Auckland Mayor, Wayne Brown, has channelled Joe Dolce and basically told Auckland Transport to “shut up and listen”. They seem to lack ears, so it will remain to be seen if Wayne Brown can make them listen to Aucklanders’ concerns over Auckland Transport.
Mayor Wayne Brown has told Auckland Transport to ‘shut up and listen’ as he pushes ahead with his election promises.
Brown wants Auckland Transport (AT) to install more dynamic lanes and transponders on buses to change traffic lights.
He would also like Auckland Council to have more of a say on longer-term projects, something the Minister for Transport, Simeon Brown agrees with him about.
“I discovered that the only council in New Zealand that doesn’t control its Land Transport Plan is this one, thanks to the way the council was set up, which was stupid,” Mayor Brown said.
“It’s been handed over to AT, who think they’re independent, well they’re not. We’re funding you, shut up and listen.
“So the Minister for Transport in Auckland, Simeon Brown, who I’m getting on quite well with, has agreed that we will be put back in charge of the Regional Land Transport Plan.
“I’m negotiating that with him and at his request, he said AT are going to have nothing to do with this negotiation.”
Stuff
About bloody time too. The wonder is why it has taken Wayne Brown so long to yank on AT’s leash. As I said, he appears to be channelling Joe Dolce:
Ahead of the 2022 Mayoral election, Brown made it a priority to bring council-controlled organisations (CCOs) back under control.
Brown has been vocal in his criticism of Tataki Auckland Unlimited, Eke Panuku, the Port of Auckland and AT since taking office.
For AT he is pushing for more dynamic lanes, which use overhead signals to change the direction of centre lanes at peak times.
“The transport system is dumb here, we didn’t have things like dynamic lanes, we had one up in Whangaparaoa,” Brown said.
“We’re now moving to put them in place on a lot of feeding roads.”
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Hallelujah… having lived in Whangaparaoa I know first hand how well those lanes worked. They should be in place in numerous routes, one of which would be Takapuna to Devonport.
Brown also wants the transponders on buses used to allow traffic lights to change to green when approaching them.
“I said at the campaign that buses should have transponders on them and we should be connecting those to the lights,” Brown said.
“I get in here and AT discover that they do have transponders on them and perhaps we will connect them to the lights and it does speed up the buses.
“These things are happening. We have these 20 councillors, why didn’t one of them dream that up, they’ve all been there for years.
“So I arrive and things are changing, there’s no two ways about that. So I’m proud of that.”
Stuff
Yes, now why doesn’t someone in the media question some of those womble councillors, like Richard Hills and Chris Darby, who have been pushing and promoting inane transport projects instead of sensible ideas.
If Wayne Brown wishes to be re-elected then he is going to have to be more forceful in delivering that which he promised us all.
Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the BFD - where this article was sourced.
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