pay any more than lip-service to this objective? Where is any attempt to make the sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that the city and the nation have already committed themselves to make?”

ENDS

Tim Jones
Spokesperson
Save the Basin Campaign Inc.

 

Tired Motorway Sales Pitch Falls Flat, Says Save The Basin Campaign

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The leaked transport proposals for Wellington read like a sales pitch gone badly wrong, said Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones.

“The tired, dated ‘four lanes to the planes’ concept is well past its sell-by date,” said Mr Jones. “A Government that’s focused on making climate change, public health and transport choices that work for everyone just isn’t going to hand over the billions of dollars required for new motorways.”

“When it comes to the Basin Reserve, all we have yet again are rumours and suggestions,” Mr Jones continued. “Until Save the Basin is presented with clear, detailed design proposals, we cannot and will not endorse any proposal that is not at the same grade as current roading, or that may threaten the Basin Reserve,” Mr Jones said.

“We need a transport system that works for everyone’s future in a changing climate,” said Mr Jones. “That means major investment in better walking and cycling, with a light rail route running through the CBD, continuing to Newtown and the hospital, and going out to Miramar and the airport. Light rail is the most efficient way to move people who don’t need to use the roads, and that helps free up the roads for those who do need them – including people on buses.”

Media Release: New Wellington Transport Principles A Big Improvement

Posted on by stb_nyltr0

The Save the Basin Campaign has welcomed the draft principles for assessing potential Wellington transport solutions developed by the Ngauranga to Airport Governance Group. Save the Basin, which was part of the successful campaign against a proposed Basin Reserve flyover, said that the principles showed the flyover proponents appeared to have learned important lessons from the failed flyover proposal.

Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said “It’s great that at long last the New Zealand Transport Agency and its partners are considering the impact of roading projects on Wellington’s livability, heritage and environment. Wellingtonians have spoken strongly about keeping the compactness and walkability of our city and not having it ruined by motorways. If the Transport Agency had adopted these principles earlier, they would never have proposed a Basin Reserve flyover in the first place.”

“The flyover proposal was all about cars and trucks, with everything else relegated to an afterthought, but the new principles take a much wider view of what transport projects need to achieve. They recognise that transport projects need to improve rather than worsen environmental outcomes for the city and the region, including greenhouse gas emissions, and that such projects should minimise traffic in the CBD, respect the importance of Wellington’s character, heritage and natural environment, and improve resilience.”

“Previous proposals have been obsessed with building more roads in a self-defeating and futile effort to reduce congestion – an approach proven worldwide not to work – but these principles show that the agencies have been paying attention to modern transport thinking. They recognise Wellington City Council’s transport hierarchy, which puts walking, cycling and public transport at the top, and focus on improving journey time predictability.”

“We’re particularly pleased that these principles recognise that transport planning isn’t just about building more infrastructure. Transport behaviour change is just as important, and these principles acknowledge that transport demand management, and incentives to change modes, will be needed.”

But Tim Jones warned that a good set of draft principles didn’t guarantee good outcomes. “Community input has helped the Governance Group develop a good set of draft principles. But there is still a lobby out there that just wants to fill Wellington up with motorways, and so everyone who wants Wellington to have a modern, sustainable transport system that works for a modern capital city needs to keep up the pressure to ensure that these principles are fully reflected in the actual transport outcomes,” Tim Jones concluded.

Media Release: Teens Turn Off Driving – Time To Turn Off Flyover Plans

Posted on by tjonescan

The Save the Basin Campaign says the news that there has been a dramatic drop in the number of Wellington teens getting their drivers’ licences backs up its stance that there is no need for the Government and the New Zealand Transport Agency to press ahead with plans for a Basin Reserve flyover.

“According to the report in today’s Sunday Star-Times, NZTA’s own figures show that the number of Wellington teens between 16 and 19 getting their drivers’ licences has fallen by over 50%, and up to 75%, between 2008 and 2013. This dramatic decline reflects a worldwide trend. It shows that teenagers have rejected the car culture and assumptions of endless traffic growth that drive NZTA’s and the Government’s planning for such projects as a Basin Reserve flyover.”

“These figures back up what Save the Basin has been saying all along,” Tim Jones said. “Not only would a flyover be ugly, disruptive, and put the future of the Basin Reserve at risk – it simply isn’t necessary. Young Wellingtonians are turning off driving because it costs too much, it’s unsafe, they don’t need to drive across town to communicate with their friends, and public transport provides good alternatives. So why build a massive flyover that won’t be needed?”

“Rather than wasting money on outmoded motorways and flyovers, we need to be investing in high-speed broadband on the one hand, and public transport on the other. But the Government is full of baby-boomers who grew up with cars on the brain, and it seems that NZTA’s transport planners share the same mentality.”

“It’s time for a change in transport thinking,” Tim Jones concluded. “It’s time to let go of the notion that New Zealanders are wedded to their cars, because that’s no longer what the evidence says. It’s time to abandon the 1960s transport thinking that says the answer is always a flyover or a motorway. It’s time to plan for the future, not the past.”

UPDATE: See TV One’s coverage of the issue: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/fewer-teens-apply-driver-licence-video-5855551

ENDS

Tim Jones
Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson
027 359 0293

Transport Experts, Labour Party Agree: Basin Reserve Flyover A Crock

Posted on by tjonescan

Campaigners criticising a proposed project is one thing. Politicians criticising a proposed project is another thing. But when independent transport experts find gaping flaws in the claimed benefits underlying a proposal, then that proposed project has a problem.

And that’s exactly the situation with the proposed Basin Reserve flyover. A series of traffic and transportation peer review reports from consultants appointed by the Board of Inquiry has shown damning holes, inconsistencies and grossly inflated claims in NZTA’s proposals – faults that NZTA and its experts have chosen to gloss over.

You can find those reports here: http://www.epa.govt.nz/Resource-management/Basin_Bridge/ReportsAdvice/Pages/default.aspx under the heading “Traffic and Transportation peer review report” towards the bottom of the page.

Wellington Central MP Grant Robertson has highlighted one of thesee key issues in a recent press release, reported on Wellington Scoop:

Basin flyover “a colossal waste of money,” says Grant Robertson

To quote from the statement:

The travel time saved by the proposed Basin Reserve flyover amounts to only 90 seconds, not the claimed seven-and-a-half minutes, a new statement by experts and witnesses shows, Labour’s MP for Wellington Central Grant Robertson says.

“This flyover is costing $90 million but in the end will only save commuters 90 seconds. That is a colossal waste of money when they are other alternatives available to improve traffic flow.

“The claim has been made that the flyover will give seven-and-a-half minutes of travel time savings, but in material released late last week. The experts now agree six of those minutes actually come from a third lane in the Memorial Park tunnel and changes to the Taranaki Street intersection. These are completely separate developments from the flyover.

“It is significant that witnesses and experts agree on this. It puts into question the cost benefit claims about the project and should weigh heavily on the Board of Inquiry.

And of course, Grant Robertson is far from the only politician to criticise the proposed flyover. In addition to Labour, the Greens, United Future, New Zealand First and Mana have all expressed opposition to the proposed flyover. All these parties recognise a crock when they see one. It’s a pity NZTA and the Government are too blinded by their own arrogance to see the fatal flaws in its proposal.

PS: Here’s the same story covered by the Dominion Post: http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/news/9706340/Flyover-to-shave-90-seconds-off-trip

Big Media Interest In Basin Reserve Flyover Hearings

Posted on by tjonescan

There has been a lot of media interest in the Board of Inquiry hearing on NZTA’s proposed Basin Reserve flyover, which began this week and is currently scheduled to run for eight weeks. Save the Basin’s media release to mark the start of the hearings, below, got an excellent response, including coverage on both main TV channels:

Save the Basin Campaign hopes for a fair and thorough Board of Inquiry hearing

The Board of Inquiry hearing into the motorway flyover the New Zealand Transport Agency is proposing to build at the Basin Reserve cricket ground in central Wellington begins today, Monday 3 February, and is scheduled to last for two months.

Save the Basin Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said “The Save the Basin Campaign will play a full part in the hearing. We have a very strong case that clearly shows why the proposed Basin Reserve flyover should not be approved by the Board. We’re looking forward to presenting that case to the Board and to the public.”

However, Tim Jones said that the Board of Inquiry process, run by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and set up by the current Government to push through resource consent applications for projects it favours within a nine-month time frame, has many flaws.

“That nine-month time frame has meant that submitters, expert witnesses, and the Board itself have been placed under extraordinary pressure by unrealistically short deadlines,” Tim Jones commented. “At times, submitters have been given as little as one working day to respond to demands from the EPA for information. That’s completely unacceptable.”

“Now that the Board hearing is underway,” Mr Jones said, “Save the Basin is looking forward to a hearing that will be fair, unbiased, thorough, and take all the time needed to hear and consider the many complex issues NZTA’s deeply flawed proposal raises.”

Basin Reserve Flyover Flaws Revealed for All to See

Posted on by tjonescan

We knew the NZTA’s plans to build a flyover at the Basin Reserve were fatally flawed. Now several days of highly critical media coverage, with pictures of what a flyover would look like if NZTA’s plans go ahead, mean that a lot more people can see these flaws. What’s more, it’s a peer review panel of experts that has been the source of much of the criticism.

So let’s take a moment to review the recent coverage on Wellington Scoop and the Dominion Post:

UPDATE: Check out these before-and-after images (without and then with a Basin flyover) from Transport Blog: http://transportblog.co.nz/2013/11/27/photo-of-the-day-basin-bridge

The Emperor’s new clothes are well and truly off, and the proposed flyover’s flaws are laid bare for all to see.