Budget 2026 hierarchy: roads first, rail a distant second, general public transport, walking and cycling nowhere. $150m goes to fuel supply, but basically nothing to reducing oil dependence. My latest: theconversation.com/as-global-fu...

From the Archives : Poverty 2012 and 2021

$15b in weather losses over the past decade. Moa Point dumped 70m litres of raw sewage into Wellington Harbour. Groundwater contamination is rising. Half our rivers are unsafe to swim. Budget 2026 drops water spend from $127m (2026) → $35m (2027) → $5m/yr (2028–30). Make it make sense.

We're in the midst of the worst oil crisis in history and the government's new budget is dedicating $1.8 billion to a single highway while taking $2.5m from public transport bus decarbonisation to fund underground utility maintenance.

When the government releases its budget later today and undoubtedly puts more money towards roads while putting less money into public transport and no money into cycling or walking, remember that driving is the only mode of transportation that is both currently and historically falling in Auckland.

“In our biggest cities... if we can encourage people to use public transport more, that will reduce pressure on fuel demand that can be used for people who don't have public transport options available." Featuring our own Matt Lowrie (and wise words from @tfwelch.com): www.rnz.co.nz/news/environ...

I don’t accept that sweeping away our most vulnerable people for the comfort of those that don’t want to see our society’s inequities is legitimate policy. And neither should you. My latest piece for Newsroom: newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/25/m... #waronthepoor

Adam Douglas Thompson in The New Yorker.

They're taking the land that houses our people, and the water for crops that feed our people, to build the data centers that will put our people out of work. What's the problem? www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Only one word can adequately describe this video: PERFECT. www.youtube.com/watch?v=790O...

I’ve been doing it for 5 years now, but getting to work on a bike and ferry is still such an unbelievably amazing privilege. So much better than driving!

You’d think a 20% rise in cycling trips from April 2025 would be headline news. 309,197 cycle trips in April, 1.30 million YTD, and 3.48 million over the past 12 months. Amid surging fuel prices, Aucklanders are finding cheaper, healthier ways to get around. More data at: cycleway.tfwelch.com

Say hello to the CCET Love Cycling Centre in Mt Eden – the free bike repair service on a mission to help you reduce your carbon footprint. https://www.bikeauckland.org.nz/news/welcome-to-the-ccet-love-cycling-centre-in-mt-eden/

A decision on Auckland’s next Waitematā Harbour crossing is expected (maybe) next month. Worth remembering: bridge traffic still hasn’t returned to its 2018 peak, and 50% of commuters now cross the harbour by bus. So why is the current process focused on more road capacity? Move people, not cars.

Most transport maps show where infrastructure is. I wanted to show what that infrastructure actually lets people reach. I’ve been building the Auckland Transport Access Atlas: an interactive map of car dependency, accessibility, equity, and planner priorities across Auckland. ataa.tfwelch.com

It will be interesting to see where fuel prices go in the coming weeks and how closely/quickly they track crude prices. In MBIE's latest fuel stock update, on-shore diesel stock slipped below 20 days. Worth noting: retail price data is 11 days old, and fuel stock data is 6 days old.

My kids were not thrilled at school drop off this morning when the cargo bike odometer hit this number right as we parked. They suggested I should walk home so they could see the rollover to 3k after school.

How you can tell this isn’t my first cyclone (or hurricane)!

Not a bad view from the home office to wrap up a long week!

“It would be a pretty big mistake to dust off our hands and say problem solved. This is going to be an ongoing problem. Even if the issues with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz are resolved fairly quickly, oil imports will continue to be a liability for the country.” www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Every effective tool for reducing fuel demand right now (free PT, cycling, EVs, lower speed limits) is a policy the NZ coalition government has spent two years dismantling. My new piece in The Conversation on why they've gone quiet and how they get out of it. theconversation.com/the-governme...

MBIE’s national retail fuel series was basically flat through Jan and most of Feb. Then, from 27 Feb to 27 Mar 2026, diesel rose about $1.42/L, regular petrol about 82c/L, and premium 95 about 85c/L. This is not just a fuel-price story. It is a transport-policy story.

Hard to argue with that. We've seen what he eats...

People rushing to drop $50k on a new EV and commit to years of payments, insurance, registration, WOF, etc. I'm trying to decide whether to replace the $7 kickstand feet on my "EV" or wait another month. Cargo e-bikes would probably work for a lot more people than you'd think.

On Monday, MBIE said we have 54 days of diesel cover. But only 22 days are actually on shore. The rest is on water, most outside the "EEZ", weeks away. The headline number blends fuel that's here with fuel that isn't. The dark bar is what matters most. We're a week past this data now.

Let's take a moment and appreciate how much work public transport in Auckland does every day. Here's an animation of 5 hours of buses, trains, and ferries serving the city yesterday, with somewhere around 400,000 boards across over 5,000 bus stops, train stations, and ferry terminals.

57.7% of NZers, 2.9 million people, can reach public transport within a 10-minute walk. Auckland hits 87.8%. The govt's new fuel subsidy targets 143,000 families. Free fares could reach 20x as many. NZ has the access. What's the argument against?

This monstrosity is burning 3.5 litres of fuel per second.

People in $90,000 utes with 80-litre fuel tanks, call me an elitist for riding a $2.5k ebike that costs $0.10 (yes, 10 CENTS) to charge... (Photo from Reddit)

Yes, and – we'd nuance this, e.g. for Auckland & Wellington (already high usage/ good services), govt could consider options like: • deep discounts for children, young people, CSC holders • and 50% off all fares, or a lower weekly cap ...while focusing fully free fares on smaller cities and towns.

In my latest for @newsroom.co.nz, I argue the government should make public transport free for at least three months. The $50 fuel payment costs $373M/year and doesn't cut a single litre of consumption. Free fares would cost less and actually reduce petrol demand. newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/27/f...

BREAKING: information now coming in that the Dutch have been hoarding the solution to the oil crisis.

Uh oh... MBIE's fuel stock update page has suddenly vanished!

While we're paying more at the pump, fuel importers are making almost nothing. MBIE's own data shows the diesel importer margin has collapsed to near zero. NZ is 100% import-dependent. When there's no margin, either prices rise (a lot) further, or supply doesn't come. There is no third option.

New MBIE data (Mar 22): in-country diesel down to 18 days, territory where the National Fuel Plan contemplates mandatory constraints. Yet we are doing nothing. Only 2 ships arriving in the next 2 weeks, 1 carries diesel. Total supply: 46.6 days, down from 52 in two weeks. Updated graphic below.

With the government's $50/week tax credit, if a family uses all that money for fuel, at current prices around $3.33/litre and a fuel economy of 8L/100km, they could drive 187.5 km. Or just under 27 km a week. How much further could families travel with free public transport?

It'd be cheaper, better address the cost of living, and more effectively reduce fuel demand to make public transport free, at least for a few months, than the $50 the government is now offering. We should consider Green's proposal. CC @julieannegenter.greens.org.nz www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2026...

Why isn't the government even talking about the fairly easy voluntary fuel demand constraints that are laid out in the National Fuel Plan? Makes sense to start some of this now. None of this would cost anything.

Realistically, we likely have less than 3 weeks of diesel and under a month of petrol supplies in New Zealand right now. There's an additional 22 and 25 days of both fuels, respectively, on its way to us. Beyond that, who knows... We really need to be seriously talking reducing fuel demand.

No petrol, no problem.

How did I ever communicate before LinkedIn's "reply suggestions"...

Happy Halloween! The scariest thing about tonight isn't the costumes, it's the road safety stats. Halloween sees a 30% spike in crashes involving people walking or cycling w/ 1/3 of these crashes between 4-8pm, peak trick-or-treating hours. Drivers: slow down tonight so everyone gets home safe.

No one send me an email! I don't want to mess up this perfect inbox number. Also, really don't send me an email. I clearly get too many!

This is remarkable!

Spotted Auckland‘s new all-electric ferry the Te Komiti, in the wild!

Haha - well, AI is getting wierd...

NEW STARTER PACK! This time I’m hoping to encourage and support global urbanists from OUTSIDE North America here on Bluesky, so hopefully this will help! Who’ve I missed? Just joined? Let me know! I’ll keep updating, so please keep checking & sharing this pack! And let’s try using #GlobalUrbanists.

Processing connected vehicle and crash data like it's the 1970s...

The NZ Road Safety platform has been redesigned with an improved interface. I've unified the real-time road death tracker, dashboard with current and historical data, and the calendar showing daily road fatalities since 2020. Explore the data and analysis here: nzroads.tfwelch.com

4D chess move. First, central gov't passes laws forcing contractors to use excessive road cones Then, central gov't complains about contractors' excessive use of cones & creates a hotline to report Finally, councils start charging contractors for excessive road cones www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...