You legends! We’re barely started into our Bikeable Auckland campaign, and you’re close to cracking the four digits mark! Every single name, every single signature, makes clear how much a bikeable city matters to us – right now. Aucklanders of all ages are so grateful you’re giving it a push. And the higher the number of supporters, the stronger our voice. So tell a friend! Tweet it, Facebook it. Download and print out the gorgeous poster (with those beautiful pics by Carol Green) and pin it up at work, school, on your favourite cafe noticeboard. Meanwhile, take another look at the fabulous bouquet of logos on our campaign page. The flock of supporting organisations is growing by the day. Architects, software companies, non-profits, …
Bruce Copeland
When you chat to people about why they’re involved with cycle advocacy, everyone has their own story about imagining a bikeable future. So it is with a savvy and determined group of advocates in Waipu. Five years ago, two young girls at Waipu Primary School – Ella Stolwerk and Ceili Lea – came up with a brilliantly simple idea: they just wanted to be able to ride their bikes between Waipu Town and Waipu Cove, a distance of about 10km. (The fact that kids have to ask for safe places to ride their bikes is a poignant reminder that streets everywhere, including the ones we live on, have slowly become hostile …
Time is running out to comment on plans for one of Auckland’s cycling hot-spots, the Tamaki Drive/Ngapipi Rd intersection. Feedback closes Friday September 23rd. We encourage you to add your own support – or constructive criticism! – to the AT design. What’s at stake here? Re-read our earlier blog post to help you make an application on the Resource Consent for the intersection redesign. Consider our own 6 improvement suggestions, and what you feel needs changing, and submit! In addition, there’s one other related issue you might like to comment on, as it’s creating a lot of discussion in the community. This is regarding AT’s future decision about how to connect the …
Great North Road: so called because, once upon a time before the Harbour Bridge, it was the main route northward out of Auckland (a counterpart to the Great South Road). Generally, however, GNR meanders mostly westward. From its beginnings at Karangahape Road, you can feel its origins as a straight old tramline street along the ridge. This broad multimodal boulevard served and boosted the growth of the new European Auckland – and because of its gentle gradient, it was always a favourite of cyclists too. And then of course we went and ripped out the trams, reappointed it as four lanes of traffic and a wide median, and turned it over to cars driving to far-away suburbs and shopping malls. …
Bike Kumeunity was formed to encourage the residents of Huapai and Kumeu to consider cycling as an everyday form of transport, to get to the shops, the library, the Arts Centre, as well as riding around the quiet country roads in our lovely neighbourhood. One of the biggest current challenges is to find safe cycling routes within and between the twin towns of Huapai and Kumeu, divided as they are by the increasingly busy state highway. It turns out that SH16 is the sole responsibility of NZTA, while the other roads in the two towns and the surrounding countryside are the responsibility of Auckland Transport. We see the Draft Greenways Network plan currently …
Picture people pouring in the doors next Wednesday evening, eager to get a drink, a nibble and ready to talk about what’s happening to make things better for bikes. They look like regular Aucklanders – but we like to think they’re wearing super-hero capes that only we can see. Because these unassuming people – you – have hidden powers. You’re the ones who cheer Bike Auckland on and on, day after day. You have the superpower to push our Bikeable Auckland campaign to thousands of Aucklanders over the past week, and even more in the weeks to come. Whether you’re a Green Lantern biking to work in hi-viz with lights blazing; a Super-Mum-or-Dad accompanying your kids …
Auckland Transport is currently consulting on the proposed traffic signals at Ngapipi Road / Tamaki Drive. This is one of the worst historical black spots for people on bikes in Auckland. It’s also a major intersection on our busiest cycle route, with some ~1,000 riders a day even in the middle of winter. First, let’s recap the many objectives – and constraints – the design has to contend with. It needs to: Improve safety and convenience for people on bikes. Especially – but not only – those turning here, and those heading directly to town who currently have to merge westbound with fast traffic from Ngapipi. Improve safety and convenience for pedestrians. Currently, there are barely any pedestrian crossing …
Feedback is now invited on the cycling improvements through Grey Lynn, Arch Hill, and Westmere, with consultation open until 9 October. As you can see from the map below (click to enlarge), this is a vital extension beyond the CBD, designed after the extensive feedback exercise earlier in the year. It features new dedicated bike lanes along the ridge route of Great North Road and reaching well into Westmere and Grey Lynn, where they’ll complement enhanced greenways. All projects are scheduled to be completed by 2018. With substantial benefits for pedestrians and public transport, and slower traffic speeds, these are really exciting steps towards a bikeable Auckland! AT will be hosting public information sessions at the Grey Lynn Farmers’ Market on Sunday …
If you’re cruising around Mangere, you might see six bright-red postie bikes getting a new lease on life. They are part of a free community bikeshare scheme in Mangere, started up by the tirelessly creative Teau Aiturau. Two bikes are permanently stationed at the Te Moana-a-Kiwi Pool and Gym. They’re free to borrow for anyone who fancies a spin around the Future Streets project, which is adding protected bike lanes to the town centre. The plan is to have a couple of bikes at several handy spots around the community, as far afield as Mangere Bridge, so people can come and go as they please. It’s all part of Teau’s big vision of making Mangere the Bike Capital of …
Some of you may have been wondering how the (ongoing) Waterview Shared Path construction is going. And we know that some of you have really started to worry about the New Lynn-Avondale-Waterview path, because things have been so quiet from the official side recently. Well, have no fear. There have been some temporary setbacks, but some good people are hard at work overcoming them (hopefully in time for the overall dates to not slip seriously). Waterview Shared Path On the Waterview Shared Path, the most visible works are at the Alford Street Bridge, crossing over to Unitec. These works are going along well – the Well-Connected Alliance (the same folks …
Judging just by the number of riders we’re seeing on these chilly but sunny spring mornings, Aucklanders are flocking to biking more and more. But do the bike counts of the past winter back up that impression? AT computer says: Yes! At 14 regional count sites: 1.66 million cycle trips were recorded for the year of September 2015 to August 2016, an increase of 8.8% on the previous 12 months. 123,388 cycle trips were recorded in August 2016, an increase of 13.9% when compared to August 2015. At 13 city centre count sites (which don’t all yet have 12 months of data to compare to the previous year): 1.74 million cycle trips were …
A few months ago, we made a video showing how bad things were for people on bikes at the Ngapipi Road slip lane onto Tamaki Drive. We also described interim safety measures Auckland Transport was planning – road markings, rumble strips, specially triggered electronic signs and flashing light studs on the road. As part of this project, AT undertook before-and-after speed measurements to see whether the interim fixes worked. And did they? Yes – to a degree. Speed was measured at two locations. Site 1 was on the approach to the intersection, some 40-50m away. Site 2 was in the area where citybound cyclists have to merge with (or ride across) traffic coming out of Ngapipi Rd – …
We’re launching a campaign for a truly bikeable Auckland – and calling on the incoming council and local boards to commit to the vision, with a vital network, more local links, and safer streets. We’d love you to sign on. Here’s why… Six weeks ago, Auckland Council voted unanimously to greenlight SkyPath, the missing link for our bikeable future. What gave them the courage to do that? You did! You spoke up ten thousand strong in favour of SkyPath. Our city leaders heard your enthusiasm, loud and clear. And they saw what it looks like on a map when everyone who’s keen to bike in this city puts up their hands. It was the same when you showed up en masse for the opening …
Our favourite storyteller Simon Vincent has been around the world and back again, and returns with a bit of whimsy that he sincerely hopes doesn’t seem like flogging a dead, er, bicycle… Our family recently undertook a long haul trip to visit family and friends. The opportunity to see new or old places, catch up with friends and wallow in nostalgia is one I enjoy, of course, but the flights themselves can be tough. On long haul flights you need sleep or distraction. On our first leg – Auckland to Hong Kong – I found something that provided both. I read an article about the old bicycle vs. horse races that …
NZTA is currently running a survey on what New Zealanders think about e-bikes and e-bike riders (as well as other low-powered vehicles, including Segways and hoverboards). This is partly a response to the recommendations from the Cycle Safety Panel, with government now looking at updating laws and regulations around cycling. At this stage, it’s not clear what regulations are being considered, but general discussion around the subject has homed in on potential restrictions for e-bikes, such as: maximum wattage / torque (i.e. how powerful the motor can be) maximum speed assist (i.e. if the bike is going faster than, say 25 km/h, the motor stops helping) and throttles could be banned (i.e. the motor will only assist when you …
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