Environmentalists risking lives

A group of transport fanatics are proposing that Aucklanders break the law and walk and cycle along a motorway this Sunday. They of course mean the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

There is a reason walking and cycling on motorways is illegal - motorways are built for motor vehicles travelling at open road or close to open road speeds, and are free of obstructions to avoid accidents. If there was a walkway/cycleway then fine, but there isn't. It's like the stupid teacher who decided to walk some kids through the Terrace Tunnel in Wellington - recklessly stupid.

The construction of Auckland Harbour Bridge was funded through tolls on motorists and its ongoing maintenance is funded through fuel taxes and road user charges on motorists. Auckland ratepayers pay nothing. Pedestrians and cyclists pay nothing. There is no "right" to use something you don't pay for, and which creates hazards for those who do.

Building a walkway/cycleway isn't cheap, partly because having people walk on a bridge creates challenges different from a road bridge, because it creates a resonance effect from the steps, different from rolling. The cycle/walkway enthusiasts don't want to pay for it, they want the money taken from road users, even though the business case for it doesn't stake up. They lie that every biking or walking is taking a car off the road, when it is more likely it is a new trip, as it is a novel experience. The effects on congestion will be negligible.

The answer simply is for those who want it to pay for it. Imagine even a turnstile either side charging £2 to cross the bridge. Why not? The motorists paid for their part.

Meanwhile, the issue is a bunch of activists willing to risk the lives of people, by walking on a motorway, which will give others the idea that walking on motorways is fine. What parents take their kids on a protest march on a motorway?

The Police set a bad precedent by letting a Hikoi cross the bridge illegally some years ago, so refusing it this time will look like "you can get away with breaking the road code if you're a Maori led group".

Where else might they demand "a right" to travel? Through Rimutaka tunnel? Through the Terrace Tunnel? Through Lyttelton Tunnel? It's a nonsense. Pay for a walkway, or use the bus or ferry.

House of Commons speaker resigns

After a remarkable fortnight of revelations about the trough that so many British MPs have been feeding from, it is right that the Speaker of the House of Commons - Michael Martin - MP for Glasgow North East (Labour) has announced he is quitting. He is resigning not only as speaker, but as an MP, provoking a by-election in a rather dire part of Glasgow (which is saying something!). He could not continue, with MPs from several parties on both sides of the House demanding he quit. Especially since his own role in the parliamentary expenses scandal is so odious.

For a Labour MP in a low income constituency he has had his snout firmly in the trough for some years, it will continue as his pension is worth half his MP's salary and half his Speaker's salary for the rest of his life. In other words a pension pretty much like he earned working, except he wont be. An editorial in the Observer (which is typically pro Labour) said a month ago

"A fish rots from the head down and in parliament the precipitous decline in ethics and probity begins with the speaker, Michael Martin. For years, the speaker and Mrs Martin have been plundering the public purse for an almost grotesque array of personal perks and foreign junkets. Only last week, we learnt of new beanos to the Gulf, in the wake of similar trips to Hawaii and the Bahamas."

Martin topped it off by trying to hide MPs travel expenses a couple of years ago, and when the Daily Telegraph started publishing the expenses claims of MPs across the political spectrum he said that the publication was a "security risk" that the Police should investigate. He also made a limp wristed call for change. When challenged by one MP that this would waste Police time and imply MPs had nothing to hide he said "It's easy to say to the press this should not happen - it's a wee bit more difficult when you just don't have to give quotes to the press and do nothing else", he criticised another MP who long called for more transparency as someone who was seeking press attention.

Martin has shown himself to be complicit in hiding the truth behind the outrageous expenses claim system, criticise those who wish to show to taxpayers the truth of the trough of the House of Commons. The extent of this scandal is almost impossible to get to grips with, as the Daily Telegraph almost daily has had new revelations. It has decimated public trust in politicians across the board, although Labour has been damaged the worst. What has been most telling is how utterly out of touch most MPs have been with their constituents. Many have been bombarded with angry phone calls and emails from people who are outraged at MPs claiming for lavish expenses on second homes, whilst being immune from capital gains tax, whilst in some cases not having the second homes in London, or not using them (because they already own a second home, but claim an allowance for another one). The Telegraph also has those that are "angels" in comparison.

Quite simply the difference between David Cameron, who called on his own MPs implicated to pay the money back, and Gordon Brown who called for a committee and a review, is stark. Cameron looked like a man of contrition and action, Brown looked like the dour bureaucrat who wanted to investigate before acting.

The question is how it will affect both the local and European elections in a few weeks time, but more importantly the entire reputation and credibility of mainstream politics in the UK. It implicates so many, and has angered so many more - could it ever plant a seed of distrust in letting politicians spend people's money?

Government moves transport funding towards state highways

The government released its policy statement on land transport funding which details what was previously outlined by Transport Minister Steven Joyce. National is moving from the heavy levels of subsidy of public transport advanced by the last government, and is using revenue from road users to spend on - roads. This has understandably upset the Green Party, which more often than not is a measure that the policy has some merit.

However, when you strip out the politics and get into the facts, the story is a lot more complicated

The statement outlines some useful facts:
- 84% of commuters travel by car, truck or motorcycle (no the rest do not all go by public transport, many walk);
- 70% of freight tonne kms move by road.

So in other words, let's not pretend that cars and trucks can be replaced by other modes, they are by far the most dominant means of transporting people and goods around the country.

What has the Minister decided?

NZ$258 million worth of improvements to the Wellington passenger rail system are no longer to be funded from the National Land Transport Fund (when road usage taxes go) but from general taxation. This should please the Greens as it means funding for railways coming from everyone, not just motorists, but it wont - because that means more money is available for roads. This is contractually committed spending, so can't be backtracked on, but where it comes from is changing, so everyone can now pay to subsidise the commuting of Wellingtonians.

We get a repeat of there being a National Infrastructure Plan being developed and Roads of National Significance, both utterly unnecessary, and smacking of central planning.

However, the real interest is what happens to the money.

What goes up?

Spending on state highways, local roads, road policing and public transport services. Yes, public transport service subsidies will be increasing (just less than under Labour), and road maintenance funding isn't decimated. Those are just utter lies spread by Labour.

State highway increases are understandable given state highways are where half the money generated for the National Land Transport Fund comes from. Funding of local road maintenance will grow far more slowly than state highways, suggesting the government sees room for efficiency there.

Local road governance needs serious reform though, I'd have local roads companies funded according to revenue generated from their networks (from road use taxes, parking fees and access fees for driveways). A single commercial Auckland road company I suspect would get enough money from fuel tax and road user charges that it could start upgrading many roads that need it. Sadly the "supercity" proposal is just going to make the current structure bigger.

What doesn't change?

In nominal terms walking, cycling, demand management, administration and transport planning funding do not change, which means they are cut in real terms. That will hurt bureaucrats and planners, and see a gradual reduction in spending on footpaths and cycleways. Not a bad thing.

What is cut?

Rail and sea freight subsidies are being phased out. Good. They never made sense in the first place.

Shift to economic efficiency

Another important shift is that economic efficiency will be of primary importance once again There will be an increased focus on economic efficiency.

"The NZTA’s evaluation processes will be adjusted to give projects with high benefit cost ratios (BCR) higher funding and programming priority and to give projects with low BCRs more scrutiny (high BCR is greater than four; low BCR is less than two). This change will place the onus on the organisations seeking funding from the NZTA to give priority to higher BCR projects unless there is good reason to do otherwise."

In other words, farewell to the days of Labour funding poor quality politically significant projects and delaying others that had high benefits but a lower profile. It does not bode well for Transmission Gully, or for large scale spending on public transport. Good.

All in all, no great surprises here. The Greens hate more money on roads, so think reducing the growth in spending on public transport is bad. Beyond that, the biggest win has to be the motorist, who will see higher proportions of their money spend on roads, and on projects that are to be primarily selected on economic efficiency grounds.

Don't forget the Nats have already promised three increases in fuel tax and road user charges during this term, so it doesn't come for nothing - at least the increases appear to all be going on roads.

It is still a cumbersome bureaucratic process, it still has little signs of commercial disciplines, I'd have flatlined public transport subsidies too at least. However, all money from road taxes is now being dedicated to the National Land Transport Fund (albeit a Labour initiative after the Nats campaigned on it in 2005), and the money will be spent more wisely.

and it is sadly, a lot better than funding arrangements in most other countries.

UPDATE: Darren Hughes is talking bollocks on transport again. His mistakes:
1. Of Steven Joyce "he failed to specify how much the Government was planning to strip from local roads and existing state highways and from road policing and public transport to fund spending on new motorways" Actually nothing is being stripped, but the forecasts have changed on the increases. All of those activity classes are increasing Darren, why don't you compare them the the forecast last year? It's not hard.
2. "Whenever public transport improvements are made, such as the Northern Busway, patronage increases sharply" Yep subsidies under Labour public transport subsidies increased fivefold but patronage increased nothing near that. Has patronage increased sharply in Hamilton Darren, for example? No.
3. "he plans to make roads less safe by removing $50 million from previously-budgeted spending on road policing" Actually Darren, spending more on state highways particularly north of Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty will save lives.
4. "he is stripping $75 million from local roads and $122 million from existing state highways" maybe Darren maintenance costs have declined because of the drop in fuel, cutting asphalt costs and the reduction in heavy vehicle traffic due to the recession? Oh yeah, evade that.
5. "Labour's approach to transport funding was also based on a multi-modal programme involving state highways, local roads, public transport, sea freight and rail. Sadly, Mr Joyce's fixated approach means that balance is now lost" Yep Darren, sea freight and rail have gone, all $8 million of it. Ridiculous spending when sea freight is commercially viable and the government already owns rail.

Yet ask Darren about Transmission Gully, a $1.1 billion road project largely unfunded (Labour only funded investigation and design, and allocated $405 million towards construction), and he'll slobberingly demand his own slab of pork for the electorate that rejected him in the election last year. Where was the money for that coming from Darren?

See for Labour, big motorway projects are just fine - as long as they are in the electorate of the former Prime Minister or the former electorate of the transport spokesboy.

UPDATE 2: The Greens use the word "force" to describe when other people are not forced to pay for their religion of public transport as much as they want them too. You see, because New Zealanders choose not to demand commercially viable public transport services, because motorists reasonably like their road taxes spent on roads, it is "forcing" them to drive. Yes, you were forced to buy a car, you hate driving, you hate cars, and you'd like nothing more than to ditch your own private space, with the stereo, air conditioning and being able to go from where you are directly to where you want to go, in favour of waiting for a vehicle, to share with strangers, having to use a MP3 player for music, while the vehicle meanders its way to somewhere within walking distance of where you want to go.

Jeanette Fitzsimons said "Today, Steven Joyce committed to widen that imbalance by spending at least $7 on roads for every $1 spent on a more sustainable alternative. From an environmental viewpoint, it's simply immoral". Actually Jeanette, since every dollar came from road users, isn't it immoral to steal from them to pay for what you want?

It remains utter bullshit to suggest that subsidising other modes makes a sizeable difference to traffic congestion. However, what is most ridiculous is the idea that people are "forced to drive". Perhaps Jeanette forgets that most of her own party's manifesto is about using force.

So was it a crime before?

The case of Jimmy Mason raises a very basic question.

Mason apparently flicked his son's ear and punched him. Would that have been "reasonable force as correction" before smacking was banned? Punching a 4 year old hardly seems to be reasonable.

I'd have thought the charges related to pushing over the bikes of a 4 year old and a 2 year old while they are riding them also would not be "reasonable force" (though he was found not guilty of such actions as the details and description are not clear).

The case was brought as a bystander observed Mason "disciplining" his son in a public place.

The point being this. What did the abolition of the defence of reasonable force as correction do to this case? I'm no fan of smacking - but it appears on the face of it that had the law not been changed, Mason could still have been facing charges.

Or was it just that the Police wouldn't have bothered before?

One mistake in appointing Families Commissioner

is having one at all. Christine Rankin's unsuitability is moot, given that the role itself is completely inappropriate.

The post can remain vacant, whilst legislation is introduced to abolish the role.

The only people who would be upset are those who work there and Peter Dunne, who got it as a "gift" from Labour in exchange for granting Labour confidence and supply in 2002, when his party had 8 seats. Now he is the sole MP.

Give one good reason why taxpayers should be forced to pay for this bureaucracy. It should be first on the list of cuts by Bill English.

So here's a question for Mt. Albert voters to put to the candidates. "Why should I be forced to pay for the existence of a Families Commission and Commissioner?"

Melissa Lee and John Boscawen can't disagree with it can they, unless either plans on disagreeing with the government they support? Neither can David Shearer nor Russel Norman, since both were in parties that supported it in the first place.

Only a vote for Libertarianz candidate Julian Pistorius will help Mt. Albert elect an MP that will demand the abolition of this useless bureaucracy, and that's just for starters!