> I often wonder why Wellington has a suburban electric system
>whilst NZ's largest city relies on diesal traction (as much as I wonder
>about why Adelaide still hasnt entered the 20th century in urban
>transport)
I think it is another example of the drif towards third-world solutions
in my home-town (Auckland). Over-reliance on the private car for transport is
what
you see everywhere in the 'less-developed nations', from Bogota to Sao Paulo to
Bangkok to Mumbai to you-name-it in the underprivileged world.
I suppose I've been away too long, but I see the Auckland (and overall
NZ) obsession with 'user pays' and the private car as the answer
to any transport need as a clear pointer towards the inevitable
downgrading of NZ into just another poor South Pacific island group.
We Kiwis had it, and we threw it away. I wasn't there while we were
throwing, and I cannot imagine nor understand why it has happened.
But it has.
*Philip*