The pedestrianisation of Auckland City is happening slowly but surely - 30km/h slowly, in fact.
The news this week that many Auckland roads will see the speed limit lowered in line with United Nations health guidelines had some people revving their gears.
The more febrile saw a New WorldOrder conspiracy with the UN usurping the autonomy of Auckland Transport and imposing its own laws and regulations.
Others who see their vehicles as their own personal fiefdoms don't want to be told how fast they can drive at all - on city roads or motorways - because they are masters of their own universes and jolly good drivers to boot and they'll make their own decisions about things like speed, thank you very much.
Auckland is late to the party - it appears other cities around the country have already adopted lower speeds for their town centres and it works just fine.
Let's face it - it's almost impossible to drive faster than 30km/h on our roads as it is, given the road works and the congestion. For another, it does mean that if an accident happens a pedestrian, cyclist or motor cyclist is far more likely to walk away if it happens at 30km/h.
At that speed, there's a 10 per cent risk of death. That jumps to 80 per cent if that same crash happens when the motorist is travelling at 50km/h.
And Queen St has had a 30km/h limit for more than 10 years and seen a 36 per cent reduction in deaths. The numbers don't lie.
So basically AT wants motorists to be travelling at the same speed as a Lime scooter - despite the fact e-scooters are supposed to be limited to 15km/h in most parts of the inner city. Yeah, right.
I'm more wary of those bloody scooters swerving around pedestrians, outside diners and dog walkers along Ponsonby Rd than I am of motorists.
Look, I get it. I really do. Town planners the world over don't want cars in the city. I don't want to take my car into the bloody city either, not the way it is now and not when you have to pay the extortionate prices for parking.
More of Auckland is becoming pedestrianised. Photo / NZ Herald
I've bought a HOP card, although that was more complicated than it needed to be, surely. I went into my dairy that doubles as a bus stop and asked for one, and the owner told me he didn't sell them and he didn't know where I could get one. I asked the bus driver and he didn't know either but while I was travelling up to Ponsonby Rd on the bus, I googled and found the places in the hood I could buy one. They are few and far between. Buy them online and they might take weeks to arrive.
Surely if AT wants us to take public transport, the process of getting a HOP card could be streamlined.
Still, I have it now and it makes sense to use the bus, which stops practically outside my door, up to Ponsonby Rd and into the city if time permits. And I've been toying with getting an electric bike ever since I did the Otago Rail Trail and ever since my rates ended up paying for a cycle way that leads almost from my front door to my work place.
I have succumbed and I have no doubt others will succumb along with me. It's the pathway of the future - albeit a pathway that we will all travel very slowly.
