2023 Reflections & Responding to Change: MRCagney's November Newsletter

Kia ora! Welcome back to the MRCagney Newsletter, November Edition.

This guest 'editorial' comes to you from Pippa Mitchell , one of our Technical Directors. She has been thinking about what her experiences managing responses to the City Rail Link construction this year have taught her about responding to change.

As I sit waiting for our IT to sort out a connection issue on my computer, I am reflecting on 2023. One word comes to mind - disruption. We have had our fair share of this over the past few years on a global scale. This year, mother nature reminded us that climate change is here.

We are now seeing the consequences to our communities of historical decisions, or inaction, regarding our planning and infrastructure. However, disruption can also be an opportunity. It can provide us with possibilities to innovate, trial things, and accelerate the pace of change.

Having worked closely with Auckland Transport over multiple years to manage the disruptions associated with the City Rail Link (CRL) construction in central Auckland, here are some of the things I have learned:

• Planning - Taking the time to plan in advance and provide comprehensive mitigation is key. For the CRL it was around how to ensure continuity of access around work sites, something that takes time. The past few years have shown us multiple vulnerabilities in our transport network but also the solutions. People can adapt quickly as long as they have choices, and building such choices into our transport system through early planning will provide resilience.
• Communication - Honest, on-going communication with affected communities is crucial. Frank conversations around what is and isn't feasible creates trust and provides potential for individual and community agency.
• Opportunity - Disruptions are fertile grounds for innovation, an opportunity to try new things and to accelerate change. Through the CRL construction period, AT has been able to implement a range of bus priority measures, pedestrian improvements and cycleway connections, providing much needed transport choice in a highly congested environment.

We are going through a period of incredible change which causes us to naturally be reactive. However, such disruptions provide opportunities to learn and change - to plan and mitigate in advance, to improve communication with our communities and to innovate. Let's not squander that chance. - Pippa Mitchell

MRCagney People & Projects

People, Places and Parking Workshops

In early November, Scott Ebbett ( MRCagney Principal) and Steven Burgess (Director of Complete Streets, Australia) set off on their second tour of Aotearoa doing workshops with councillors, council staff members, and other stakeholders to discuss successful centres and the role that parking plays. This time, they went to Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Christchurch, and then back to Auckland to present to NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and others.

The workshops were very well received and provoked a lot of thought around what might be the right amount of parking and whether less parking might actually be better for businesses. Key messages from the workshops were:

• We are good at measuring movement (traffic models etc.) but not good at measuring place (what people like about a town centre and makes them want to visit).
• Many places have an oversupply of parking which is often poorly managed. This is harming town centre economies?and incurring significant costs for councils. There are opportunities to reallocate parking to other more beneficial uses and make more efficient use of off-street parking through sharing and unlocking under-utilised supply.
• Allowing someone to easily park outside a shop is not always a good thing. A better approach is to provide well managed parking on the edge of the centre and create a pleasant street environment to get people walking past more shops and spending more time in the centre. This is what shopping malls do and the incidental?spend in shopping malls is 3-4 times higher than main streets.

New Team Members

We are delighted to welcome two new staff to our?Tāmaki Makaurau team - Sophie Watt and Alexander Catalinac!

Sophie joins us as a Consultant, having just returned from Vancouver fresh with a postgraduate diploma in Urban Studies from Simon Fraser University. Her study included a focus on the quick and temporary improvements cities were able to make as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns/changes. Before that, she worked at Blind and Low Vision NZ.

Alexander joins our data science team as a Senior Consultant. Currently living in Wellington, he will be moving up to Auckland next year. Alexander previously worked at Nicolson Consulting where he focused on projects involved with analysis and modelling - this included improving the quality of input data for the agent-based model of New Zealand's transport system developed by Arup and the Ministry of Transportation.

We are very excited to have both Sophie and Alexander on board.

The Diversity Agenda

Last week, our Operations Manager and Senior Consultant, Amber Carran-Fletcher attended a collaborative workshop with diversity, equity, and inclusion leads from across the industry, organised by the wonderful folks at the Diversity Agenda. Here are her reflections.

It was really encouraging to see so many companies represented and an exciting opportunity to discuss some common challenges and share successful practices.

We signed up to the Diversity Agenda Accord in 2021 as a public commitment to do good and work hard for better outcomes in Aotearoa. Given that our mahi has such a massive impact on how people live and get around our cities in Aotearoa, equity and inclusion must be at the heart of everything we do.

Much of our work is undertaken in complex environments and we will need diversity of thought and experience to develop effective responses in a rapidly changing landscape. Creating an environment within our organisations where everyone can thrive is critical to attract and retain our amazing people, and just the right thing to do.

We look forward to the exciting partnerships the Diversity Agenda has organised for 2024 and more opportunities to connect across the industry. If your organisation?has not yet signed up to the Diversity Agenda Accord,?then we encourage you to learn more and join the movement.

Shane's Spotlight Moments

Principal Economist, Shane Martin, had a busy month in the public eye. He appeared on the November 12th edition of Q+A with Jack Tame, and hosted a webinar with Greer O'Donnell from The Urban Advisory on what the changing government means for local councils. Both of these presented great opportunities?to discuss some of the issues most pressing to Aotearoa.

Shane loves discussing housing in New Zealand and how local councils and central government alike can address our chronic housing issue. He also works very hard to help local councils get the best outcomes when dealing with central government - something increasingly important as everybody gets a feel for how the new, incoming government will operate.

If you have any questions or thoughts about housing, please feel free to drop Shane a line on [email protected]. He's always keen to talk about it.

Insights from Aotearoa, and around the world

Celebrating the Western Express

We were very excited about the new Western Express Busway opening this month, particularly those of us who live in West Auckland. Lewis Thorwaldson, MRCagney Public Transport Planner, arrived back from a trip overseas and sped into the office on the WX1 - it took him just 38 minutes to get from his home in Ranui to his desk on O'Connell Street!

Todd Niall also wrote up his experience on the new route for Stuff. While the Western Express isn't quite perfect (yet) it is a big step up and makes public transport that much more?usable for people in West Auckland.

Cycling's Making Strides in Wellington

Wellington is demonstrating how to build a cycling network - fast, cheap, and effectively. This article on the Spinoff is a great write-up of the Capital's superfast rollout of cycle infrastructure, and the value of their tactical, adaptable approach. Claire Pascoe , Wellington City Council Transitional Programme Manager, developed a network-based approach to building cycleways, starting from the city centre and moving out. It's an approach that works. There are already twice as many people on bikes in the city than there was?this time last year!

Using Street Experiments to Transform Cities

This article on Next City argues for the exact adaptable, experimental approach that Wellington is using. Low-cost street experiments show people what change can look like, while allowing for adaptation in response to real problems on the ground. Crucially, analysing the results of a street experiment is key to learning from it:

"The purpose of street experiments isn't just to repurpose urban space for a few months. The end goal is to create lasting and systematic change. Data is the proof in the pudding - it's how permanent change can be justified, and detractors' credibility weakened."

Electric Bikes Reduce Fossil Fuel Demand more then EVs

We love e-Bikes at MRCagney, so it was no surprise to read this analysis that finds that e-Bikes, electric scooters, and electric mopeds are reducing demand for oil at a much higher rate than electric cars. These kinds of small two-and three-wheeled electric vehicles are a no-brainer when it comes to short urban journeys, and worldwide uptake reflects that.

"On the world's roads last year, there were over 20 million electric vehicles and 1.3 million commercial EVs such as buses, delivery vans and trucks. But these numbers of four or more-wheel vehicles are wholly eclipsed by two-and-three wheelers. There were over 280 million electric mopeds, scooters, motorcycles and three-wheelers on the road last year."

Before we sign off for 2023...

Wishing you a fantastic summer break (hopefully with some sunshine this year)!

As you embrace the warmth, why not explore your city on foot or bike with your loved ones? And for those last-minute Christmas errands, we encourage you to hop on the bus or train.

A huge thank you for being part of the MRCagney community in 2023, it's been a pleasure sharing the journey with you. We look forward to collaborating and sharing more insights in 2024.

From our team to yours, have a safe and happy holiday season!

Ngā mihi nui,?

The MRCagney Team

And that's a wrap...

We hope you've enjoyed the November edition of The MRCagney Newsletter!

If you have any questions, or want to discuss something further, please reach out via LinkedIn! Or you can get in touch with our team on [email protected]

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