Best Moment Of 2010

in Auckland Featured General Top Debate by AKT — December 12, 2010 at 8:00 am | 13 comments

It’s AKT’s birthday - we’ve just turned three!
What began as a little personal diary about how hard it was to get a train in Auckland has become..well something bigger than that.
The about section makes it clear this is not the usual ego blogger site but a genuine attempt to raise public awareness & debate about public transport and making our cities better places. And thanks to you, you’ve made it a lively place for debate, and that debate and the site is helping make a difference. It’s no coincidence we now live in a city that talks about trains and uses them. So thanks so much.

It’s been an exciting year for AKT - our new look launched in October, including coverage of Auckland stories that the media were missing and full coverage of relevant council meetings for which coverage is hit and miss in the media so AKT now has a reporter to cover them ourselves to make sure we know what is going on.

The new Mayor declared “I love AKT” - we knew he had been following keenly as he drafted his rail campaign strategy, and he granted us one of his first interviews on election day.

Then interest in rail has grown so, and this site has broken so many stories, traffic has lept to the sad point that lately our site has crashed a few times the moment news of new posts reach Twitter and Google Reader feeds posing some future website hosting cost challenges (If there’s one thing I need it’s for more readers to click & read the odd advertisement - as without any income and rising costs, this site may not be able to become sustainable).
The most fascinating part has gone on behind the scenes - stories and debate here have raised interest or eyebrows in the highest places. It has been a little scary to get regular emails from a vast number of politicians in the Beehive and locally who read the site daily and take notice or give me a hard time! Even the couple who remain  ”a little sceptical” shall we say,  check in regularly and at least may enjoy a wry chuckle at how silly and passionate we are about public transport.

A special thanks to all the organisations who have gone often well out of their way to support and help this site even if we are not always kind about their work. That includes KiwiRail, Veolia, NZTA,  NZ Police, Auckland Transport, the old ARC and ARTA and the Council, among others. Thanks to you all. You know who you are and at times this site could not have done its job much without your co-operation, which is so appreciated.

The site’s very biggest stories of the year? Beyond the first one, although in order of popularity, there wasn’t much that separated these very well read posts.

• The train meltdown for the U2 concert (after posting some of the dozens of images and tales as they flooded the AKT inbox and updating it through the night, the story was quickly picked up by international media, U2 fan sites and the Herald pinched one of the photos and quotes. 2 actually, they grabbed another one for a followup. It was interesting that the Herald paper did not credit the site for the photos yet gets all high and mighty if people steal their work).
• Len Brown’s video interview with AKT promising he will deliver rail - along all of AKT’s local election result coverage
• Video of Len Brown’s news conference on the CBD rail link business case and accompanying extensive coverage
• Chinese interest revealed in CBD loop
• Onehunga’s magnificent opening day - which everyone else ignored
• A rant about how we need airport rail (widely circulated in high places) and later a rant about Brisbane rail’s profit
• John Banks saying airport rail will go broke
• The revelation of Auckland electric train tenders being widened
• AKT during the election asking Banks if he has backed down
• The AKT survey of politicians on support for the CBD link
• Puhoi route announced
• A rant about how Auckland Transport meetings need to be open (widely circulated and drawing some of the worst hate mail the site has received in its inbox from mainly predictable officials and right wing lobby groups)
• The first coverage the night of the troubled league test at Eden Park and subsequent debate
• Rail patronage leaps 27% in September
• The announcement of free trains one weekend -and then the photos of there was no motorway chaos
• The arrival of Matangi’s trains and the open day
• Queens Wharf open day and the official opening
• Grafton train station and double tracking -  Official opening
• An ARC meeting report in which Mr Lee blasted Mr Joyce
• The aforementioned Mr Lee calling Mr Joyce a redneck
• Photos of Auckland rail 12 months ago
• The bid for the new Parnell station and its design and the Hobson community board meeting over the plan to turn Mainline Steam’s area into a bus depot
• Coverage of a lengthy Auckland city council meeting over Dominion Rd bus lanes
• Any story in which Mr Joyce comments on the CBD loop! (Great for traffic, not so good for the cause!!)

So what is the one moment of news here in 2010 you loved the most?

For me, it was the election of a pro-rail PT Mayor who told AKT moments after the results were announced that  he will deliver his pet rail projects. This was reassuring after John Banks backtracked on his earlier rail promises. But there have been other exciting moments:

• The many new stations opening
• Onehunga line coming back to life
• The CBD rail link business case being launched
• New locos for KiwiRail
• Double tracking
• Improved timetables
• Movement on the Hamilton rail issue
• Auckland Transport making an impressive start and opening its meeting doors (a strong editorial stand on that was taken here)
• The new Matangi trains arriving for Wellington
• Rail patronage figures breaking records
• The visible start to electrification
• Mike Lee being made council transport chair
• A day of free trains when the Newmarket motorway work was being done……

Over to you. Name your one most favourite 2010 moment and tell us why.

And as some of you vanish early at this time of year - I’ll get in another thanks and wish everyone a great Christmas and New Year!

Tags: 2010