The great, and the good are the Govt’s hand-picked executives just appointed to Auckland’s council-controlled organisations by Transport Minister Steve Joyce and Local Govt Minister Rodney Hide, including a fair number of CCOs which are transport and infrastructure related. Auckland Transport, a statutory entity, replaces nine separate existing transport entities across the city and will […]

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David Warburton - who is head of a Melbourne consulting firm, has been appointed as interim CEO of the new Auckland Transport Agency. Warburton concedes he faces a stiff challenge sorting out traffic issues in the city and says the new Super City council will need to balance the needs of public transport users […]

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About the only good thing in the Govt’s confirmation Road User Charges will increase from October 1 is this time there has been, as promised, a warning to this effect. Two years ago truckers demonstrated in front of Parliament when the then Labour Govt upped RUCs overnight, earning the sector’s ire and a degree of […]

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If NZ doesn’t move quickly and prepare at least a couple of ports to accommodate large modern container ships, it risks only having a “boutique” shipping service from small and old vessels, considerably adding to costs. The Shippers’ Council’s report “The Question of Bigger Ship: Securing NZ’s International Supply Chain,” compiled by a team of […]

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The Govt’s move towards public-private partnerships (PPPs) for big infrastructure projects such as new motorways is opposed by opposition parties. Labour’s finance spokesman, David Cunliffe, says the policy is a dangerous move. “It’s letting private foxes loose in every crown entity chicken coop - without proper training for officials or central control.” Cunliffe contends it’s […]

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Forcing local authorities to sell their shares in port companies, improved financial disclosure, contestability in stevedoring and separation of asset ownership from operations are four proposals being recommended to the Govt by a powerful business lobby group in order to improve port operational efficiency and initiate restructuring. The report was commissioned by the Local Govt […]

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It is testament to a listed company when it can report profit dropped by a third and its shares still rise. Freightways, whose courier and package delivery brands include NZ Couriers, Post Haste Couriers, SUB60, Kiwi Express and DX Mail, posted a 33% decline in full-year earnings, partly reflecting weaker sales and also the impact […]

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Ticketing system providers and other transport organisations have given the green light to the NZ Transport Agency’s development of a set of national standards for integrated public transport ticketing by the end of the year. The agency’s aim is to provide a system for public transport consumers, transport operators, regional councils and the Govt. National […]

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Port Taranaki hasn’t heard whether Bathurst Resources Ltd, managers of the Buller Coal Project, are likely to barge the high quality coking coals from the West Coast to its New Plymouth facility for export. The Aust-based miner recently revealed a significant upgrade in estimates of the quantity which can be extracted from its 10,000ha exploration […]

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There’s been an independent consultant’s report compiled on the proposed operational merger between the Port of Otago and Lyttelton Port Company, and the latter’s major shareholder, Christchurch City Holdings, has provided support in principle to the combined functions of the two competitors. But there’s no word out of either party. Negotiations continue between the two […]

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