Trans-Tasman bubble allows grieving family to reunite on Anzac Day

How green is my Queen Street Valley Nothing is as simple as it looks, and the launch of a fleet of electric buses to clear the air [in polluted Queen Street]( is no exception. The ceremonial ribbon-cutting, on 12 electric buses comprising the red-liveried City Link fleet, is the biggest step yet in converting the city’s 1300-bus fleet away from the fleet will be in service when you read this, the goal of]( Auckland’s “golden mile”]( from its current status as the country’s worst black-carbon urban canyon will take more than two years. The kaleidoscope of [other downtown projects]( underway means additional diesel buses will be re-routed into Queen St, or travel longer stretches of the retail hotspot, until mid-2023. First the good news. The City Link service is the most-travelled route down Queen Street, the Wai Horotiu valley, making 350 journeys daily, carrying 1.6 million passengers a year. The not so good news is that the surge of diesel bus routes spending more time on Queen Street means 250 more carbon-pumping buses daily in the short-term, taking diesel-burners to 600 trips a day. From mid-year, the popular Inner Link loop service will leave Queen Street, when works on the underground Aotea Station on the City Rail Link, will close the intersection of Albert and Victoria Streets. From then on, zero emission buses – the City Link service – will make up half of the 650 bus journeys on Queen Street until mid-2023 when the completion of CRL surface disruption will allow all other routes to leave the street. But the excitement that accompanies [each new eBus fleet launch,]( risks underplaying the real challenge in reaching the target of halving 2016-level emissions, by 2030 – an Auckland Council pledge. That will need an estimated 64 per cent reduction in transport-produced emissions and, forget the role of boosting the electric car fleet, people will have to reduce their use of cars. A lot. Read more from Todd Niall here [Read more]( [Trans-tasman bubble allows grieving family to reunite for Anzac Day]( A family separated by Covid-19 border restrictions has been reunited for Anzac Day. Cecilia Proud’s family embraced her as she lay a poppy at the Cenotaph, remembering her late husband Warren Proud, who was a Vietnam War veteran. He died of pancreatic cancer in Australia in August 2020. Anzac Day was the first time Cecilia Proud could mourn with her family in New Zealand since her husband’s death because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. She landed in Auckland just a day before the [Anzac Day dawn ceremony](. [West Auckland petrol station owner repels hooded gang]( [Council partially backs down on proposed ban on exotic breeds of parrots]( [Golf course ordered to shut holes after cars smashed by wayward balls]( [Nuclear test veterans seeks audience with PM over health issues]( You've received this email because you have opted in to receive Your Auckland from Stuff Did a friend forward this to you? [Sign up to get Your Auckland]( to your inbox [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletter Settings]( [Privacy Policy]( [Advertise]( [Feedback](