Every six months we get together to look at what we’ve achieved over the last six months, to plan where we want to go in the next six, and to strengthen the sense amongst all the staff that we are part of the same team and working towards the same goals.

For our most recent planning day, we participated in a charity team event called Build My Ride. All the challenges were themed around cycling and successful completion of each challenge earned the team parts for a bike. The final task was for each of the four teams to assemble their bike and have it checked over for safety by a qualified bike mechanic.

As enjoyable as all the challenges were, the final activity – handing those bikes over to deserving kids through the Refugee Service – gave massive satisfaction and significantly added to the sense of community within the individual teams and amongst us all. At the end of the day, we had shared in an experience that made us feel good about ourselves and each other, and we all felt truly touched.

Michael Kwok attended the recent Auckland Transport Summit, a gathering of influencers and decision makers in urban planning, policy and private sector transport users. It was the platform to collectively hear and discuss progression towards a sophisticated urban transportation system in Auckland and to debate the critical decisions to be made in the imminent future.

Mayor, Len Brown, opened the summit by presenting big-picture goals for Auckland’s future and how transport systems fit into this. A presentation of historical data on Auckland’s transport patterns was set against predictions of Auckland’s changing demographic landscape and how that will impact on future transport needs, and what future imperatives are for our transport systems.

Funding was also a key issue, with an overview of alternative funding options developed for the Auckland Council, an examination of how to weigh funding and planning priorities, and the challenges and opportunities in adapting solutions from other cities and countries. Other discussions included transport’s role in improving Auckland’s environment, how to make transport systems viable and accessible, and how citizens can and do alter public transport.