Sadly my former 70s membership of the Association of Scientific Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS) left me with no comparable practical skills

No wonder the New Zealand economy has its infamous productivity problem. How does anyone expect it to get anywhere at any decent rate when it's being driven with the handbrake on for 30 years?
#nzecon #infrastructure

Auckland's planned bit of rail will be built (if indeed it ever eventuates at all, and I have my doubts) at a pace of 0.37km/year while Bordeaux's was built at a pace of 3.37km/year, 9 times faster

And yes, I've tried it out (Chartrons to Hôtel de Ville on the B line), frequent, cheap, modern. What does the Bordeaux experience say about our ability to do anything similar?

Meanwhile, in Bordeaux (metropolitan area knocking on 1.4mn, so bit smaller than Auckland) they started planning their light rail system in 1997 and completed the last of 4 lines totalling 77.5km in 2020. Here's what it looks like. Note it includes a link to the airport

... they could usefully read Dennis C Grube's 'Why governments get it wrong: and how they can get it right' and Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner's 'How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project from Home Renovations to Space Exploration'