I do not like the idea of a “Wellington Council” with a smaller number of Councillors, which would unnecessarily restrict representation, just at a time when the public is becoming increasingly interested in participating in the very important issues of public transport, the three waters and a regional spatial plan. Cr Andy Foster diminishes the area of importance of the areas already under Greater Wellington jurisdiction, but also makes some very good points. The Regional Council (Greater Wellington) needs to be strengthened in a number of areas, which would lead to better planning and functionality across the region. Organisations such as Capacity restrict community influence on outcomes.

A regional spatial plan is urgently needed to assess where structural change should occur to address the issues of declining fossil fuel availability, climate change, ageing population, increased localisation and uptake of green tech. A spatial analysis could not be completed or implemented without the input and collaboration of city councils and neighbourhood communities, but it helps if it is carried out under the auspices of a regional committee elected for that purpose, rather than a Mayoral Forum with restricted delegation.

The need for a regional spatial plan was highlighted by the constrained focus of the WCC 2040 strategic plan. 30,000 commute into the CBD from outside Wellington city and the rest of the region looks to the CBD as the cultural and social centre. Many new employment opportunities exist outside Wellington, and travel demands will change significantly in the coming decade with the tightening economic climate and diminishing fossil fuels. City and district councils must enhance and increase the resilience of their local communities, meaning more engagement at the neighbourhood level, and at the same time a regionally focussed council will needs to anticipate the changes needed at the regional level to optimise use of infrastructure and natural resources.

My plea is that we don’t retreat into parochialism, and continue to debate the issues.

Paul Bruce

For more information

Cr Paul Bruce, 021 02719370 Paul.Bruce@gw.govt.nz | Facebook

Authorised by Jon Field, 2/17 Garrett Street, Wellington

The Greens have launched their election advertising – find out more about the campaign on the Green Party website.

We have also elected candidates for the 2011 election – check out their profiles below on the Green Party website:

Hutt South

Holly Walker

Contact: Email | Phone 021 180 2597

Twitter | Facebook

Mana

Jan Logie

Contact: Email | Phone 021 038 6101

Twitter | Facebook

Ōhariu

Gareth Hughes

Contact: Email | Phone 027 422 9290

Twitter | Facebook

Ōtaki

Michael Gilchrist

Contact: Email | Phone 04 479 5640

Twitter | Facebook

Rimutaka

Tane Woodley

Contact: Email | Phone 021 264 6277

Twitter | Facebook

Rongotai

Russel Norman

Contact: Email | Phone 04 817 6712

Twitter | Facebook

Wairarapa

Sea Rotmann

Contact: Email | Phone 021 2469 438

Twitter | Facebook

Wellington Central

James Shaw

Contact: Email | Phone 021 337 675

Twitter | Facebook

View all candidates on the Green Party website

Mid yearly update report from Regional Councillor Paul Bruce -
July 26th 2011

In this update:

• Successful change to STV electoral system for Regional Council
• Wellington Regional Strategy Review
• Wellington Community Wind Farm
• Major weather events
• Consultation on inner-city transport network

Successful change to STV electoral system for Regional Council!

I am delighted to report that a majority of regional councillors voted for a change to the single transferable vote (STV) system for the next GW local body election. The change to STV will bring GW into line with Wellington and Porirua City Councils, Kapiti District Council  and the District Health Board, leaving us with just one voting system. It will give vote/s greater value, allowing the candidates with the most support to win. See Greater Wellington’s report on the Electoral system for the 2013 triennial elections 11.379 (PDF) for more information.

Councils have the opportunity to change the electoral system every three years from first past the post (FPP) to STV where voters rank candidates in order of preference. However, the two Hutt Councils and the three Wairarpa District Councils have decided to remain with FPP.

It is also fantastic to see eight percent more use of public transport in the three months to April than the same time last year (40 million passengers annually!). There has also been a doubling of commuter cyclists over recent years.  I am working as your Regional Councillor to make these services more reliable and convenient and our roads safer for everybody.  Real time information is now rolling out. This August, the Wellington Bus review will be made available for comment, and it is my hope that we will be soon also having more evening and weekend bus services and greater frequency to places like Brooklyn Heights.

Next step is an integrated ticketing system, Bike Racks on buses, and Hifi on all services (as proposed by Gareth Hughes), not just on the airport flier. We believe that it is time to move public transport up a few grades to make it the premier transport mode of convenience!

Earlier this year, I gave presentations on the Environmental Impacts of a Kapiti Express Way to a Waikanae Hui, changes in the GW Transport Plan to Kilbirnie Residents Association and submissions together with Rational Transport Society to the EPA Board of Enquiry on the Freshwater Plan for Transmission Gully Highway.

On the 19th and 20th of August Gareth Hughes, Green MP will be holding the first ever national Smart Transport for NZ Conference in Wellington. This conference aims to bring together those of us who are working to promote diverse sustainable transport modes in New Zealand such as rail, bus, walking, cycling, rail freight, sea freight and coastal shipping. If you would like to register for this conference then you can do so online at

https://my.greens.org.nz/conferenceregistration

If you have any good news stories, suggestions or complaints, make sure you get in contact, and also send a copy to Metlink at www.metlink.org.nz .

Decrease in NZTA public transport funding assistance rate

I have supported the GW submission opposing the proposed changes in the (central government) transport funding assistance rate, highlighting the significant financial impact on local rates and lack of sound rationale in some of the detail.

The proposed changes amongst other things, remove demand management and behaviour change activities from the road safety category,  and could reduce support for essential studies such as the Wellington Public Transport Spine study and the introduction of electronic/integrated ticketing. The changes will lead to an additional 3% increase in Wellington Regional Council rates for the 2011/12 year. Attachment 2 (PDF)

Wellington Regional Strategy Review

The strategy was developed prior to 2007 to deliver certain economic development initiatives through a regionally funded development agency. The focus on export led growth was contentious at the time, and a review this year has bourn out the need to give greater support to the local economy, with a systematic measurement of outcomes achieved. I go along with this, and support further decisions being made on the activity within the LTP (Long Term Council Plan) 2012-22 process.

Toward 2040: Smart Green Wellington – Draft City Strategy

GW has written a submission to the WCC draft city strategy endorsing the overall aim to build resilience, economic and social, physical and environmental.

However, the submission points out that the success in achieving the vision and goals is dependant on players and factors outside Wellington city.  For example, 30,330 people commute to work to Wellington CBD on a daily basis. The city is at the same time dependent on the science and research sector, some of which is located outside the city. Associated with this, is the question of how these documents relate to the Wellington Regional Strategy (see above).

We also requested more detail on how transport plans might be integrated with existing and future land use patterns, to guide decision making and resource allocation for both GW and WCC. An excellent example of collaboration is the strong support from all Councils of the region for the construction next year of a cycle/walk way between Petone and Wellington in the new year as part of the Hutt Corridor Plan. NZTA has other priorities (new expressways etc) and has put in a contrary submission stating that timing for construction was premature and should be delayed until 2016/17.

These questions are of course related to the ongoing discussions around governance. Transport is already dealt with on a regional basis, but frustratingly overridden by Nationally Government most recently. There is clearly room for better collaboration on local issues such as the three waters (potage, storm water and sewage) and shared facilities. It is also very important to maintain that connection to place, which comes from having wards and Councils of a size that lends to easy and accessible Councillors.  Submissions to the Governance issues are being analysed, and further consultation is likely later this year.

Wellington Community Wind Farm

Since a public meeting in November 2010,  a steering group has been investigating how to progress sustainable energy projects in the Wellington region on a cooperative basis. Extensive research on community wind, such as options for governance and management, financial feasibility, assessment of wind resource date, along with the suitability of various legal and financial structures has been carried out. Our energy plan relates to a household consumer group to promote renewable energy on the consumers’ terms, and the opportunity to exploit the Long Gully site as a community-owned wind farm. We hope to be able to reveal further details about these exciting initiatives in the next few months.

We welcome as many supporters as we can who may be willing to be involved and possibly in the future to invest in community wind energy. We want to start raising some funds soon to help us towards developing our web presence and other materials in order to grow the consumer group, as well as supporting of the community generation umbrella group as outlined above. A website will be up shortly. Subscribe to our mailing list windywelly99@gmail.com and be kept up to date with progress and upcoming events.

Major weather events

Some of you will know that I am a weather forecaster with MetService as well as a Regional Councillor.  I hope you have been keeping warm in the recent cold outbreak.  Extreme weather events have been increasing globally, but with more heat waves than cold outbreaks. Earlier this year, May was a record warm month for NZ, and this unusual snow event was also preceded by quite mild weather. Dr Kevin Trenberth, a climate expert from NCAR expert, reported that more violent and frequent storms, once merely a prediction of climate models, are now a matter of observation. The presentation can be found at http://www.victoria.ac.nz/climate-change.

And if you want to catch up to local thinking on Biophysical Limits and their Policy Implications a ground breaking conference was held here in Wellington in June. The excellent presentations can be found at http://ips.ac.nz/events/previous_events-2011.html

Consultation on inner-city transport network

Everybody should have received a document in their mail box outlining the proposed basin reserve flyover, and widening of roads such as Ruahine Street and Wellington Road. There appeared to be a failure in the delivery system, so if you didn’t receive yours, please complain to frank.fernandez@nzta.govt.nz.

Submit your feedback on the NZTA website

The original Ngauranga to Airport Plan supported public transport measures and further reassessment before the building of new tunnels and new four to six lane roads. Traffic volumes are declining in light of high oil prices, and still the Government wants to spend all the money on new express ways with 100% subsidies. This is having the result of syphoning money away from the local authorities for safety measures, maintenance of local roads, public transport and new measures such as integrated ticketing.

Cabinet has just approved amendments to the Land Transport Management Act which Transport Minister Steven Joyce said would streamline the planning process and remove convoluted decision making and ambiguity. However, the Government is in fact giving more power to its own motorway builders at the expense of local communities and the economy. The Architecture Centre has launched the real alternative to the NZ Transport Agency’s disastrous plans for the Basin Reserve.

Check out the Save the Basin website and read more or make a submission on the Green Party website.

For more critique of Wellington City RoNs and alternatives, contact davidalaing@gmail.com and kent@mtvictoria.org.nz, and please consider making a submission before Friday 26th August, even if it is to just request that some of allocated funding be turned over to a high quality tram train extension through the city and traffic calming!

Best wishes

Cr Paul Bruce

For more information

Cr Paul Bruce, 021 02719370, 04 972 8699 Paul.Bruce@gw.govt.nz | Facebook

Read summary and full plans on the GWRC website

The Regional Council proposes to raise 84.571 million via general and targeted rates in 2011/12.  The average proposed rates increase for the Wellington City area as a whole is 4.00%.  The average rates increase for Wellington City residential property owners will be 0.45%.

The big item of expenditure contributing to this years rates increase is debt serving for new and refurbished rail units.  This is all part of a significant upgrade to the Wellington rail network.  Funding is also being provided for a third water reservoir at Kaitoke (Upper Hutt).  The Kaitoke reservoirs provide all of Wellington’s water supply.

The proposed rates have been prepared on the assumption that there will be a 5% fare increase for Public Transport services.  The Annual Plan includes a complete review of public transport fare structures in the region, along with further public consultation.

The Annual Plan also includes ongoing funding for protection of the environment, flood protection, land management, water supply and resource management.

My recommendations

Focus on items that increase resiliency in the face of growing impacts from climate change and increasing cost of fossil fuels.

1. Support expenditure items on public transport, with the qualification that refurbishment of rail units (Ganz mavag) should be limited, and funds put aside instead for the urgent purchase of tram train (light rail) for extension of rail through the city to the Hospital and the Airport.
2. A new item of expenditure for the trial of cycle racks on buses on two city routes, anticipating a staged introduction over the whole region in 2012/13.
3. Rating finance be extended from the “warm home” scheme (for insulation and heating) to purchase of domestic rain water collection tanks for emergency and backup during extended dry periods.
4. Review of public transport fare structures in the region, to include integrated ticketing, fare packages that encourage long term use of public transport, concessions to students, negotiated discount packages with businesses and zero fares within the CBD.  The Wellington Bus Review currently under way, should produce significant efficiency improvements, allowing a further increase of passengers and income. I have not supported fare increases for the reason that prices are not competitive with car travel over shorter distances and I believe that we can operate the service more efficiently with new contracts and adjustment of the network.
5. Support existing programmes encouraging sustainable transport choices, such as school travel plans, the regional Cycling and Walking Journey Planner
6. Support early completion of Wellington Public Transport Spine Study, so a decision can be made for Tram-Train (light rail).
7. Support early investigation of Petone to Nguaranga cycle/walk way (part of Hutt Road Corridor Plan)
8. Support development of new regional plan addressing issues such as water allocation, land use, and stronger policies to restrict cattle from river beds etc.
9. Continue our Take Care and Take Action environmental education programmes with close involvement with the Enviro schools programme including funding for the Regional Coordinator.

There are many other major issues such as the Governance review, the regional freight plan, Roads of National (Party) Significance. However, most of these are having separate consultations.

I am very keen to meet with you or attend a meeting of your group to discuss the proposed annual plan and any other issues that may concern you.

The Wellington Regional Council is holding annual plan clinics around the region as well.

Please remember that submissions on the proposed Annual Plan close on 28 April 2011.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Paul Bruce

For more information

Cr Paul Bruce, 021 02719370 Paul.Bruce@gw.govt.nz | Facebook

Major decisions are being made – and your involvement at every level is crucial – in your communities,  also at local, regional and central Government level.

The infrastructure of our transport, electricity, and food systems – as well as our building stock – have been designed and built to suit the unique characteristics of cheap oil and electricity. The post-fossil-fuel economy of this century will profoundly differ from all that we are familiar with now.

The difference will be reflected in urban design, land-use patterns, food systems, manufacturing output, distribution networks, the job market, transportation systems, health care, tourism, and more. It will also require a fundamental rethinking of our financial institutions and cultural values.

We face increased calls for restraint on local body expenditure as the Government deficit grows – although programmes such as RoNs (the Trucking Roads of National Party significance) continue unabated, and herein lies the challenge.

Issues that I believe are important are listed below, followed by some advice on how to influence the process.

Let  2011 be the beginning of effective community involvement in local Government.

Eight key issues

1. Water strategy. Should the strategy support household rain collection, governance of the three waters (waste, potable and storm water) by regional Committee (from the Council controlled trading body Capacity), require tougher resource consents for water allocation and pollution of water ways (dairy farmers)?
2. Increased water take off from the Hutt River while remedial work is carried out on storage lakes. Should we instead consider new conservation initiatives that will decrease short and long term demand?
3. New policy on cycle carriage on trains. Should GW also allow cycle carriage on buses utilising racks as in Christchurch?
4. New cycle path between Petone and Horokiwi. The NZTA’s new Petone-Horokiwi cycle path project will be on the RTC Agenda in February. Should RTC and GW make the construction of safe cycle ways on arterial routes* the highest priority, given their high benefit to cost ratios (BCRs)? Should parking of vehicles on city arterial roads be replaced with protected cycle paths and discounted rates for CityHop garages on council property?
   * the Great Harbour way seaward cycle/walk path between Petone and Nguaranga; along Aotea Quay; Adelaide Road etc.
5. The ‘high quality public transport feasibility study’. Will this mean another delay of 10 to 15 years?  Or will it incorporate the 1995 light rail study – which 15 years ago called for implementation of a network plan with tram train through the CBD? How will the proposed refurbishment of the Ganz Mavag units affect the Tram Train units purchase decision?
6. National ticketing program for public transport, which NZTA has agreed to establish.  How should GW start planning right now for a fully integrated ticketing system? Should planning include consistent fare concessions to grow long term patronage and off-peak travel?  And what is the right mix between cash and electronic fares?
7. Spatial Plan for the Wellington region – who should be involved, and what should be considered?
8. Commercialisation of bright ideas from Grow Wellington’s innovation competition. Will GW also support an annual community group forum to generate projects that grow community resilience and decrease carbon footprints? Should GW support community orchards and gardens on Council land? What about local currencies? And community-run energy projects such as the Wellington Community Wind Farm?

How you can influence the process

The usual way of contributing is through submissions, and these are also a very important way of getting your thoughts in front of Councillors. The most important thing is the half page summary of key recommendations and actions. Bullet points often help, but keep the list short.  And remember that Councillors are not going to have time to wade their way through a ten page manuscript, especially if they have a 100 submissions to read!

A very effective use of your time is to contact relevant Councillors prior to meetings and workshops with your thoughts on the agenda item. Councillors welcome your input (as I certainly do), but keep the call short!

Greater Wellington now deals with issues through committees organised around the four well beings – environment, cultural and social, and economy.  See below for relevant GW committee and workshop meetings over the next few months.

Committees

• GW Committee structure and membership
• Councillor contact details

Committee and full Council meetings all start at 11am and have space for public participation at the beginning.

GW workshops start at 9.30am and are restricted to councillors, but you might try to make contact prior to the meeting to make sure your ideas can be represented.

Regional Transport Committee

The Regional Transport Committee comprises two Councillors from Greater Wellington, the Mayors and special interest representatives. The special interest representatives will be nominated 16 February 2011.

I look forward to your help and support.

Kia kaha
Paul Bruce

For more information

Cr Paul Bruce, 021 02719370  Paul.Bruce@gw.govt.nz | Facebook

Meetings and workshops  Feb-April 2011

(the full work program is available on request)

Meetings are held at:

Greater Wellington Regional Council
Te Pane Matua Taiao
5th floor, 142 Wakefield St,  Wellington
See map for location

Transport

3 February Economic Wellbeing
9.30am workshop (councillors only)
Pre-RTC (Regional Transport Committee) Draft Hutt Corridor Plan
(includes Petone to Horokiwi cycle/walk way proposal)
Pre RTC Ngauranga to Airport Feasibility Study
Muri Station (possible closure)

11am Economic Wellbeing Committee meeting (open to the public)
Regional Public Transport Plan – decision on process for approval

15 February 9.30am
Full GW Council workshop (councillors only)
Fare revenue recovery policy
Transport rating model

16 February 11am
Full GW Council meeting (open to the public)
Annual fare revenue review
Ref Group

17 March
9.30am Economic Wellbeing Committee workshop (councillors only)
Pre RTC freight study
Rolling stock
Role of public transport – objectives and policies, Regional Public Transport Plan

11am Economic Wellbeing Committee meeting (open to the public)
Stations, platforms funding and ownership
Policy for carriage of cycles on trains
Muri Station

Water security and supply

2nd February
9.30am Social and Cultural Wellbeing Committee workshop (councillors only)
Rail Trail and Pukuratahi future water catchment
Water security of supply standard review

11am Social and Cultural Wellbeing Committee meeting (open to the public)
Household rain water capture in metropolitan Wellington – consultant’s report.

15th February
9.30am Full Council workshop (open to the public)
Wairarapa irrigation funding proposal

16th February 11am
Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Review of Council’s Dangerous Dams policy
Lower Wairarapa Valley Development Scheme – Tobin Stopbank

3rd March 11am
Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Appointment of member to Hutt Valley Flood Management Subcommittee

15th March 9.30am
Environmental Wellbeing workshop (councillors only)
Wairarapa Moana (approach and programme)
Akura Nursery expansion

16th March
9.30am Social and Cultural Council workshop (open to the public)
Water supply emergency storage

11am Social and Cultural Wellbeing Committee meeting (open to the public)
Water security of supply

5th April
11am Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Flouridation

Governance

15th February
9.30am Full Council workshop (councillors only)
Wellington Governance (PWC Report)
Local Government debt vehicle

11am Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Long term plan 2012-22 programme
Six month review

3rd March
11am Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Proposed Annual Plan 2011/12 approval

15th March
9.30am Environmental Council workshop (councillors only)
Wairarapa Moana
Akura Nursery expansion

16th March
9.30am Social and Cultural Council workshop (councillors only)
Baring Head research findings

30th March
9.30am Full Council workshop (councillors only)
Long Term Plan Community Outcomes

5th April
11am Full Council meeting (open to the public)
Decision making

Community wind farms like this one have several major advantages over large commercial wind farms: they are smaller in size and number and can be community owned rather than externally imposed. We think this provides a great opportunity to local citizens to make a small ethical investment in renewable energy and obtain credit for clean power generation, all without having to have a suitable site themselves.

There are similar  community wind farm projects currently at the planning or discussion stage, in the Waitati – Blueskin Bay district near Dunedin, and  in Otaki, where there is a community board initiative.  The Mill Creek wind farm proposal in Ohariu also comes out of an approach from local farmers.

The Long Gully wind farm project has a resource consent, held by Wind Flow Technologies, which has now been lodged with the Wellington City Council. A contract is at present being negotiated with an electricity supplier to purchase the electricity generated. The next steps will be to set up a suitable banking and investment structure for the purchase and construction of the wind turbines.

Open public meeting

Interested members of the public are invited to come to the November 19th meeting which will be held at 6 pm at Crossways Community Centre, 6 Roxborough St, Mt Victoria, Wellington.

More on Community Wind farms

Waitati Energy Project

Dunedin’s Waitati North is to become the first community in New Zealand to own their own power company, build a community-owned wind farm, and sell electricity back to the grid.

Community Small Scale Wind Farms for New Zealand

Comparative Study of Austrian Development, with Consideration for New Zealand’s Future Wind Energy Development [PDF]

Is there an appropriate model for community wind turbine ownership in NZ? [PDF]
A study by Jane Pearce.

For more information

Cr Paul Bruce, 021 02719370  Paul.Bruce@gw.govt.nz

Conor Coady  021 0748237

Chris Freear, Windflow Technology Ltd, chris.freear@eml.net.nz 021 946332

“The important issues in Mana are core Green Party issues. Fairness and opportunity, better transport and clean water are key concerns for the community and for the Greens,” Ms Logie said.

Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman welcomed the selection: “Jan has a long history of working for social change and knows Parliament. Her skills and experience make her a real alternative to Labour or National.”

A long-time Wellingtonian, Ms Logie is Development Manager at the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, working with city councils and university researchers to help create more sustainable and inclusive cities.

She has previously served as Executive Director of the national YWCA and worked for the Hutt Valley Youth Health Service as well as Wellington’s Women’s Refuge.

More about Jan Logie on the Green Party website

Follow Jan Logie on twitter | Facebook page

More about Mana electorate

We look out the window over our Habour and marvel at the beauty of the changing skies. And some of these changes are now ominous for life on earth, with increasing frequency of unusual events and extremes.

Today, I would like to talk briefly about the future that faces us, and then about a choice we can make today, to enhance tomorrow’s life.

Each of us depends on the products and services provided by the earth’s ecosystems, ranging from forest to wetlands, from coral reefs to grasslands. Among the services these ecosystems provide, are water purification, pollination, carbon sequestration, flood control, and soil conservation. A four-year study of the world’s ecosystems by 1,360 scientists, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, reported that 15 of 24 primary ecosystem services are being degraded or pushed beyond their limits. For example, three quarters of oceanic fisheries, a major source of protein in the human diet, are being fished at. or beyond there limits, and many are headed toward collapse.

Climate change is one symptom of this crisis.

As a Meteorologist, I closely follow the arguments, as any scientist should, and there is an unprecedented amount of research being done, which is filling gaps in knowledge.  Certain trace gases in the atmosphere, act to trap energy that the Earth radiates to space.  The net amount of solar radiation has varied very little. However, the maximum solar energy that falls in any one spot, varies naturally over cycles ranging from 21,000, 26,000 and 41,000 years due to slow changes in the axis of rotation of the earth, variations in the elongation of the ellipse around the sun, and the precession of the earth’s axis of rotation, and are collectively referred to as Milankovitch cycles.  They bring about a slow change in global temperature, which has a feedback effect of increasing or decreasing trace greenhouse gases. Changes in greenhouse gas levels, alter the heat stored in the biosphere, triggering a much larger temperature change, and sending us into a warmer world or back to an ice age.

We have been blessed over the last 10,000 years with a usually stable climate with a human friendly mean temperature of 15 deg C. Then, about 150 years ago, humans began to burn the oil that was laid down under the crust 30 to 50 million years ago. This has now lead to an increase of about 30% in levels of green house gases over pre-industrial times.

Greenhouse gases include not only carbon dioxide, but the much more potent trace gases, Methane and nitric oxide, which have also increased due to agriculture activity and increased animal farming, disturbance of wetlands and exploration of fossil fuelsIn spite of the international recession, greenhouse gas emissions continue their relentless climb. We are, in fact, following along the worst-case scenario, with leading climate scientists warning that we are reaching tipping points, which can trigger abrupt climate change.

The biophysical warming signal shows up very clearly in the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice cap and the Arctic, the break up of ice shelves
along Western Antarctica sheet, the migration of plant and animal species and extreme events.
Water supply is also becoming constrained. Lowering water tables, the global retreat of mid latitude glaciers, and increasing severity of drought in major grain producing areas, portends food shortages.  And the pumping of underground water exceeds natural recharge in countries containing half the world’s people, leaving many without adequate water.

The stable sea level over the last 10,000 years, not only provided early humans with a high-protein marine food supply, but also made possible grain production in estuary and floodplain ecosystems.  At the warmest part of the last Interglacial 150,000 years ago, sea-level was about 6 metres higher than today.  Current warming will make the world hotter than the last interglacial within a few decades.

The disastrous outcome of Copenhagen was further proof that climate change is not the central issue in negotiations. For rich countries, the key issues in negotiations were finance, carbon markets, competitiveness of countries and corporations, business opportunities along with discussions about the political makeup of the US Senate. There was surprisingly little focus on effective solutions for reducing carbon emissions…. The choices we can make today!

When I was born in 1949, Homo sapiens were responsible for the burning of 10 million barrels of oil a day. Today, we choose to use 85 million a day, and we now take great risks, searching for oil 5 to 10 miles below sea level, witness the disaster in the Mexican Gulf! The legacy of oil we inherited from 30 to 50 million years ago will all be used within
the space of a bit over one century. And even though we have passed peak oil production, our continued use of fossil fuels over the next decade, will trigger major climate change and a collapse in our food production and eco-system.

At the same time, developing countries like China are following western life styles and moving to the western based high impact meat diet.

We need to despair and then turn our despair into action.

Lets review some of the impacts of animal farming on greenhouse emissions.

Half New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture, and most of this is methane emitted by livestock. No techniques to sustainably reduce methane (CH4) emissions directly by ruminant livestock have yet been established.

Agricultural N2O nitrous oxide accounts for about one sixth of NZ’s CO2-equivalent emissions. It is a by-product of microbial degradation of animal excrement (mainly urine) and of nitrogen fertilisers in pasture soils. Recent innovations use “nitrification inhibitors” added to the fertiliser that slow down the N2O production.

An ICF study shows that three quarters of the potential that is economic to implement in the next few years is agricultural. However, the simple and most effective answer of moving away from animal farming is not yet taken seriously. Recent high prices for Dairy products have lead to a rush to Dairy Farming by New Zealand farmers, putting severe strain on water resources, especially in Canterbury.  It is ironic, that the areas converting to Dairy are also the areas where grains grow best, and it is more grains that the world really needs.

One billion people remain poor and hungry, and remaining global reserve stocks of grains are likely to disappear within a few years, due to continued population increases in developing countries, increasing drought in grain producing areas such as Australia and USA, and disappearing water aquifers.

Growing animals for food is also a very inefficient way of producing vegetable protein, using 7 to 10 times the water and energy to food crops. However, according to a report in World Watch Magazine by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, the life cycle and supply chain of domesticated animals raised for food have also been vastly underestimated as a source of GHGs, and in fact account for at least half of all human-caused GHGs.

If this argument is right, it implies that replacing live-stock products with better alternatives would be the best strategy for reversing climate change. This approach, in fact, would have far more rapid effects on GHG emissions and their atmospheric concentration, and thus on the rate the climate is warming. The authors point out that livestock, like the automobile, are a human invention and convenience, not part of pre-human times, and a molecule of co2 exhaled by livestock is not more natural than one from a tail-pipe.  Today, estimates of cattle raised for human consumption every year, range from 20 to 50 billion head.  This is a sharp increase from a century ago.

Growth in markets for livestock products is greatest in developing countries, where rainforest normally stores at least 200 tons of carbon per hectare. Where forest is replaced by moderately degraded grassland, the tonnage of carbon stored per hectare is reduced to 8.  On average, each hectare of grazing land supports no more than one head of cattle, whose carbon content is a fraction of a ton. In comparison, over 200 tons of carbon per hectare may be released within a short time after forest and other vegetation are cut, burned, or chewed. From the soil beneath, another 200 tons per hectare may be released, with yet more GHGs from livestock respiration and excretions.

An earlier FAO report did not take into account annual GHG reductions from photosynthesis that are foregone by using 26 percent of land worldwide for grazing livestock and 33 percent of arable land for growing feed, rather than allowing it to regenerate forest. Leaving a significant amount of tropical land used for grazing livestock and growing feed to regenerate as forest, could potentially mitigate as much as half of all anthropogenic GHGs.

The capacity of greenhouse gases to trap heat in the atmosphere is described in terms of their global warming potential (GWP), which compares their warming potency to that of CO2 (with a GWP set at 1). The new widely accepted figure for the GWP of methane is 25 using a 100-year timeframe— but it is 72 using a 20-year timeframe, which is more appropriate because of both the large effect that methane reductions can have within 20 years and the serious climate disruption expected within 20 years if no significant reduction of GHGs is achieved. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change supports using a 20-year timeframe for methane.

Worldwatch report on a range of other aspects that all contribute to substantially higher amount of GHG attributable to livestock products vs alternatives. For example, farmed fish, liquid waste, disposal and creation of specialized packaging and medical treatment.  FAO estimates that global population will increase by another 35% by 2050, but in that same period, a doubling of livestock numbers.

Demand for oil will soon be impossible to meet, because of a terminal decline in production (the “peak oil” phenomenon). Petroleum’s price will spike so high as to bring about the collapse of many parts of today’s economy. Livestock products from factory farms may take an extra hit because every gram of biofuel from crops that can possibly be produced to replace conventional fuel likely will be produced—and thereby diverted from livestock—in efforts to stave off disaster.

The NZ Government is allowing further intensification of dairy farming, even allowing high country land to be turned into dairy farms. Landcare ecologist Bill Lee said moves to intensive farming practices over the past decade had “dramatically” wiped out native plants and animals. “The Canterbury Plains have probably suffered the highest level of biodiversity loss of any ecological region in New Zealand.” Fish species had suffered from pollution and loss of habitat from water extraction.

Now is the time to change.

Leaders in our food industry need to begin to replace livestock products with better alternatives now.

Food companies can produce and market alternatives to livestock products that taste similar, but are easier to cook, less expensive, and healthier.

Protein-rich legumes and grains are readily available alternatives, and these typically take one tenth of the energy to produce, and a lot less water.

The most important advantage of a plant based diet for each of us individually, is the ­huge health benefits, bearing in mind the high incidence of obesity and overweight conditions and chronic degenerative diseases linked to livestock products. Increased amount of plant, and fruit based daily consumption has lower possibilities of getting all types of cancer: breast, cervical, pancreatic, colon, bladder, stomach, mouth, larynx, esophagus, and lung.

The answers are life reaffirming.

Philosophers over the centuries have all celebrated the benefits of a meat free diet. I would like to share with you one story of a well-known New Zealander.

The man of the trees

Richard St. Barbe Baker, an influential English forest protection worker, moved to New Zealand in the late 1950s. Long before environmentalism was fashionable, Baker campaigned for forest conservation and vegetarianism, urging communities to save “Earth’s Green Mantle”. He pioneered practices now known as social forestry, encouraging local people to restore and safeguard their own forests.

In the 1920s he worked by the British Colonial Office in Kenya, where he encouraged the local Kikiyu  people to set up a tree protection society known as  Watu wa Miti. Members pledged to protect the native forest, plant native trees every year, and take care of trees everywhere. They devised a special secret handshake and a password, “Twahamwe,” meaning “All as one”.  Watu wa Miti flourished, eventually growing into  “Men of the Trees”, an international forest protection society with branches in many countries. It is now known as the International Tree Foundation.

In the late 1950s Baker moved to New Zealand to live with his second wife on a sheep station in the Southern Alps. Here he prepared organic compost for their vegetable garden, joined the New Zealand Vegetarian Society, wrote books, meditated, and gave lectures on tree planting. He lobbied the New Zealand authorities that forestry was more profitable than sheep farming. At the age of 74 he rode 1200 miles from the northernmost kauri tree in the country to the southernmost, near Invercargill.

In his autobiography, My trees, my life, he imagined a vegetarian future:

In some countries, such as the U.S.A., up to three-quarters of the land has been degraded to the use of growing crops to feed animals, which they kill to feed themselves. Surely a round-about way of getting food, when it is possible to get food for ourselves direct from the earth through fresh vegetables, fruit, and nut-bearing trees … I picture village communities of the future living in valleys protected by sheltering trees on the high ground. They will have fruit and nut orchard and live free from disease and enjoy leisure, liberty and justice for all, living with a sense of their one-ness with the earth, and with all living things.

Baker remained vegetarian until his death in 1982 at the age of 92.

And the way we live and eat matters not only for sustainability, but also for our safety, comfort and health

The quickest way to slash our greenhouse gas emissions on an individual and planetary scale, and the most effective means of preventing more environmental devastation on a major scale, is to reduce or eliminate meat and dairy consumption.

If you want to be safe, live close to where you work, travel by train, use a bicycle on car free routes … and become a vegetarian.

These are solutions that bring good friends and connectedness.

We do have ways to live more lightly on the earth that give joy and better health. Our end game can be a delightful, cradle-to-cradle, pollution free environment. Now is the time to wake up to community gardens, energy efficient buildings, the power of solar and a non-meat diet.

For more information

Contact Regional Councillor Paul Bruce
paul.bruce@greens.org.nz
phone: 04 9728699 cellphone:021 02719370

Presentation to the Rotary Club of Wellington, May 2010

Tena koutou katoa!

According to Charles Finny, CEO of Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce, Greater Wellington is possibly the best performing regional council in the country, with highly dedicated staff, and a couple of significant plans produced during the recent triennium.

The major expenditure item has been the replacement of 1940′s trains, and the addition of some extra transit capacity.

However, as well as running the buses and trains, GW is the environmental manager of the region, does transport planning, water supply, flood protection, pest and land management, harbour safety, regional parks and forests, emergency management and funds a regional economic development agency.  Three years ago I talked to you about climate and weather.

Well, greenhouse gas emissions continue their relentless climb, as do signs of global climate change.

In fact we are following along the worst case scenario … in spite of what the climate deniers say!
The way we use energy and transport matters not only for sustainability, but also for our safety, comfort and health. The most dangerous thing we do in our lives is to travel in a car.  And two thirds of cyclist accidents are due to cars.

If you want to be really safe, then travel by train, they are doing so increasing numbers in Europe – the risk reduces ten-fold! Less hassle and you arrive safely at your destination.

Well, what about Wellington?

Our city hums with a vibrancy that comes from a denser inner core and the seat of Governance, and plenty of intellectual debate. And, we have other things, like a Sustainable Cities faculty (Otago University), the most used public transit system in New Zealand, and almost all our electricity about to be produced by a couple of wind farms. About 75% of public transport use, measured in passengers times distance travelled (passenger-km), is powered by electricity: trains and trolleybuses.

Thirty one percent of inner city residents no longer own a car, with 73% choosing to walk to work. A WCC 2006 survey, also showed 27% of trips in Wellington city between 1km and 2km were made by walking and cycling.

Yet, in spite of this only 17% of the wider regional population commute by public transport to the CBD, with about 70% commuting by car. But 70% of car journeys are not work-related: visits to the supermarket, sport, recreation, and for social occasions.

New Zealand has one of the highest per capita transport demand profiles, and is highly dependent on oil imports to support this demand. Thirty six percent of Greater Wellington greenhouse emissions come from petrol, diesel and aviation fuel.

This suggests that NZ would fare comparatively badly in response to high oil prices, especially lower socio-economic communities, with poor public transport connections. An interesting survey done at Griffith University shows how communities located in peripheral suburbs by cheaper housing suffer disproportionately from oil price increases. The same would probably happen here, in Wainuiomata, Porirua East, and Titahi Bay and so on unless there is strategic development of post-oil alternatives.

Oil Vulnerability in the Australian City – Griffith University

The sustainable response? Provide people with the opportunity to choose sustainable transport modes for most of their travel, generate services locally, increase efficiency of our services, give support to active transport and adjust our urban form.

Greater Wellington funds public transport

Our system suffers from decades of neglect. Trolleybus, and rail networks have been allowed to run down.  Since 1993 the National and Labour governments have invested roughly $14 billion in road maintenance and renewal and only $2 billion in rail improvements, so it is not surprising our railway lines are carrying less freight than the trucks on our roads.

Good news for Kiwirail today, making a modest profit, according to the half-year report [PDF].

96 new electric “Matangi” trains will start arriving from August this year. This has been accompanied by a year long upgrade of station platforms, signalling and electrification to Waikanae, with new double tracking. Work is continuing on providing real time information for bus and train travellers, with a pilot involving 25 buses under way at present.

Integrated ticketing is planned, but held up in order to coordinate with Auckland. NZTA has chosen Thales as the supplier for a national system.

At the same time, GW is reviewing bus efficiency on routes south of Wellington Railway Station.

A major deterrent to public transport use south of the CBD, has been the congested hub at Wellington Railway Station and along Lambton Quay. Multiple routes passing through this space, produces bus congestion, and poor timetabling.

A collaborative NZ/Australian transport study, directed by Prof. Gustaf Nielson, indicated the value of moving towards spoke and hub services (and sub-hubs) feeding into enhanced arterial transport routes, and I am very pleased to say the GW officers now believe that we can make significant improvements to the efficiency of our networks, which allow for increased frequency in outer areas, and less congestion in the CBD.

Roads of National Significance (RoNS)

However, these fine aspirations have been undermined by Government’s announcement of Roads of National Significance or RoNS, and has thrown into doubt the purchase of another 14 trains, that would allow for 3% annual growth.

Minister of Transport, Stephen Joyce, has outlined an additional $21 billion of investment in roads. The same National Infrastructure Plan lists only a further $0.7 billion investment in alternatives to roads.

It is indeed ironic that Prime Minister John Key can claim in Copenhagen, that NZ can’t afford to reduce GHE, yet National can find $2.2 billion public money for expenditure on non-performing assets in the Wellington region that saddle us with long term costs and more greenhouse emissions!

GW’s Regional Land Transport Strategy contains a vision that few would disagree with.

It advocates modal shift to public transport and active travel, and transfer of freight to rail, as a response to climate change, rising fuel prices, health, safety and security.

However, the key outcomes listed - Reduced severe road congestion (6.4.1), and the related outcomes - Maintained vehicle travel times between communities and regional destinations, and Improved reliability of the strategic roading network, have been used to justify the inclusion of the Transmission Gully project (8.1r, 10.2.1), the “Road of National Significance” (8.5d, 10.2.1), and Ngauranga to Wellington Airport Corridor (10.2.4). The timing of the Mt Victoria and Terrace Tunnel duplications and the widening of Ruahine Street have been brought forward in response to the inclusion of the Road of National Significance.

I also say, “non-performing” non-reservedly, as the cost benefit analysis shows that all the different components come out at well below One.  This means, the Government is planning to build roads that will have no net benefit to the economy, that is a loss will be made.  And the Transmission Gully road lies on an active fault line, and soil mapping indicates that the area suffers the same propensity for slips after heavy rains, as the coastal route.

The latest OECD comparison (2002) shows that New Zealand is already suffering from a very expensive transport network, with the highest vehicle kilometers travelled (VKT) per unit of Gross  Domestic Product (GDP) in the OECD:

Vehicle Kilometres Travelled by Road – MfE website

Each year in New Zealand, traffic-related air pollution is a contributing factor to 500 deaths, a similar number of deaths to road accidents. Car drivers and passengers have a death/injury rate ten times that of bus passengers.
There are also a lot of hidden costs, and one Ministry of Transport study, estimates that car and trucks only contribute 65% towards the total cost to the community.

For example, wastes such as used oil, batteries and tyres require careful disposal and cost New Zealand $3.8 billion. Road transport is also a primary source of harmful air pollutants in urban areas, and waterways are affected by contaminated run-off from roads.

Roading projects are funded from the National Land Transport Fund [Government Policy Statement GPS 2009/10 – 2018/19 May 2009 - PDF].  Some funding also comes from local authority rates.  So ratepayers are paying for a portion of the cost of the Roads of National Significance (RoNs).

While most trucks pay road user charges it is not generally enough to cover the cost of road maintenance and the remainder is funded from taxpayers contributions.  Road freight causes significant damage to roads and the most efficient means of transporting heavy goods is by rail.  So in effect, roads are subsidized three times, firstly by vehicle registrations, secondly by taxpayers and thirdly by rates.

Many of us believed that peaking oil prices would see a shift in the car friendly culture irrespective of which Government was elected. We did not imagine in our wildest dreams that the Government would begin raising billions of dollars to keep the whole structure going and would prefer that our children inherit an impossible debt just to feed this addictive use of mineral oil.

The RONS proposal will result in unnecessary road capacity and community severance.

They will increase traffic speed and feed more vehicles into already congested Wellington streets. New expressways, like Karo Drive, may well lead to further high speed accidents, making a mockery of the recently launched Traffic Safety program, aimed at getting speed down.

The Minister wants a racetrack, in a similar manner to Muldoon’s think big projects, and they seem to be placing all their bets on bio-fuels and electric cars to replace gasoline.

However, electric cars are expensive, their uptake will be slow, with resource constraints on essential materials necessary for both batteries and electrical infrastructure. The Hon Steven Joyce has in fact estimated that there will be 300 light electric motor vehicles in the fleet by July 2013, and only reach 5% of the vehicle fleet by 2020. (NZ Energy Strategy PDF).

As a Regional Councillor, I have been advocating a balanced approach and seek the funds needed to fix the key problems with the rail system – the North-South junction, the fixing of the missing rail link from Wellington Railway station, that is light rail through to the Airport, and looking at our Urban form.

Urban form – access rather than mobility

A recent Health Department report, Healthy Places, Healthy Lives: Urban environments and wellbeing, provides detailed evidence about the strong link between poor urban design and poor health, and the large burden that puts on our communities and health services.

If designed appropriately, urban form and transport can increase physical activity, improve air quality, reduce road traffic injuries, increase social cohesion, and achieve maximum health benefits from services and facilities. Urban form can also help create a sense of place.

Urban form is a key factor in reducing the need for fossil fuels.

All the territorial authorities except Upper Hutt are signatories to the Urban Protocol (March 2005). The Regional Land Transport Programme has a vision that acknowledges the need for better land use, that people live closer to their main destinations for work and play, more vehicles run on renewable fuels, and that peoples choices recognise the risk and impact of climate change and diminishing non-renewable resources.

A vibrant city will facilitate compact development around transport hubs -

• safe cycle ways on all arterial routes, and speed limit of 30km/h on shared roads.
• electric trolley buses and light rail
• freight to shipping and rail powered by a combination of solar, wind and bio-fuels. Coastal shipping is the most energy efficient way to move freight around the country, producing only 14 grams of CO2 per tonne-kilometre compared with road at 92–123 grams of CO2
• moderate density apartments allowing regen heat, smart transport design,  car share, passive solar aspects, savings in building design, community gardens
• connectedness through broad band, social access
• time share
• free cycle and swap of used goods
• clean air and good health
• demand management programs run through workplace and schools, to encourage active modes, school walking buses etc.

Projects such as dual rail tunnels from Pukerua Bay through to Paekakariki, can enhance the public transport network and take cars and trucks off the road.

Tram – Train

Brent Efford, a recipient of a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2003, to study transit in North America, says that extending the rail system into the CBD using tram-train would knock ten minutes off the journey time for thousands of commuters every day, the same time saving claimed for Transmission Gully, but at less than $100m – less than a tenth of the cost.

Let’s look at a schematic of a possible new tram-train network, connecting Johnsonville and Melling directly through the Wellington CBD to the airport. Of course this would be done in stages, and based on similar light rail developments in Adelaide, Melbourne and most recently in Christchurch, would cost no more than $20 million per km to lay down the lines.

Allowing an inland rail port at Waingawa in Wairarapa, would remove the need for heavy trucks to use the Rimutaka Hill road.

And we need more passenger connections – rail commuters are complaining of “Third World travelling conditions” and safety concerns on packed trains. Passenger counts of 1200 on the three peak morning services from Masterton to Wellington, outnumbered available seats last year (DomPost 12th March 2009).

And another way that John Key and Steven Joyce could give us real dividends is to ….

Active modes

… invest in cycle friendly infrastructure.  All TAs and GW have cycle plans specifying the need for safe cycling routes. In spite of this, change is slow and some times non-existent.  Riddiford Street was upgraded in January last year, with no provision for cyclists, though advance stop markings have since been added.

A cycle/walk way connecting Petone and Nguaranga was first mooted over 100 years ago.  Progress has been made here with the adoption of the concept of the Great Harbour Way by all TAs including GW. NZTA has also completed a study recommending a stand alone seaward track only between Petone and Horokiwi. We need political pressure to expand that to a fully fledged cycle way into the heart of Wellington.

Thirteen National cycle trails got the nod at the start of February to go through to the next stage for National Cycleway funding.  Wellington region was excluded!

Based on experience in other cities, a 3 to 5 metre two way track connecting Wellington’s two major cities, could lead to a 20 fold increase with up to 8,000 new cyclists.  This would significant number of cars off State highway 2 with corresponding benefits for us al.

The economic benefits are well established.

NZTA have found that a car driver shifting mode to cycling on a 5km commuter trip to work, brings $9,000 savings per year to the rider and the rest of the community.

A 10% shift back to cycling would bring savings of billions of dollars to the NZ economy.

30% of our land travel trips are for distances of under two kilometres.

Urban planner Richard Register recounts meeting a bicycle activist friend wearing a t-shirt that said “I just lost 3,500 pounds. Ask me how.”  When queried he said he had sold his car. Replacing a 3,500-pound car with a 22-pound bicycle obviously reduces energy use dramatically, but it also reduces materials use by 99 percent, indirectly saving still more energy.

Enrique Penalosa, Mayor of Bogota (Colombia), was responsible for numerous radical improvements to his city, and for its citizens. He promoted a city model giving priority to children and public spaces and restricting private car use, building hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks, bicycle paths, pedestrian streets, greenways, and parks.

Penalosa, said that he had seen transportation systems where people had to walk or bike unprotected on highways and risk being killed, because figuring out how to move people who choose to walk, was less important than figuring out how to move rich people who had fancy cars.

“There are 1 or 2% kamikaze cyclists who will mix it with car traffic. If you paint a white line on the road, the number of cyclists increases to 5%. Then if you construct a special cycle way, protected from the traffic by shrubs, then 30 to 40% will venture out”

Broadway in New York has removed car parks, and traffic lanes, and created really popular cycle ways and broader sidewalks.

Overseas cities are no longer investing in accommodating the motorcar. They are promoting and improving their public transport. In cities such as Toronto and Seattle, there are moves to demolish freeways (motorways).

Moving our City with Free Public Transport

Bob Jones hit the mark when he called for a car free golden mile. However, there a number of other things that we should do to help people move more freely about town.  One of these is free public transport, and the other is reducing the number of car parks.

Wellington City Council provides, through a business levy, free carparking at weekends to encourage shoppers to come into the city, but this may well be counter-productive. It costs $1.2m in forgone parking revenue, and contributes to vehicle pollution and traffic snarl ups as cars search for parking spaces. It may also put some people off coming to town, and actually decrease retail returns.

Wellington City Council “free” weekend car parks cost a lot in foregone revenue, in fact three to four times more than the cost of inner city public transport weekend fares. Wellington is in fact, an extreme case in terms of provision of car parks, with the highest number of parking spaces per job, according to figures gathered from around the world.

We outrank Christchurch and Auckland, and well known US cities, Phoenic, Denver, and Detroit. In his book The High Cost of Free Parking, Donald Shoup estimates that off-street parking subsidies in the United States are worth at least $127 billion a year. What societies should be striving for is not parking subsidies, but parking fees, reflecting the costs of congestion and the deteriorating quality of life as cars and parking lots take over.

In a time of diminishing resources, this isn’t the best message to send out.

Instead, we should aim for fewer cars in shopping areas, which would improve air quality and traffic flow, and hence ambience and retail sales. It also can give an added pull to tourists.

Number of CBD parking spaces in 1996 per 1000 CBD jobs

(figures collated by Kerry Wood)

Zero fare public transport services

Bachels, M, Newman, P and Kenworthy, J (1999). Indicators of urban transport efficiency in New Zealand’s main cities. Perth: Murdoch University, ISBN 0 86905 669 7

Newman, P and Kenworthy, J (1999). Sustainability and cities — overcoming automobile dependence. ISBN 1 55963 660 2.

The High Cost of Free Parking, Donald Shoup estimates that off-street parking subsidies in the United States are worth at least $127 billion a year.

Why not look at shifting some of the business levy to cover bus fares in the central business district? This would tie in with Greater Wellington’s intention to move towards integrated fares, allowing people arriving from outer suburbs such as Hutt Valley and Kapiti Coast to proceed through to Courtenay Place without any extra cost. Greater Wellington already provides a free connecting bus service on the Kapiti Coast to connect with train services, and has found this measure to be cost neutral.

Overseas experience has shown that zero fare inner city public transport encourages people to test the alternative.

More about free public transport

“The Thrill is Gone”

There are signs of deeper shifts in consumer attitudes towards cars, notably among the younger people on which its future rests. Studies now show they will be less willing to spend on them than their parents –  Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker, concluded recently that in the US “frugalism is the new cool”, according to Bob Carter, brand head in the country.

We do have ways to live more lightly on the earth that give joy and better health.  Our end game can be a delightful, cradle-to-cradle, pollution free environment.

Now is the time to wake up to irresistible cities, with light rail, Great Harbour cycle walkways, community gardens, energy efficient buildings, and the power of solar.

One last thing…. remember that

The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.

For more information

Contact Regional Councillor Paul Bruce
paul.bruce@greens.org.nz
phone: 04 9728699 cellphone:021 02719370

The Dominion Post reported; “Round-the-clock gridlock has been predicted if The Terrace and Mt Victoria tunnels are closed for five weeks to kickstart a $80 million project to remedy serious safety problems.”

Could we use this sense of crisis to achieve immediate improvements in public transport services and safe cycle and walk ways between Wellington CBD and its suburbs?

A report to the Greater Wellington’s Transport and Access Committee is proposing that all fares be increased from 1 October 2010, to take account of the GST increase, and to produce a 3% increase in fare revenue to balance increased costs

Fare increases: bad timing

Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Paul Bruce said that coinciding Public Transport fare increases with the Mt Victoria tunnel safety upgrades is bad timing. “If we are going to close off routes, we must provide some counter balancing measure to help people move freely about Wellington city.

One of these measures could be moving the subsidy for free weekend public parking to zero inner city fares. Mr Bruce said that many other cities provide zero fare services, including Auckland, Christchurch and Invercargill.

Use the business levy

Shifting some of the Wellington City Council business levy to cover bus fares in the central business district ties in with a move towards integrated fares, allowing people arriving from outer suburbs to proceed through to Courtenay Place without any extra cost.

This will attract extra riders and lead to fewer cars in the inner city area, which in turn will improve traffic flow and air quality and thus ambience and … retail sales. Convenient public transport will also give an added pull to tourists.

Other advantages to alternative transport

There are also health, social and environmental advantages to funding alternative modes of transport such as cycling, walking and public transport.

Physical inactivity accounts for almost 10 percent of New Zealand’s 20 leading causes of death. It is a contributor to obesity and type 2 diabetes, which together cost the health system over $500 million per year. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency is now promoting “car reduced” communities.  And the British government’s 2001 planning document says: “Development comprising jobs, shopping, leisure and services should not be designed and located on the assumption that the car will represent the only realistic means of access for the vast majority of people”.

Car parking

Wellington is an extreme case in terms of provision of car parks, with the highest number of parking spaces per job, according to figures collated by Kerry Wood. We outrank Christchurch and Auckland, and well known US cities, Phoenic, Denver, and Detroit.

Wellington City Council “free” weekend car parks cost a lot in foregone revenue, in fact four times more than the inner city public transport weekend fare, and about half the total weekend bus revenue take. Free parking contributes to vehicle pollution and traffic snarl ups as cars search for parking spaces, and may actually diminish retail sales. In a time of diminishing resources, a subsidy for free parking isn’t the best plan.

Creative solutions

Improving Wellington’s transport network can happen with some creative solutions. Our transport network includes every bus, car, skateboard or pair of feet that people use to get around, each with different requirements, whether in use or not.

Wellington’s compact size means space is at a premium downtown.What goes unnoticed are the ways in which we prioritise and even sponsor car use above every alternative. Private cars are the part of that network that take up the most space and energy, for the least return.

Instead, providing some real alternatives, such as zero inner city public transport fares combined with safer cycling after the removal of some parking, enhances the village atmosphere that we all seek.

Paul Bruce concluded that the closure of the Mt Victoria tunnel for safety upgrades should be seen as an opportunity to promote our public transport system. “Greater Wellington provides a free connecting bus service on the Kapiti Coast to connect with train services, and has found this to be a great success. What about moving towards zero weekend fares for Wellington city?”

Number of CBD parking spaces in 1996 per 1000 CBD jobs

(figures collated by Kerry Wood)

Zero fare public transport services

Links

Economic benefits of people-friendly streets

Parking lots to parks – designing livable cities by Lester R Brown

Paved with gold – the real value of street design – by CABE, UK

Economic value of walkability – Victoria Transport Policy Institute [PDF, 233KB]

Bachels, M, Newman, P and Kenworthy, J (1999). Indicators of urban transport efficiency in New Zealand’s main cities. Perth: Murdoch University, ISBN 0 86905 669 7

Newman, P and Kenworthy, J (1999). Sustainability and cities — overcoming automobile dependence. ISBN 1 55963 660 2.

The High Cost of Free Parking, Donald Shoup estimates that off-street parking subsidies in the United States are worth at least $127 billion a year.

For more information

Contact Regional Councillor Paul Bruce
paul.bruce@greens.org.nz
phone: 04 9728699 cellphone:021 02719370