News
30 January 2012
Hearth Chat newsletter 1 out
Hearth Chat, the consultancy newsletter, is now out. Read about topical issues, the business, and what Roger has been up to.
1 January 2012
Roger leaves the NZ Planning Institute
As from 1 January 2012, Roger has let his membership of the NZ Planning Institute lapse.
"This is a big step for me" said Roger. "Membership of the appropriate planning professional body has been important to me, first in 1980 the Royal Town Planning Institute in Britain, and since 1997 the New Zealand Planning Institute following my 1995 migration. It's a decision I've been considering for some time. I've found over time that the work I do is more and more outside the subject matter the Institute covers".
17 March 2010
KiwiRail Manager signs off Preliminary Economic Evaluation Handbook
Ross Hayward, KiwiRail's Group General Manager Rail Passenger, has 'signed off' the Preliminary Economic Evaluation Handbook. This is the fruit of research into areas of benefit either omitted or under-counted in the NZ Transport Agency's official Economic Evaluation Manual (EEM).
"The problem with the 'EEM'" said Roger "is that it started life about 1990 as a guide to benefits motorists could expect as a 'return' on the petrol taxes they paid. It's got a lot broader since then, but the benefits to motorists have always been identified and researched in more detail than the benefits from public transport. Don Wignall of Transport Futures Ltd and I started from our research of a few years ago - 'Identifying the benefits of long-distance rail services' - and drew on the best evidence available, always being cautious in applying new forms of benefit, and getting Professor Nash from Leeds, England, one of the world leaders in transport economics, to peer review our work. Using this Handbook, we've been able to show that the benefit-cost ratio of rail services - what we get back from what we spend - tends to be significantly better than using the EEM alone".
Roger and Don look forward to the methodologies behind the Handbook (which are not 'owned' by KiwiRail) being more widely applied.
18 July 2008
Roger (and Don) laying down tracks on regional urban form. Roger argues, in the NZ Planning Institute's Planning Quarterly journal June 2009 issue here, that public investment in long-distance and regional passenger rail makes economic sense. Rail systems, Roger argues in the article, also give us the seeds of mixed-use, high-density, community nodes in the form of stations, whereas arterial road based systems are always fighting against 'ribbon development', direct property access and on-street parking.
This is the latest in several related articles. Roger has also had articles in Logistics and Transport NZ's journal, and NZ Railway Observer magazine here, jointly with Don Wignall of Transport Futures Ltd (www.transportfutures.net). The Planning Quarterly article also follows Roger's presentation on this topic at the NZ Planning Institute's 2009 annual conference.
Contact Roger if you want to 'take this train' of thought (pun intended!) further.
29 October 2008
Roger highlights lack of land use/ transport planning integration. Land use and transport planning tend to be separate from each other, Roger claimed at Wellington's Planning Law Update conference. And 'urban design' often focuses only on internal characteristics of settlements, while on a regional scale we continue to plan for car and roading growth and downplay rail's potential. Read the full paper here.
3 October 2008
Robert Ibell wins Boulter Consulting Award for Cycling Champion of the Year.
Robert Ibell, outgoing Chair of the NZ Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN), won this award at CAN's Gemini Cycle Friendly Awards 2008, in Christchurch. The Award was presented by Lianne Dalziell, Minister of Commerce. Check it out here.
I have known Robert for many years, and am delighted he has won my award. It is well-deserved, and represents the major contribution Robert has made as 'the voice of cycling' to politicians and professionals alike. - Roger Boulter
29 July 2008
On 29th July Roger addressed a meeting of the NZ Roadmarkers Federation on the changing political, policy and government organisational context. His written report is available as a PDF file.
14 July 2008
On 14th July Roger addressed an Auckland conference on long distance rail transport. The full text of his address is available as a PDF file.
