@@avishjha4030 Ditto this. Also, you really shouldn't be telling people what to invest in on UA-cam. Investment is a sensitive subject, legally speaking, and you can easily get into trouble, especially blurring it with your educational content like this. Apart from that, it's just a bad look to be trying to 'subtly' slide into ads like that.
As an Aucklander who watches this channel religiously, who has seen videos, especially from across the ditch, (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney I think to date) it’s nice to see Auckland profiled. It has many challenges like any other growing city, BUT it also has A LOT of potential. Cheers to The B1M for showing off AKL to the world.
@@jeremyl862 I would say, subjectively, yes 😂 as a lived experience, I have been caught in traffic jams too many times in AKL. However, objectively, probably not. However, I don’t really know how the stats work out. Plus, I’ve never been to NYC. I would love a NYC style subway in AKL if we had a massive budget for it. It would change the city forever I think.
@@jeremyl862 Hey I've been to both NYC last year and live in New Zealand so I have a fair idea on the comparisons. Darren is correct. The traffic I would say is worse in Auckland mainly because New York has a subway (it's a horrible subway but it's there). And New York is "reasonably" walkable using a mix of public transport and foot power. Auckland on the other hand has mostly suburban housing and is more spread out considering the population. So unless you live close to a transport hub and your work is also close to the hub at the other end.... you are forced to take a car and therefore forced into the road congestion. Riding a pedal powered bike or e scooter is an option in some places too but Auckland has random rain showers all the time. I don't reside in Auckland and would prefer other NZ cities and towns but would easily rank it high above NYC for livability. It's just with the caveat that you really need a car and suffer through the traffic.
@@oppionatedindividual8256 Lol truth. There is a reason why in some Gotham city depictions the underground looks the way it does. It's basically a cut and paste of a New York Subway
Been waiting ages for you to cover something from New Zealand. Finally it seems we had an infrastructure project big enough to get noticed. Awesome vid as always.
We didn’t know they were letting the kiwis out of their homes let alone allowing you to ride the subway. Can you even ride a subway with your neighbor or when you aren’t supposed to even talk to them?
Really? Where in Australia are you from? Because while Auckland’s okay, it’s just not as good as Melbourne, Sydney or even Brisbane. In my opinion it’s not even as good as Wellington (although you are welcome to not take that seriously).
@@danieleyre8913 Wollongong. The New Zealand people are awesome I love NZ to bits I got great friends there but the traffic in Sydney/Melbourne is nothing like Auckland
@@marklatheam2806 Okay fair enough. No offence but Wollongong gets great weather & surf but otherwise is pretty much a giant small town/suburb. And yeah Auckland traffic sucks the fat one. And it used to be even worse.
Fred’s audible reaction to Auckland’s traffic after listing the good bits of the city is proof that there’s almost always a catch. But man that set up sounded sweet.
And it's not just bad, it's so bad that it affects basically everything. I'm counting the days until I can escape and I'd put that transport failures as my top reason for leaving.
Auckland traffic is so bad that in the last 10 years people have started keeping their job but moving to the northern suburbs of Hamilton, an hours drive back to Auckland, to avoid it 😂
As a Dutch person that loves making videos about transport infrastructure, I really like it when your videos are about infrastructure and subways! Good job!
@@SD352-68 Though the Dutch have had their influence here. A whole bunch arrived after WW2 and had a fair bit of influence on things like alcohol laws from what I recall reading.
It is the only city I have ever been to where I missed a flight as the traffic was so bad from the CBD to the airport! 2.5 hours from the Hilton on the Quay to the airport.
As an American who lived in Aucklands CBD, I can’t imagine paying that rent again! I saw the construction for this project often because the opening was a block away. If I was to move back, definitely to the suburbs! But knowing the traffic problems, I was not willing to do that. I’m so thankful that they are still on track to open the railway because I REALLY want to move back!
I also love that it is at Britomart! It’s so easy to hop onto ANY of the ferry’s there with the Hop Card! The ferry system is honestly better than the bus system, which was an absolute nightmare during rush hour. Buses literally filled to the brim!
@@adamberry7875 Not to mention that nearish, growing suburbs like Te Atatu Peninsula (my old home), somehow still only get, like, one bus an hour to the CBD _and/or_ Henderson- and that having maybe doubled in population in 15years!
@@mattlegge8538 its rubbish too, the track is lumpy as hell. It would be awesome to see it extended to Welly, and branching out to Tauranga etc, but either the land its built on is a massive issue or our engineers/construction teams are incompetent, or both.
@@PiriakaTrackwrecker I'm not sure the demand nor resources are there. Remember the distance from Auckland to Welly is around the same as London to Edinburgh in the UK
Live in South Auckland and can say personally that driving into the city at any reasonable hour is a nightmare. Just yesterday I drove from Manukau to Westgate (on other sides of the city) which took about two hours. On the way back once traffic had died down it was barely over 30 minutes. Really makes a big impact on what you can get done during the day. If I want to go into the city to shop, taking the train is by FAR the preferable choice.
@@designrhythm7264 we still don't even have one public transport system mate. If I am in Auckland I have to use their public transport card, then if I go to Christchurch I have to use a completely different one and the previous one is completely useless. We only JUST announced last year that we will have one card that can be used anywhere
@@bananarama3624 consider yourself lucky with that! I’m in Australia and although melb is only hours away from my city we still have completely different transport card systems. I wouldn’t blame your government, but the separate bodies involoved running your public transport in NZ
@@DesignRhythm there is a major difference between bad traffic and none functional traffic. Creating alternatives to cars is the number one way to decrease traffic.
no it's not. are you saying, when Moscow had 1,5 million people, it had a better system than New Zealand today? piss off. Nobody uses the trains, so you think it's a great idea for nobody to use the subway too? what a joke
Meanwhile, the traffic in our city is at a minimum and that's thanks to having superb transit. Pyongyang not only has a beautiful metro with two lines, but it also has a tram system with three lines and a shuttle line (between Samhung on the Metro and Kumsusan Palace of the Sun), and that's on top of trolleybuses as well. Pyongyang used to have a tram system before the war (one of three systems in the whole peninsula; Seoul and Busan were the other two) but as a result of the war's destruction, the whole city had to be rebuilt from scratch which my grandpa managed to achieve. Kim Il-sung is a role model for so many. Where there was darkness because of warfare, my grandpa showed the light.
Lovely architecture in Pyongyang, was very impressed. Visited in April 2019 for the Pyongyang Marathon and also stayed a few days in Sinuiju, amazing trip 🇰🇵
@@atv7916 Oh, good to hear! Because I'd heard about all the difficulties the engineers were having in digging the tunnel. I guess the rocks are harder than they imagined. I'm glad for the Emerald City. Greetings from Vancouver, BC. 💓🌲💓
I lived in Auckland for 15 years and this CRL project ain’t gonna fix anything. By the time this project is ready to be used, it will be like a band aid on a broken leg. Aucklands traffic issue stem from much deeper issues which include the it’s poorly designed public transport system, aged harbor bridge, and lack of commuter infrastructure for bikes and PEV’s; that’s just the start of it. I used to live one block away from the Eden Terrace construction site, and loved watching it progress. Don’t get me wrong it’s great that they are doing it, and maybe some more people will use it instead of their cars, but it will %100 not fix the traffic jams I can tell you that much.
They said the same about Los Angeles. Our rail system didn't get rid of traffic. It's still horrible. But it did help keep the traffic from getting WORSE as the population increased.
@@jayfielding1333 The existing lines at higher speeds and frequencies with stations served by buses or light rail might be better than branching lines which reduce frequencies. It’s a big step up
It's so interesting watching the place I grew up in, live, and work, narrated by an outsider. It's very cool having our little corner of the world shared. The Karangahape Road (more affectionately nicknamed 'K Rd') and Aotea stations are going to be incredibly helpful in pushing more business and tourists up to that end of the CBD and not just by the water. All the major transport hubs are at the bottom of the city 1. Lower Albert Street which caters to the buses, most notably the "NX1" or "Northern Express" 2. Britomart Train Station, which was covered in this video 3. The Downtown Ferry Terminal, which has the furthest reach of the three transport hubs. And while the City Link bus stops at the bottom of Queen St and commutes people up to the top, there are so many issues with it. - Like how it's incredibly confusing for tourists who don't understand the AT Hop Card system - It's extremely inaccessible to families with small kids and prams and disabled people - They are constantly canceled and can never run to full capacity - Buses can only take around 50 people if not less This is why the CRL is going to be incredibly useful in spreading people all across town and making the bottom less congested with people.
I can't wait till I can catch a train from New Lynn straight to the new stops. It's going to make attending events at the Aotea Centre a whole lot easier.
@@bubblefish17 as someone who grew up out east, and with family-in-law out Howick way, I'd love a train there as well. North, too - both along SH1 and the current NW route that goes all the way to Whangarei. That would really unlock the north for a LOT of people.
I also live in Auckland and the CRL (City Rail Link) development has been fascinating. It will make commuting in the city much easier when it opens. That combined with the latest extension of the Northern Busway makes public transport a very viable option
I dont know how anyone drives in Auckland with the parking so expensive. And lack of free parking in vital areas. I mean, I know how. It's all the upper middle class. But hey, hopefully more people will take public transport.
@@shanoncg A lot of the traffic in Auckland is in the suburbs of detached houses and shopping malls. But yes, the CRL is needed and will be an inevitable success. I don't think a lot of the knockers understand that it will be there forever and will help to shape the future growth pattern of Auckland.
Nice that they're moving in the right direction but it definitely won't be enough. It needs to be a well connected network that gets someone from their front door to their office, not just through the busy section halfway between.
I mean I live in Auckland and he’s not lying, I’m not walking a few kilometres to get to the train station. Of course there are buses but just to get onto one train you have to plan your bus and train therefore waking up earlier than if you had to take a car.
Yep, we still haven't really invested in our train network enough. The trains here also move slow becaus of the narrow rails we use. Still better then a car if you live within 10mins walking distance of a station .
As an Aucklander we do have many challenges like other cities, but we do have potential in our major city place in New Zealand. And yes we really do need this underground railway system because traffic is atrocious
I’m in Auckland, I don’t think the project will diminish Auckland wide traffic significantly, especially on the motorway but the network will make it easier for people who already live in or are in the CBD for the day to cover ground quicker - we’ll see
Always great to see public transport videos, especially when the schemes are likely to have a huge impact on the cities they're in. I'm surprised NZ doesn't already have a subway, but I'm also surprised there was no mention of earthquake impact, what with NZ being on a plate boundary and being very earthquake prone. My assumption is earthquakes would be a big consideration in underground construction.
@@Samuel_J1 idk I apologise talking out my ass here but are city council (Christchurch) says are infrastructure is earthquake proof after the big 2011 earthquake
I live in Auckland, this project is nothing but a joke, I am surprised that it got picked by your channel. Let me put it into perspective, a 3.5 km tunnel, taking more than 8 years to build, doesn't that sounds ridiculous? Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge，took 8 years to complete, and that is a massive project, way more complex, difficult project. Most people I know doesn't understand what’s the hype about it? One of my kiwi friend gave me the answer: kiwis, from top to bottom, are very shortsighted, they only start to fix something when its too late AND they think it’s something worthy boast that they’ve done. Awesome Mate!
I've lived right by construction in Mt Eden for the last couple of years, has been an absolute nightmare in terms of noise pollution but fascinating observing the progress nonetheless. As a life long Aucklander this is going to be an absolute game changer. Thanks for your coverage.
80 hours a year commuting would be amazing in most big cities. 1.5 million people is not so big, so it's brilliant that they are doing this before they get bigger.
The reason traffic was so high that year was because they were renovating the train tracks around New Market and the DBC, which lots of people catch to get to work.
It was 1989 when I was last in Auckland, but I've kept up and am glad to see the tunnel project is progressing despite all the unforeseen setbacks. Hopefully it'll get used so much they'll one day expand to other suburbs. A city as gorgeous as Auckland deserves it! Thanks for the great video!
I lived in Auckland for 7 months in 2012. Its an awesome city, with great people, beautiful scenery and lots to do. The tunnel will make a massive difference to traffic.
New Zealand, the only 1st world country that's actually a 3rd world country. Infrastructure is appalling, houses are over a million $ for a 1st home, pathetic speed limits and no train or motorway network. We really are 20-30 years behind the rest of the world
As a fellow kiwi, there is no sense in having higher speed limits with gridlock, and given the way some people drive then what we have is too high anyway. I train or bus all the time using park n ride, although the network is limited with constant delays or breakdowns, and this is due to past rail neglect. I think we do ok but room for improvement. We wasted far too much on treaty settlements which are sill on going. The English names are disappearing so good luck finding your way around the country.😊
I saw the videos title and thought: "What? We are? Since when?" It's been going on for so long I'd forgotten about it. And I hadn't really thought about it as a subway before now. Thing is, our public transport system needs a LOT of work.
Was a bit late getting here, but thank you for covering this from one person working in and around this project. Looking forward to the podcast episode!
Dhaka, worlds most crowded city is building metro rail for the first time, one line is almost complete, 5 are on the way. would really appriciate a video from you about this project that will change the life of 20 million people in coming years
No point in having a subway system if our storm water drains are crap. The recent floods show that our 100 year old drainage systems need an upgrade, hell there's only one drain on my street. Britomart gets flooded all the time and trains get shutdown anyway.
One link...to BRING THEM ALL 🤣. Bingo! Trains connecting the suburbs to big cities are supposed to solve traffic. If service was improved and new stations were built, there'd be less cars on the road because the drivers would instead be taking trains. But alas, certain politicians don't see that (cough cough PHIL MURPHY) and would rather do the classic trick of adding another lane as if the traffic will magically solve itself...spoiler: it won't. Pretty ironic for Phil Murphy to do that since NJ Transit is the second-busiest commuter rail system in the country. And the country's biggest statewide transit agency! I can tell you that this new Auckland link is a cakewalk compared to Athens or Thessaloniki metros. In the case of the Athens metro, they had to dig through 2,700 years of human activity (wells, graves, streets, houses, ancient sewage systems, older digs etc). Similarly in Thessaloniki they uncovered ancient up to medieval antiquities that had to be preserved during the excavations for the stations. But hopefully, the nice people of Auckland will enjoy this link.
As an Aucklander! Thanks b1m for featuring tamaki makaurau. Loads of challenges ahead. My apartment is quite close to the new Aotea station. Pass by everyday. Can’t wait to see it unfold
Auckland is built on an "S" shaped isthmus between two harbours. This rules out the usual layouts of either grid or radials and rings. IMO that is why Auckland will always have transport problems.
As a HUGE fan of your Channel, and watches most of your videos, I never would have thought I would come across NZ to be featured on your channel, Naga Mihi Nui. Thanks for showing Auckland to the world.
Im a Kiwi in Auckland ,AT Auckland Transport whom run most of Aucklands public transport are a money gobbling mess ,whom have basically killed the vibrant CBD ,trains and buses are constanly cancelled or late as i catch public transport alot ,its expensive and impractical if you live off the main transport lines or hubs , they contunie to waste money on judder bars everywhere and sometimes have 4 built up crossing on the same road within sight of each other ,these people who sing the praises of Aucklands public transport seem to live in a different place than me and maybe have rose coloured lens on or something
It's not really a subway, it's an extension of the regional rail network. More of an S-Bahn/Crossrail situation. That said, there are plans for auckland to build a subway to the airport, someday.
@@heidirabenau511 NZ is still smaller than either with its population and is far and isolated from the world, everything costs more to bring over or manufacture.
Before seeing the video, i want to give a quick answer to the title of the video! The population of New Zealand is half that of London! Just a reminder New Zealand is a bit bigger in size than the island of Great Britain!
I thought New Zealand kinda have a rail or metro transportation system, just like much of the former British territory. Today I learned that it is much car centric like the USA.
I was in NZ visiting family in 2017. I asked my aunty for a lift to the newish (2012) nearby train station on the Eastern Line to take me to the CBD. She was like "just borrow the car, no one uses the train" which my cousins then agreed with. I looked up the time to drive vs the time to get the train. Safe to say I get the train. I hope that these new projects push for a behavioural change needed to solve the traffic problem.
The problem is the reliability. I cant afford to miss work because the train line is down or all the busses are full... Not to mention there are so few. The public transport system here is terrible and expensive. Its just not worth it
I feel like this infrastructure project in Auckland should of been done in the mid 2000s....Red tape and bureaucracy is horrendous in NZ...takes forever to approve major projects. Auckland has A LOT potential as it has a very similar topography as Sydney with a North shore, a deep harbour and a harbour bridge connecting the CDB to its north shore. The only difference is Sydney is fully developed and used every inch of its available land to build its highways and public transport network but Auckland isnt there yet.
Have you guys at The B1M looked into a massive rail infrastructure project called "Cross River Rail" that's currently being built in Brisbane Australia?? I would love to see your guys video on it!
this will only smooth the traffic at the southern city center and Silvia park if it goes to plan. the bigger and most notorious traffic is at harbor bridge. there is no public transport aside from buses that go there, and its always in extreme jam. let alone 90% of buses are full at peaks. we need a link train to the north even if the train goes underwater. we also need link between the west and Northshore as they both are growing expenantionally.
I live in Auckland, I don’t think the underground trains 🚇 will diminish Auckland’s traffic during peak hours but it will encourage people not to drive when they go to the city’s CBD, and get around the CBD. But it’s a good start, for example : Singapore had their first underground trains when the city population was 2.7 million back in 1987, and Auckland’s population is only 1.5 and they’ve already invested millions to build their first underground trains
Thanks for the spotlight on the CRL B1M… while this was a project I didn’t have high hopes for, it’s definitely grown on me and I now look forward to its completion 🤙🏽
Anyone thinking the CRL is going to save the traffic issues we have is dreaming. We have terrible motorway links and terrible rail services. No rail to the airport, no rail over the bridge, and the CRL is a big fuck you to everyone out south, west and north. Sure itll make my coffee run from Britomart to Mt Eden quicker but thats about it. Auckland transport is a joke. Oh, and did we mention that the entire central rail network will be shutdown this year for overhaul?
@@dynamo1796 no doubt, we have a looong way to go and there are definitely other works that should have been carried out before doing this but the project’s underway so I figure I may as well get on board… even though I won’t be a passenger on this line, it’s still great that others may benefit from this. Personally I’d like to see rail extended out east and over the shore… oh and as for that Harbour bridge? I say tear it down and build two parallel bridges, one northbound the other southbound, underneath the northern bridge have a rail line and underneath the southern bridge a walking / cycle path. Sorted, now someone go build the damn thing… just don’t tell Old Man Brown lol
As a Aucklander, the main problem of the traffic are North Shore and west Auckland. That subway train resolves nothing. They making Queen Street smaller and smaller. They even hide camera on the last bit of Queen Street, make it as a bus lane.
Auckland probably has the worst urban planning of any major city in Oceania. Its CBD is surrounded on three sides by motorway and (currently) public transport is terrible. It's amazing how long it has taken Auckland to start taking train services seriously, when Australian cities (even ones of a similar size, like Perth) have been investing in new train lines massively for decades. Auckland has A LOT of catching up to do.
@@rachelcookie321 Wellington is where else. It has a long established suburban railway system that is approaching capacity, and there is a case for a CBD tunnel there too.
Am I the only one who found this a bit underwhelming? Like, obviously this isn't a bad idea at all and would function as the backbone of any functional transit system, it's just, where's the rest of it? The overview of where the lines go really just show how sparse the rail system is, so for most practical purposes most people would still need to drive/take the bus/cycle walk a significant distance to their nearest train station. The idea of connecting the city like that is fairly reminiscent of what we did in Oslo in the 1980s, but in that case it connected both extensive rail and metro systems through the city centre. Even then, when the city was far smaller than what Auckland is today, the transit system was a lot more extensive. I just feel they could use the initiative to do so much more. A city the size of Auckland really ought to have extensive rail and metro systems by now.
I completely agree with you, but unfortunately like everything, it comes down to economics. Many people are oblivious to the fact that NZ isn't very wealthy when compared to other countries in the OECD. We are at the bottom of the pack while Norway is at the very top...the difference in GDP is huge (it's like comparing Southern Europe with Norway). NZ also has a relatively low debt-to-gdp ratio and doesn't have a history of splashing cash on fancy infrastructure projects (comparatively speaking of course). The geographic isolation of the country (most isolated developed country in the world) makes things incredibly expensive and due to our small agricultural economy everything needs to be imported (equipment, construction material etc). Also don't forget we didn't benefit from any oil revenue like Norway. But yes, on a global scale, it IS a relatively underwhelming project 🥲 Oslo is a great city btw!
Yay!! As a kiwi I get super excited when NZ is mentioned in anything. I’m just grateful to be included in the world map 😂 Live in Auckland and can’t say I have ever called Waiheke “wine island” but maybe I’m not up with the lingo. I wonder how the flash floods have also impacted the subway development
That moment as a life-long transport fan you realize that NZ does't have a metro. *crickets* Congrats to them on a ground-breaking project! It'll be awesome to visit one day!
The stat of 80 hours of traffic per year is interesting, because that's actually not that bad. New Zealand mandates 30 days (6 weeks) vacation for workers, so 80 hours / 46 (weeks) / 5 (days) / 2 (x per day) = 17 minutes on average. I grew up in Los Angeles. 17 minutes to work would be amazing. Happy to be corrected!
yea I live here and that sounds about right for me, but my dads commute is 30+ minutes and my mum if she's working on the north shore is about 1 hour. going into the city is pretty bad aswell to be fair, but it was way more noticeable when I visited London.
That may have been time "wasted" - as in, extra time. Like, travelling on an empty road versus a congested one. But yes, didn't sound that bad to me either.
As someone who lives here I know 2 people who get to work within 17 minutes. One is my dad who works from home (lol), the other is my friend who works in a hospital and literally found a flat one block away. If you live in central Auckland then I'm sure the commute is a lot shorter, but if you don't live centrally (like me) and work centrally, then it takes at least 25-30m without traffic to get there, and hours when it is rush hour
I had to read this twice when I saw New Zealand on the B1M it's awesome seeing our little country being presented on this platform for construction and I'm actually from a rival city of Wellington 😁😁 mean as sweet hollaz
Lived in Auckland my whole life, a 20 min drive will take you 1 hour and 1/2 by bus, Auckland Transport removed a 100km of parking in auckland to promote use of the buses, beyond a joke. not to mention cost of living is insane vs wages. Everyone is off to Australia here.
When they do urban planning they just copycat ideas from other cities and never research what Aucklanders really want. Even my daughter is having enough planning to go to Melbourne.
Yeah thats because kiwis are badly short sighted and hate soending money on "new" things. We have a chronic car addiction here so any spending is usually on roads. It all adds up to very few major projects and almost none for rail or ferries.
Honestly, of all the ANZAC cities I visited over the last six months Auckland struck me as being the least pleasant. There’s a massive highway encircling the CBD, getting to the city from the airport is unnecessarily complicated, pretty much nothing was pedestrianised and just a general vibe of the CBD not being a safe place to be alone at all, let alone during the night. The kiwis themselves are the nicest people you’ll meet anywhere though, more than make up for it. Just wouldn’t call it the most liveable city.
They are only just starting to pedestrianised, lately Queen Street (the main street in Auckland's CBD) went from 4 lanes down to two, with the other two lanes now dedicated to pedestrian and bike traffic.
If you noticed the main points he mentioned in the video are the accessibility of beaches to the west or north, or by ferry on the harbour, where there are also vineyards. The CBD is not seen as much if an attraction by those who live there. When Auckland’s got its festivals going and the weather is good it’s quite nice. But the award really recognizes greenery, not culture. That said- unlike many cities in the world where you go downtown and everything is there Auckland is a place that really rewards hunting out restaurants or bars in different suburbs or tucked away. I guess as well a major reason the CBD was ghostly was the loss of the international student population after the pandemic. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of young people lived in and around the CBD to study and enjoy life abroad who now don’t. A nice picnic day at Cheltenham and a wander around North Head or some mussels and Belgian beer at Mission Bay… I hope it hits you better if you’re back at some point.
I wanted Auckland Transport to set up a new railway network called CountryLine; which starts from Kumeu and ends at Wellsford. Stops will include Kaukapapa, Warkworth and Helensville
Why? Would be much quicker to drive and there's virtually no traffic along this route. It's also sparsely populated, with less than 80,000 people populating an area more than four times the size of Auckland's urban area which has almost 1.5 million inhabitants. Not even close to being economically viable.
Kia ora 👋🏽everyone from Aotearoa New Zealand, and a big shout out to the B1M up in Old Blighty. At last you made a video mate about our little paradise down here. You humble us. Please folks, come and visit our country. You will be made *most welcome* by the Kiwis you meet whilst you are here. 💙👍🏽🐳
I moved to Auckland a year ago and love it. The only thing I don't favour is the endless traffic. Rush hour is more like rush 5 hours cos that's literally how long "rush hour" lasts for every day. Public transport is so cheap atm but I can imagine it going up because of this
For what it’s worth, as someone who works in the CBD, it’s ABOUT DAMN TIME. Auckland exploded in population during the car-centric 50s and 60s, hence the lack of proper public transport. the north shore (the other side of the harbour to the cbd) is connected, essentially, by a single 6 lane bridge. You can go the long way around, but I sincerely hope this project expands across the harbour too.
I live in New Zealand and I had no idea about this, but given the fact that local roadworks project of building an overpass that started well before 2017 when I moved back here, still isn't finished as I write this in 2023, this might and I stress might, be finished by the time my great-grandchildren are themselves, grandparents
Awesome project! unfortunately the next big project (airport link) is going in the completely wrong direction: Underground light rail is a very bad idea, it's way too expensive and doesn't even have the same capacity as a metro. Best Option would be to extend the Onehunga branch to the airport
Automated light metro is a good idea. You can use smaller trains with tiny headways, all the capacity of a heavy metro at less cost. If the train is full, no problem! Only 30 seconds to the next one.
Unfortunately; they built a motorway interchange that will make extending the Onehunga line to the airport via Mangere very costly. So the airport link will probably just be a spur at Wiri for an express straight to Britomart. The light rail thing will never happen, mark my words.
As someone who lived at end of the Southernline of the rail network in Pukekohe, Auckland has its issues with transporting infrastructure, that is for sure. The CRL should not just allow a change in travel around the city, but hopefully, change the mindset regarding how they plan to travel.
Oh yeah, over time people will chose to take the train to get out and about and to the CBD. Especially as people who grew up using the train and took it to school become adults and then take it to varsity/polytechnic and their jobs. It will be a slow gradual thing.
It’s been a huge project for sure, you should look at the decade old Northern Busway in Auckland, that was an even bigger revolution. A profile on Christchurch (how do you rebuild a city?) or Wellington’s Te Papa which involved lifting up a hotel and moving it down the street before building Te Papa on big isolators are also pretty interesting.
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are you planning a video on Rail Baltica?
Please don't take sponsorships from Masterworks. It's a scummy company, please do some research. Love your videos.
@@avishjha4030 Ditto this. Also, you really shouldn't be telling people what to invest in on UA-cam. Investment is a sensitive subject, legally speaking, and you can easily get into trouble, especially blurring it with your educational content like this. Apart from that, it's just a bad look to be trying to 'subtly' slide into ads like that.
Cut and cover is so much underrated
Not impressed with these scammy ads
As an Aucklander who watches this channel religiously, who has seen videos, especially from across the ditch, (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney I think to date) it’s nice to see Auckland profiled. It has many challenges like any other growing city, BUT it also has A LOT of potential. Cheers to The B1M for showing off AKL to the world.
Is the traffic worse than NYC?
@@jeremyl862 I would say, subjectively, yes 😂 as a lived experience, I have been caught in traffic jams too many times in AKL. However, objectively, probably not. However, I don’t really know how the stats work out. Plus, I’ve never been to NYC. I would love a NYC style subway in AKL if we had a massive budget for it. It would change the city forever I think.
@@ynerrad9291 no you don’t want an NYC style subway, you the Tube and MTR and MRT are all vastly superior to the NYC subway.
@@jeremyl862 Hey I've been to both NYC last year and live in New Zealand so I have a fair idea on the comparisons. Darren is correct. The traffic I would say is worse in Auckland mainly because New York has a subway (it's a horrible subway but it's there). And New York is "reasonably" walkable using a mix of public transport and foot power. Auckland on the other hand has mostly suburban housing and is more spread out considering the population. So unless you live close to a transport hub and your work is also close to the hub at the other end.... you are forced to take a car and therefore forced into the road congestion. Riding a pedal powered bike or e scooter is an option in some places too but Auckland has random rain showers all the time. I don't reside in Auckland and would prefer other NZ cities and towns but would easily rank it high above NYC for livability. It's just with the caveat that you really need a car and suffer through the traffic.
@@oppionatedindividual8256 Lol truth. There is a reason why in some Gotham city depictions the underground looks the way it does. It's basically a cut and paste of a New York Subway
Been waiting ages for you to cover something from New Zealand. Finally it seems we had an infrastructure project big enough to get noticed. Awesome vid as always.
Did you like jacinda
We didn’t know they were letting the kiwis out of their homes let alone allowing you to ride the subway. Can you even ride a subway with your neighbor or when you aren’t supposed to even talk to them?
@@karankapoor2701Yeah, she was great. Too bad the lunatic fringe wanted to actually kill her.
@@SkepticalSteve01 she was a puppet for the WEF not really but she didn’t have our country first
@@karankapoor2701 she was a great PM will miss her.
I'm from Australia and I travel to Auckland all the time and I can assure you that the only thing I don't miss in Auckland is the traffic.
Really? Where in Australia are you from?
Because while Auckland’s okay, it’s just not as good as Melbourne, Sydney or even Brisbane. In my opinion it’s not even as good as Wellington (although you are welcome to not take that seriously).
@@danieleyre8913 Wollongong.
The New Zealand people are awesome I love NZ to bits I got great friends there but the traffic in Sydney/Melbourne is nothing like Auckland
@@marklatheam2806 Okay fair enough. No offence but Wollongong gets great weather & surf but otherwise is pretty much a giant small town/suburb. And yeah Auckland traffic sucks the fat one. And it used to be even worse.
@@danieleyre8913 agreed and yeah hahaha Wollongong is not on many people to go list. ;)
@@danieleyre8913 This is something good and you speaking like that you got a dose of tall poppy.
Fred’s audible reaction to Auckland’s traffic after listing the good bits of the city is proof that there’s almost always a catch. But man that set up sounded sweet.
If you do the math it’s a 10 minute commute each way. On average
@@chappiedatass1361 come visit. It's definitely not a 10 minute commute each way
And it's not just bad, it's so bad that it affects basically everything. I'm counting the days until I can escape and I'd put that transport failures as my top reason for leaving.
@@chappiedatass1361 wishful thinking. It takes nearly an hour to go from Albany to the city centre.
Auckland traffic is so bad that in the last 10 years people have started keeping their job but moving to the northern suburbs of Hamilton, an hours drive back to Auckland, to avoid it 😂
As a Dutch person that loves making videos about transport infrastructure, I really like it when your videos are about infrastructure and subways! Good job!
Yeah it's nice to see how our overseas province Nieuw Zeeland is doing
@@SD352-68 Though the Dutch have had their influence here. A whole bunch arrived after WW2 and had a fair bit of influence on things like alcohol laws from what I recall reading.
Old Zealand best Zealand 💪😎🇳🇱🇳🇱
@@SD352-68 @VivaHollandia32's making a joke -- and a funny one, too! 🥰 My mother's fully Dutch, and emigrated to Auckland when she was 19.
@@VhenRaTheRaptor really, I've been in NZ for 16 years and I've never seen any Dutch influence
Auckland needs a rail network that connects the airport to the city and northern suburbs across the harbour.
I agree mate.
💯
Yup desperately needed
It is the only city I have ever been to where I missed a flight as the traffic was so bad from the CBD to the airport! 2.5 hours from the Hilton on the Quay to the airport.
There were plans for that but were cancelled because of cost. One day maybe.
As an American who lived in Aucklands CBD, I can’t imagine paying that rent again! I saw the construction for this project often because the opening was a block away. If I was to move back, definitely to the suburbs! But knowing the traffic problems, I was not willing to do that. I’m so thankful that they are still on track to open the railway because I REALLY want to move back!
I also love that it is at Britomart! It’s so easy to hop onto ANY of the ferry’s there with the Hop Card! The ferry system is honestly better than the bus system, which was an absolute nightmare during rush hour. Buses literally filled to the brim!
How do the costs compare to say, central London or central Tokyo?
@@adamberry7875 Not to mention that nearish, growing suburbs like Te Atatu Peninsula (my old home), somehow still only get, like, one bus an hour to the CBD _and/or_ Henderson- and that having maybe doubled in population in 15years!
why Auckland though 😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣
@@TheClintonio they don't compare, LOL! unless you love those mountain side Japanese village vibes
Fellow kiwi here. 🥝 🇳🇿
Great to see you cover a New Zealand project!!! This is potentially the greatest day of the year!
I really didn't think we would ever build anything big enough to feature lol. No oil king money for that
If only they made an intercity rail 🥲
@@Georgeandjackshow There is, between Hamilton and Auckland. But it's struggling I think..
@@mattlegge8538 its rubbish too, the track is lumpy as hell. It would be awesome to see it extended to Welly, and branching out to Tauranga etc, but either the land its built on is a massive issue or our engineers/construction teams are incompetent, or both.
@@PiriakaTrackwrecker I'm not sure the demand nor resources are there. Remember the distance from Auckland to Welly is around the same as London to Edinburgh in the UK
Live in South Auckland and can say personally that driving into the city at any reasonable hour is a nightmare. Just yesterday I drove from Manukau to Westgate (on other sides of the city) which took about two hours. On the way back once traffic had died down it was barely over 30 minutes. Really makes a big impact on what you can get done during the day. If I want to go into the city to shop, taking the train is by FAR the preferable choice.
Metro or Underground Rail is a must for big city and Auckland is really far behind from the rest of the world.
Why? Name one city with a subway that doesn't still have horrible traffic?
@@designrhythm7264 we still don't even have one public transport system mate. If I am in Auckland I have to use their public transport card, then if I go to Christchurch I have to use a completely different one and the previous one is completely useless.
We only JUST announced last year that we will have one card that can be used anywhere
@@bananarama3624 consider yourself lucky with that! I’m in Australia and although melb is only hours away from my city we still have completely different transport card systems. I wouldn’t blame your government, but the separate bodies involoved running your public transport in NZ
@@DesignRhythm there is a major difference between bad traffic and none functional traffic.
Creating alternatives to cars is the number one way to decrease traffic.
no it's not. are you saying, when Moscow had 1,5 million people, it had a better system than New Zealand today? piss off. Nobody uses the trains, so you think it's a great idea for nobody to use the subway too? what a joke
Meanwhile, the traffic in our city is at a minimum and that's thanks to having superb transit. Pyongyang not only has a beautiful metro with two lines, but it also has a tram system with three lines and a shuttle line (between Samhung on the Metro and Kumsusan Palace of the Sun), and that's on top of trolleybuses as well. Pyongyang used to have a tram system before the war (one of three systems in the whole peninsula; Seoul and Busan were the other two) but as a result of the war's destruction, the whole city had to be rebuilt from scratch which my grandpa managed to achieve. Kim Il-sung is a role model for so many. Where there was darkness because of warfare, my grandpa showed the light.
I´m convinced. I´m MOVING!
satire account or unironic juche gang? too knowledgeable to be completely satire imo
only kim himself knows 👁️
Awww that's so sweet of you to say about your grandpa! I bet he's looking down on you sooo very proudly! ❤️😂🤣
Thanks to socialism, I've never had to feel jealous of the healthier richer neighbour next door.
Lovely architecture in Pyongyang, was very impressed. Visited in April 2019 for the Pyongyang Marathon and also stayed a few days in Sinuiju, amazing trip 🇰🇵
As a Seattle native I'd love to see you cover the world's first railway on a floating bridge!
Based
I'm sad it keeps getting delayed
How's Bertha? Has the mission be completed?
@@isabellind1292 the tunnel? yes! it was completed a few years ago. I love driving through it, but I don't end up in that part of Seattle often.
@@atv7916 Oh, good to hear! Because I'd heard about all the difficulties the engineers were having in digging the tunnel. I guess the rocks are harder than they imagined. I'm glad for the Emerald City. Greetings from Vancouver, BC. 💓🌲💓
I lived in Auckland for 15 years and this CRL project ain’t gonna fix anything. By the time this project is ready to be used, it will be like a band aid on a broken leg. Aucklands traffic issue stem from much deeper issues which include the it’s poorly designed public transport system, aged harbor bridge, and lack of commuter infrastructure for bikes and PEV’s; that’s just the start of it. I used to live one block away from the Eden Terrace construction site, and loved watching it progress. Don’t get me wrong it’s great that they are doing it, and maybe some more people will use it instead of their cars, but it will %100 not fix the traffic jams I can tell you that much.
They said the same about Los Angeles. Our rail system didn't get rid of traffic. It's still horrible. But it did help keep the traffic from getting WORSE as the population increased.
Yeah I am very sceptical. More lines and light rail are what will make a difference.
@@jayfielding1333 Where would you put the lines?
@@jayfielding1333 The existing lines at higher speeds and frequencies with stations served by buses or light rail might be better than branching lines which reduce frequencies. It’s a big step up
You have to start somewhere? No one has ever said that CRL would cure Auckland's issues. Its the first step in a long road.
It's so interesting watching the place I grew up in, live, and work, narrated by an outsider. It's very cool having our little corner of the world shared. The Karangahape Road (more affectionately nicknamed 'K Rd') and Aotea stations are going to be incredibly helpful in pushing more business and tourists up to that end of the CBD and not just by the water. All the major transport hubs are at the bottom of the city
1. Lower Albert Street which caters to the buses, most notably the "NX1" or "Northern Express"
2. Britomart Train Station, which was covered in this video
3. The Downtown Ferry Terminal, which has the furthest reach of the three transport hubs.
And while the City Link bus stops at the bottom of Queen St and commutes people up to the top, there are so many issues with it.
- Like how it's incredibly confusing for tourists who don't understand the AT Hop Card system
- It's extremely inaccessible to families with small kids and prams and disabled people
- They are constantly canceled and can never run to full capacity
- Buses can only take around 50 people if not less
This is why the CRL is going to be incredibly useful in spreading people all across town and making the bottom less congested with people.
I can't wait till I can catch a train from New Lynn straight to the new stops. It's going to make attending events at the Aotea Centre a whole lot easier.
For me, I still hope to see a rail link to North Shore and east Auckland though. It will be lovely.
@@bubblefish17 as someone who grew up out east, and with family-in-law out Howick way, I'd love a train there as well. North, too - both along SH1 and the current NW route that goes all the way to Whangarei. That would really unlock the north for a LOT of people.
Yeah CRL will be very useful, PT still has a long way to go in Auckland though since it's been terrible for decades.
@@samwansbone2790 indeed. CRL loop was meant to be done back in the 60's/70's, for instance, but people said no. Damn those people.
"The train can carry 54k/hr, the same as 16 lanes of highway. More on that in a minute"
I'm is it just me or did that discussion not get returned to
Really deserves it's own entire video!
I also live in Auckland and the CRL (City Rail Link) development has been fascinating. It will make commuting in the city much easier when it opens. That combined with the latest extension of the Northern Busway makes public transport a very viable option
Imagine if we'd built Robbies Rapid Rail though...
@@VhenRaTheRaptor You’d have lost that wonderful town hall if that had been built.
@@danieleyre8913 uh? What?
I dont know how anyone drives in Auckland with the parking so expensive. And lack of free parking in vital areas. I mean, I know how. It's all the upper middle class. But hey, hopefully more people will take public transport.
@@shanoncg A lot of the traffic in Auckland is in the suburbs of detached houses and shopping malls.
But yes, the CRL is needed and will be an inevitable success. I don't think a lot of the knockers understand that it will be there forever and will help to shape the future growth pattern of Auckland.
Nice that they're moving in the right direction but it definitely won't be enough. It needs to be a well connected network that gets someone from their front door to their office, not just through the busy section halfway between.
Not true. Just say you like cars bro
I mean I live in Auckland and he’s not lying, I’m not walking a few kilometres to get to the train station. Of course there are buses but just to get onto one train you have to plan your bus and train therefore waking up earlier than if you had to take a car.
Yea that’s why this is a complete waste of the Auckland tax payers money
Yep, we still haven't really invested in our train network enough. The trains here also move slow becaus of the narrow rails we use.
Still better then a car if you live within 10mins walking distance of a station .
You are correct. Even though it costs so much it's sadly not enough.
As an Aucklander we do have many challenges like other cities, but we do have potential in our major city place in New Zealand. And yes we really do need this underground railway system because traffic is atrocious
Every city should have underground transportation. It's also the best way to fight air pollution.
Are you saying that bad air would remain underground?
@@TheRadFactor he's saying 1 train replaces a billion cars sorta thing
@@TheRadFactor way less individual cars on the road when there's an alternative. Most people I know wouldn't drive if there was another way
Source: Trust me dude.
Every big city you mean!!
I’m in Auckland, I don’t think the project will diminish Auckland wide traffic significantly, especially on the motorway but the network will make it easier for people who already live in or are in the CBD for the day to cover ground quicker - we’ll see
I agree, its going to be an improvement for those who use the rail network already but won't get people out of their cars
Yeah. What about crossing the Waitamata Harbour?
Always great to see public transport videos, especially when the schemes are likely to have a huge impact on the cities they're in. I'm surprised NZ doesn't already have a subway, but I'm also surprised there was no mention of earthquake impact, what with NZ being on a plate boundary and being very earthquake prone. My assumption is earthquakes would be a big consideration in underground construction.
Buddy we have tunnel highways through hills underground etc we have earthquake proof bridges etc
I don't doubt that there are tunnels and bridges, but I'd be interested to know _how_ they are made to be earthquake proof.
@@Samuel_J1 idk I apologise talking out my ass here but are city council (Christchurch) says are infrastructure is earthquake proof after the big 2011 earthquake
@@Samuel_J1Historically Auckland hasn’t been much bothered by earthquakes. It’s volcanoes that might bugger Auckland up some day.
The effect of earthquakes on tunnels is actually less than one might think
I live in Auckland, this project is nothing but a joke, I am surprised that it got picked by your channel. Let me put it into perspective, a 3.5 km tunnel, taking more than 8 years to build, doesn't that sounds ridiculous? Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge，took 8 years to complete, and that is a massive project, way more complex, difficult project. Most people I know doesn't understand what’s the hype about it? One of my kiwi friend gave me the answer: kiwis, from top to bottom, are very shortsighted, they only start to fix something when its too late AND they think it’s something worthy boast that they’ve done. Awesome Mate!
the philippines is building its first subway with a distance of over 30km. hope you could make a video on that too. cheers!
We even have two subway lines. One will be made by Japan while the Makati line will be made by China.
I've lived right by construction in Mt Eden for the last couple of years, has been an absolute nightmare in terms of noise pollution but fascinating observing the progress nonetheless. As a life long Aucklander this is going to be an absolute game changer. Thanks for your coverage.
As a life long Aucklander, I believe its not going to change anything except for more articles every other morning of trains being cancelled.
80 hours a year commuting would be amazing in most big cities. 1.5 million people is not so big, so it's brilliant that they are doing this before they get bigger.
That’s not how those 80 hours work.
It’s not 80 hours commuting, it’s 80 hours stuck in traffic.
The reason traffic was so high that year was because they were renovating the train tracks around New Market and the DBC, which lots of people catch to get to work.
It was 1989 when I was last in Auckland, but I've kept up and am glad to see the tunnel project is progressing despite all the unforeseen setbacks. Hopefully it'll get used so much they'll one day expand to other suburbs. A city as gorgeous as Auckland deserves it! Thanks for the great video!
Next level direction and editing, B1M. Your best video to date IMHO.
I lived in Auckland for 7 months in 2012. Its an awesome city, with great people, beautiful scenery and lots to do. The tunnel will make a massive difference to traffic.
Lots to do? Really?
New Zealand, the only 1st world country that's actually a 3rd world country. Infrastructure is appalling, houses are over a million $ for a 1st home, pathetic speed limits and no train or motorway network.
We really are 20-30 years behind the rest of the world
Yep. Welfare county as well that’s why not enough taxes generated for roads. Gormless Arleen who’s now done a runner sold us down the river in debt.
As a fellow kiwi, there is no sense in having higher speed limits with gridlock, and given the way some people drive then what we have is too high anyway. I train or bus all the time using park n ride, although the network is limited with constant delays or breakdowns, and this is due to past rail neglect. I think we do ok but room for improvement. We wasted far too much on treaty settlements which are sill on going. The English names are disappearing so good luck finding your way around the country.😊
As a viewer from new zealand, It's amazing to see auckland being showcased on this channel. Cheers B1M!
I saw the videos title and thought: "What? We are? Since when?"
It's been going on for so long I'd forgotten about it. And I hadn't really thought about it as a subway before now.
Thing is, our public transport system needs a LOT of work.
Was a bit late getting here, but thank you for covering this from one person working in and around this project. Looking forward to the podcast episode!
Dhaka, worlds most crowded city is building metro rail for the first time, one line is almost complete, 5 are on the way. would really appriciate a video from you about this project that will change the life of 20 million people in coming years
Great to hear, good luck to them. Can’t believe Dhaka has more people than my country by far (i live in Ireland with 7m people)
No point in having a subway system if our storm water drains are crap. The recent floods show that our 100 year old drainage systems need an upgrade, hell there's only one drain on my street. Britomart gets flooded all the time and trains get shutdown anyway.
One link...to BRING THEM ALL 🤣. Bingo! Trains connecting the suburbs to big cities are supposed to solve traffic. If service was improved and new stations were built, there'd be less cars on the road because the drivers would instead be taking trains. But alas, certain politicians don't see that (cough cough PHIL MURPHY) and would rather do the classic trick of adding another lane as if the traffic will magically solve itself...spoiler: it won't. Pretty ironic for Phil Murphy to do that since NJ Transit is the second-busiest commuter rail system in the country. And the country's biggest statewide transit agency!
I can tell you that this new Auckland link is a cakewalk compared to Athens or Thessaloniki metros. In the case of the Athens metro, they had to dig through 2,700 years of human activity (wells, graves, streets, houses, ancient sewage systems, older digs etc). Similarly in Thessaloniki they uncovered ancient up to medieval antiquities that had to be preserved during the excavations for the stations. But hopefully, the nice people of Auckland will enjoy this link.
As an Aucklander! Thanks b1m for featuring tamaki makaurau. Loads of challenges ahead. My apartment is quite close to the new Aotea station. Pass by everyday. Can’t wait to see it unfold
Auckland is built on an "S" shaped isthmus between two harbours. This rules out the usual layouts of either grid or radials and rings. IMO that is why Auckland will always have transport problems.
As a HUGE fan of your Channel, and watches most of your videos, I never would have thought I would come across NZ to be featured on your channel, Naga Mihi Nui. Thanks for showing Auckland to the world.
Im a Kiwi in Auckland ,AT Auckland Transport whom run most of Aucklands public transport are a money gobbling mess ,whom have basically killed the vibrant CBD ,trains and buses are constanly cancelled or late as i catch public transport alot ,its expensive and impractical if you live off the main transport lines or hubs , they contunie to waste money on judder bars everywhere and sometimes have 4 built up crossing on the same road within sight of each other ,these people who sing the praises of Aucklands public transport seem to live in a different place than me and maybe have rose coloured lens on or something
I miss my beautiful city Auckland. Really looking forward to using this rail link when I come for a visit.
I live in a much smaller place in New Zealand, with barely any public transport. Working online and using an e bike, I’m in heaven 😁👌
I live in Christchurch 10km form the CBD, switched to "mostly" an E-bike a few years back, best move ever :P
Auckland is a beautiful city. Unlocking the traffic will only make it better.
Wow I haven't known New Zealand never had its own subway system! 😯
It’s a small country
@@Markstubation01 Netherlands and Switzerland: Hold my beer!
It's not really a subway, it's an extension of the regional rail network. More of an S-Bahn/Crossrail situation. That said, there are plans for auckland to build a subway to the airport, someday.
@@heidirabenau511 NZ is still smaller than either with its population and is far and isolated from the world, everything costs more to bring over or manufacture.
come feel the earthquakes as you head into a tunnel to get locked inside a metal box.
Oh wow, NZ is official! Thanks B1M, it’s nice to see us on your channel. 😊
"Pack your bags B1M team" 😁👍
Before seeing the video, i want to give a quick answer to the title of the video!
The population of New Zealand is half that of London! Just a reminder New Zealand is a bit bigger in size than the island of Great Britain!
I thought New Zealand kinda have a rail or metro transportation system, just like much of the former British territory. Today I learned that it is much car centric like the USA.
Auckland has always been a mini-California. Wellington is probably less car-centric.
New Zealand is a mix of little Britain and rural America
@@Entertainment- True also some little Asia.
@@cheetaihYup, pretty much. Auckland's highway system/network is a direct "copy and paste" of California's.
I was in NZ visiting family in 2017. I asked my aunty for a lift to the newish (2012) nearby train station on the Eastern Line to take me to the CBD. She was like "just borrow the car, no one uses the train" which my cousins then agreed with. I looked up the time to drive vs the time to get the train. Safe to say I get the train. I hope that these new projects push for a behavioural change needed to solve the traffic problem.
The problem is the reliability. I cant afford to miss work because the train line is down or all the busses are full... Not to mention there are so few. The public transport system here is terrible and expensive. Its just not worth it
looking forward to watch this video
from australia 🇦🇺
I feel like this infrastructure project in Auckland should of been done in the mid 2000s....Red tape and bureaucracy is horrendous in NZ...takes forever to approve major projects. Auckland has A LOT potential as it has a very similar topography as Sydney with a North shore, a deep harbour and a harbour bridge connecting the CDB to its north shore. The only difference is Sydney is fully developed and used every inch of its available land to build its highways and public transport network but Auckland isnt there yet.
Have you guys at The B1M looked into a massive rail infrastructure project called "Cross River Rail" that's currently being built in Brisbane Australia?? I would love to see your guys video on it!
this will only smooth the traffic at the southern city center and Silvia park if it goes to plan. the bigger and most notorious traffic is at harbor bridge. there is no public transport aside from buses that go there, and its always in extreme jam. let alone 90% of buses are full at peaks. we need a link train to the north even if the train goes underwater. we also need link between the west and Northshore as they both are growing expenantionally.
Never thought I'd see my home city on this channel - a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
I live in Auckland, I don’t think the underground trains 🚇 will diminish Auckland’s traffic during peak hours but it will encourage people not to drive when they go to the city’s CBD, and get around the CBD. But it’s a good start, for example : Singapore had their first underground trains when the city population was 2.7 million back in 1987, and Auckland’s population is only 1.5 and they’ve already invested millions to build their first underground trains
Millions? The cost of this project is now estimated to be $5.5B. Have to agree this will have little effect on Auckland's traffic problems.
Every city in the world needs to prioritise public transport and bike lanes over cars as soon as possible
It's okay to dream, but Reality bites.
Ok Klaus
Calm down and stop preaching.
The timing of this video was quite exquisite...
Thanks for the spotlight on the CRL B1M… while this was a project I didn’t have high hopes for, it’s definitely grown on me and I now look forward to its completion 🤙🏽
Anyone thinking the CRL is going to save the traffic issues we have is dreaming. We have terrible motorway links and terrible rail services. No rail to the airport, no rail over the bridge, and the CRL is a big fuck you to everyone out south, west and north. Sure itll make my coffee run from Britomart to Mt Eden quicker but thats about it. Auckland transport is a joke. Oh, and did we mention that the entire central rail network will be shutdown this year for overhaul?
@@dynamo1796 no doubt, we have a looong way to go and there are definitely other works that should have been carried out before doing this but the project’s underway so I figure I may as well get on board… even though I won’t be a passenger on this line, it’s still great that others may benefit from this. Personally I’d like to see rail extended out east and over the shore… oh and as for that Harbour bridge? I say tear it down and build two parallel bridges, one northbound the other southbound, underneath the northern bridge have a rail line and underneath the southern bridge a walking / cycle path. Sorted, now someone go build the damn thing… just don’t tell Old Man Brown lol
As a Aucklander, the main problem of the traffic are North Shore and west Auckland. That subway train resolves nothing. They making Queen Street smaller and smaller. They even hide camera on the last bit of Queen Street, make it as a bus lane.
Queens st is long due to be entirely pedestrianised
Fantastic! Another dope video about construction from UA-cams no. 1 handsome construction boi, Mr Mills
Auckland probably has the worst urban planning of any major city in Oceania. Its CBD is surrounded on three sides by motorway and (currently) public transport is terrible. It's amazing how long it has taken Auckland to start taking train services seriously, when Australian cities (even ones of a similar size, like Perth) have been investing in new train lines massively for decades. Auckland has A LOT of catching up to do.
Even though short, the scheme looks like a magnificent investment, judging by the satisfying loop on the map.
I drive everyday from Massey to East Tamaki, the traffic is always horrendous around 3.30pm onwards
I was going Glen Eden to Albany. For work. 6:30am is horrendous in certain places. Especially west.
I am from New Zealand and wow this is shocking and might even make some citizens emotional I also can’t believe it’s happening in my hometown
Where else would it happen? Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand.
@@rachelcookie321 Wellington is where else. It has a long established suburban railway system that is approaching capacity, and there is a case for a CBD tunnel there too.
The B1m is the my favourite you tube channel
Masterworks seems quite dubious. You should not risk your reputation by advertising it.
Am I the only one who found this a bit underwhelming? Like, obviously this isn't a bad idea at all and would function as the backbone of any functional transit system, it's just, where's the rest of it? The overview of where the lines go really just show how sparse the rail system is, so for most practical purposes most people would still need to drive/take the bus/cycle walk a significant distance to their nearest train station. The idea of connecting the city like that is fairly reminiscent of what we did in Oslo in the 1980s, but in that case it connected both extensive rail and metro systems through the city centre. Even then, when the city was far smaller than what Auckland is today, the transit system was a lot more extensive. I just feel they could use the initiative to do so much more. A city the size of Auckland really ought to have extensive rail and metro systems by now.
I completely agree with you, but unfortunately like everything, it comes down to economics. Many people are oblivious to the fact that NZ isn't very wealthy when compared to other countries in the OECD. We are at the bottom of the pack while Norway is at the very top...the difference in GDP is huge (it's like comparing Southern Europe with Norway). NZ also has a relatively low debt-to-gdp ratio and doesn't have a history of splashing cash on fancy infrastructure projects (comparatively speaking of course). The geographic isolation of the country (most isolated developed country in the world) makes things incredibly expensive and due to our small agricultural economy everything needs to be imported (equipment, construction material etc). Also don't forget we didn't benefit from any oil revenue like Norway. But yes, on a global scale, it IS a relatively underwhelming project 🥲 Oslo is a great city btw!
Yay!! As a kiwi I get super excited when NZ is mentioned in anything.
I’m just grateful to be included in the world map 😂
Live in Auckland and can’t say I have ever called Waiheke “wine island” but maybe I’m not up with the lingo.
I wonder how the flash floods have also impacted the subway development
Hit me up, I've something for you 🎁🎁🎁
Here in Serbia we finaly building it also, after decades of waiting cheers.
Right I live in nz and this is covered it so well. Great job
That moment as a life-long transport fan you realize that NZ does't have a metro. *crickets*
Congrats to them on a ground-breaking project! It'll be awesome to visit one day!
The stat of 80 hours of traffic per year is interesting, because that's actually not that bad. New Zealand mandates 30 days (6 weeks) vacation for workers, so 80 hours / 46 (weeks) / 5 (days) / 2 (x per day) = 17 minutes on average.
I grew up in Los Angeles. 17 minutes to work would be amazing.
Happy to be corrected!
yea I live here and that sounds about right for me, but my dads commute is 30+ minutes and my mum if she's working on the north shore is about 1 hour. going into the city is pretty bad aswell to be fair, but it was way more noticeable when I visited London.
Even less! That calculation gives you 0.17 hour = 10 minutes one way.
Edit: Unless you Kiwis have finally gone metric with 100 minutes per hour.
That may have been time "wasted" - as in, extra time. Like, travelling on an empty road versus a congested one. But yes, didn't sound that bad to me either.
As someone who lives here I know 2 people who get to work within 17 minutes.
One is my dad who works from home (lol), the other is my friend who works in a hospital and literally found a flat one block away.
If you live in central Auckland then I'm sure the commute is a lot shorter, but if you don't live centrally (like me) and work centrally, then it takes at least 25-30m without traffic to get there, and hours when it is rush hour
That’s not a 17 minute drive to work that is 17 minutes in a traffic jam I believe is how that works.
This is Funny 😁😁!!On the other side India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia are making projects on much higher and bigger scale and much faster then NZ.
Omg the best VIDEO YET! Lowkey been waiting ages for u to cover NEW ZEALAND. Ka pai e hoa (well done mate)
OMG been waiting for an NZ video for ever! thank you!
I had to read this twice when I saw New Zealand on the B1M it's awesome seeing our little country being presented on this platform for construction and I'm actually from a rival city of Wellington 😁😁 mean as sweet hollaz
We also need a CBD railway tunnel in Wellington dammit!
Hopefully a successful CRL will make a better case for Wellington to get one too.
Lived in Auckland my whole life, a 20 min drive will take you 1 hour and 1/2 by bus, Auckland Transport removed a 100km of parking in auckland to promote use of the buses, beyond a joke. not to mention cost of living is insane vs wages. Everyone is off to Australia here.
When they do urban planning they just copycat ideas from other cities and never research what Aucklanders really want. Even my daughter is having enough planning to go to Melbourne.
I was not expecting this! but I am not complaining, I love seeing videos on New Zealand like this since there doesn't seem to be that much.
Yeah thats because kiwis are badly short sighted and hate soending money on "new" things. We have a chronic car addiction here so any spending is usually on roads. It all adds up to very few major projects and almost none for rail or ferries.
@@kaymish6178 So true, it's America but x100 worse.
@@kaymish6178 Yeah it's quite sad, I'm still mad they got rid of the southerner 🙃
Honestly, of all the ANZAC cities I visited over the last six months Auckland struck me as being the least pleasant. There’s a massive highway encircling the CBD, getting to the city from the airport is unnecessarily complicated, pretty much nothing was pedestrianised and just a general vibe of the CBD not being a safe place to be alone at all, let alone during the night. The kiwis themselves are the nicest people you’ll meet anywhere though, more than make up for it. Just wouldn’t call it the most liveable city.
They are only just starting to pedestrianised, lately Queen Street (the main street in Auckland's CBD) went from 4 lanes down to two, with the other two lanes now dedicated to pedestrian and bike traffic.
If you noticed the main points he mentioned in the video are the accessibility of beaches to the west or north, or by ferry on the harbour, where there are also vineyards. The CBD is not seen as much if an attraction by those who live there.
When Auckland’s got its festivals going and the weather is good it’s quite nice. But the award really recognizes greenery, not culture. That said- unlike many cities in the world where you go downtown and everything is there Auckland is a place that really rewards hunting out restaurants or bars in different suburbs or tucked away.
I guess as well a major reason the CBD was ghostly was the loss of the international student population after the pandemic. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of young people lived in and around the CBD to study and enjoy life abroad who now don’t.
A nice picnic day at Cheltenham and a wander around North Head or some mussels and Belgian beer at Mission Bay…
I hope it hits you better if you’re back at some point.
As a New Zealander I feel very honoured to have are nation on b1m
I wanted Auckland Transport to set up a new railway network called CountryLine; which starts from Kumeu and ends at Wellsford.
Stops will include Kaukapapa, Warkworth and Helensville
Why? Would be much quicker to drive and there's virtually no traffic along this route. It's also sparsely populated, with less than 80,000 people populating an area more than four times the size of Auckland's urban area which has almost 1.5 million inhabitants. Not even close to being economically viable.
Will be serverly underused
Kia ora 👋🏽everyone from Aotearoa New Zealand, and a big shout out to the B1M up in Old Blighty. At last you made a video mate about our little paradise down here. You humble us. Please folks, come and visit our country. You will be made *most welcome* by the Kiwis you meet whilst you are here. 💙👍🏽🐳
I moved to Auckland a year ago and love it. The only thing I don't favour is the endless traffic. Rush hour is more like rush 5 hours cos that's literally how long "rush hour" lasts for every day. Public transport is so cheap atm but I can imagine it going up because of this
Never expected to see Auckland on here! Little old us...
For what it’s worth, as someone who works in the CBD, it’s ABOUT DAMN TIME. Auckland exploded in population during the car-centric 50s and 60s, hence the lack of proper public transport. the north shore (the other side of the harbour to the cbd) is connected, essentially, by a single 6 lane bridge. You can go the long way around, but I sincerely hope this project expands across the harbour too.
the issue in auckland is reliability and cost, its very expensive to use public transport and thats when it runs
Never thought I’d see New Zealand on a B1M video!
New Zealand has been my dream to go and if I could I would never leave and ever go back to America 💌🤟🕊 😃
My eyes opened so wide when I saw the word New Zealand. Had to drop what ever I was doing to watch this.
I love New Zealand....Regards from Auckland to the world
I love the Indiana Jones flight animation.
I live in New Zealand and I had no idea about this, but given the fact that local roadworks project of building an overpass that started well before 2017 when I moved back here, still isn't finished as I write this in 2023, this might and I stress might, be finished by the time my great-grandchildren are themselves, grandparents
The B1m is the best of you tube
Awesome project!
unfortunately the next big project (airport link) is going in the completely wrong direction: Underground light rail is a very bad idea, it's way too expensive and doesn't even have the same capacity as a metro.
Best Option would be to extend the Onehunga branch to the airport
it simplest quickest solution to do and it could have been done 10 years ago
Automated light metro is a good idea. You can use smaller trains with tiny headways, all the capacity of a heavy metro at less cost. If the train is full, no problem! Only 30 seconds to the next one.
Totally agree. And not just because I live in Onehunga. 🙂
Unfortunately; they built a motorway interchange that will make extending the Onehunga line to the airport via Mangere very costly. So the airport link will probably just be a spur at Wiri for an express straight to Britomart.
The light rail thing will never happen, mark my words.
@@danieleyre8913 you think wellingtons light rail might happen?
Banger video as always! 🚅
Also just finished the final episode of the Podcast today, can't wait for the next one
The fact that we get free videos on UA-cam by The B1M is truly a gift. 👍👍👍
Thanks for hearing my request!
This is pretty awesome too see you cover this.
As someone who lived at end of the Southernline of the rail network in Pukekohe, Auckland has its issues with transporting infrastructure, that is for sure.
The CRL should not just allow a change in travel around the city, but hopefully, change the mindset regarding how they plan to travel.
All it does is knock a few minutes off trips to the west
Oh yeah, over time people will chose to take the train to get out and about and to the CBD. Especially as people who grew up using the train and took it to school become adults and then take it to varsity/polytechnic and their jobs. It will be a slow gradual thing.
New Zealand is such a late bloomer, but it's worth it!
It’s been a huge project for sure, you should look at the decade old Northern Busway in Auckland, that was an even bigger revolution.
A profile on Christchurch (how do you rebuild a city?) or Wellington’s Te Papa which involved lifting up a hotel and moving it down the street before building Te Papa on big isolators are also pretty interesting.
New Zealand has plenty of amazing civil engineering feats.
Problem is: This channel only makes videos of current or upcoming ones.