Middlemore Hospital has been much in the news lately. The health centre at the heart of the isthmus, it sits at the heart of a health-challenged community, many of whom suffer what Dr David Galler calls “the South Auckland full house, ‘a six-card hand of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and gout’.” Middlemore is also home to a naturally health-conscious workforce, several of whom make a point of biking to work – while many more would, if it felt safer to do so. Anaesthetist Rob Burrell is one who counts himself lucky to bike to Middlemore, despite the lack of decent infrastructure. He shares his commute with us in a guest post, below. …
Bike Auckland
From Tuesday 12 June to Tuesday 19 June, a pop-up project hub will open up at 290 Karangahape Road, to share the latest designs for this exciting revamp of this iconic street. All week long, this is your chance to swing by and find out more about the much anticipated joint Auckland Transport-Auckland Council project that’s bringing protected cycleways, decluttered footpaths, peak-time busways and some fabulous design in 2019. At the pop-up, you can meet the team and check out visual displays, up-to-date project info, interactive events, and an exciting vision of Karangahape Road’s future, now just around the corner. Eager for a sneak peek? Scroll down for some pretty pretty …
On the radio this week, talkback host Mike Hosking shared his reckons about AT’s annual research report into walking and cycling, which we covered yesterday. In particular, he simply couldn’t believe that 65% of Aucklanders think bike paths are good for the community. He didn’t just doubt the results, he doubted the methodology – and described the research as an ‘opt-in’ online survey filled in by ‘keyboard warriors’ and ‘bored deadbeats with nothing to do.’ Similarly, the NZ Herald ran an editorial referring to AT ‘surveying self-selected samples online for the answers it wants.’ But just because something seems too good to be true doesn’t mean it’s false. This study wasn’t an ‘opt-in’ …
What happens when two blokes join an all-female group ride? Ross Inglis explains: Next time you spot a roadie group, or you’re in one, do a quick count. How many of the riders are women? Chances are, very few. One in 10, if we had to guess. So we were intrigued when we ran into the Hotties, an all-women group riding out of Bike Auckland partner Hot Cycles in St Heliers. It’s the city’s only exclusively female road group we know of, it has its own team kit, and it’s growing fast. We asked if two blokes, myself and my riding buddy Dave, could join a Hotties ride to sample life …
Every year, to round out the bare-bones data the automatic cycle counters supply, Auckland Transport commissions independent research, interviewing a representative sample of Aucklanders by location, age, and gender to find out what people think about walking and cycling. (We’ve covered previous surveys here and here.) Note: the screenshots below are from the full research report by TRA, which is located here. Long story short: the 2018 report confirms what our eyes are telling us as we travel around the city – there are more of us on bikes than ever. And people are feeling happier about bikes in general, and bikes in their community in particular. This is the result that’s leading the …
I’ve long had a habit, like many others, of giving a cheery wave to motorists who slow down to let me cross when I approach a zebra crossing on my bike. Even if sometimes it’s just a quick raise of the hand – sorry, I need that hand back on my handlebar, there’s a tight turn just on the other side of the crossing!* A few months back, I saw a conversation on Twitter about this. I can’t find it now, and am loath to put words in people’s mouths in case I’ve remembered wrong, but the gist of it was this: Why should people on bikes wave and smile …
We have long said that there are a few (maybe quite a few!) people within Auckland Transport who would love to do a lot more to make walking and cycling safer – and all they really need is senior leadership backing them… and providing funding. We’ve also long known many passionate individuals and local groups who are keen to achieve the same things in their neighbourhoods. This blog is about what happens when those people in AT meet those people in the community, at a time when safety is finally given priority for available funding. A place full of people, opportunity, and… too much car traffic The (Western) Victoria Quarter is …
After dark at Motat on the last day of May, they came – people on bikes, the bike-curious, and two teams of top comedians, all ready for the inaugural big bike debate. The crowd mingled and warmed up over drinks and nibbles in the high-concept Idea Collective Hall, with what some readers might recognize as the framework of the old tactile dome repurposed as the bar for the evening. As MC Wallace Chapman said admiringly, the joint was really working an 80s night club vibe. Then it was time to take our seats at tables for the main event. Wallace expertly primed the crowd, greeting us with ‘Give it up …
Electrify NZ is a proof point for the proliferation of electric bicycles across New Zealand. What started as a one-man, single-store business three years ago has grown into a retail chain with two Auckland sites, three more across the country, and further stores on the way. Founder Michael Tritt, a former Greenpeace staffer, started electrify.nz with a simple goal: get more people on bikes and out of their cars. Michael opened his doors for business at the beginning of the e-bike phenomenon and he says the business has thrived after a slow start. “In my first winter I was selling maybe a bike every month. But we rode the e-bike …
College Hill is a key route for people on bikes – but a dangerous one, with no prospect of improvement any time soon. Luckily, there are two quick consultations where we can call for change. Re-read our call for action on the first, and read on for the second… Here’s AT’s proposal for a new crossing and slow speed zone on College Hill Feedback closes Thursday 14 June Use the hot pink button to add your voice! Here’s what we say We like the proposal, but it needs changes Please make the crossing more visible, with flashing surface lights or similar. Please remove the side islands – and please add protected bike lanes! Make the …
College Hill is a key route for people on bikes, but a dangerous one, with no plan for protection any time soon. Luckily, we can make a difference via two current consultations. Read on for more – and then check out the other consultation here). Here’s AT’s proposal for a paid parking zone on College Hill. Feedback closes Monday 18 June. Use the hot pink button to add your voice! Here’s what we say We don’t like the proposal. We think the priority on College Hill should be walking, biking, and buses, not car parks. We’re calling on AT to boldly prioritise safety here, rather than fiddling around the edges. Please add tactical …
TL:DR: the Waitemata Local Board has won significant improvements to the quality and safety of the Quay Street/Tamaki Drive cycleway at the Ports, to tie into Bike AKL’s win from 2017. As an advocacy group working ‘inside the tent’ with Auckland Transport on improvements for safer cycling, we often hear great news about bike projects before they’re ready to go public. So, when we were recently shown plans for a ‘missing piece’ of the Quay Street / Tamaki Drive bikeway, our first instinct was to tell you all the good news … but we kept our silence while the project was still under wraps. Happily, now that the Local Board has made …
We welcome Auckland Transport’s recent media release last week, acknowledging the horrific increase since 2014 in deaths and serious injuries for people using AT’s road network (as laid out in the independent safety report commissioned by the AT board). It’s painful but necessary to have this out in the open, and Greater Auckland covered the topic well in a recent blog post. We especially welcome the proposed response, which is that AT will massively ramp up its spending to create safer roads, joining Minister Genter’s commitment to Vision Zero. I’m keen to hear from you how the extra cycling safety dollars could be used most effectively. While you think about it, I’d like …
A guest post by Christina Bengtson: Last year I had the bright idea of buying a cargo trailer and doing my shopping with that instead of using the car. The underlying reasoning was that we didn’t want to buy a second car, I was keen on the extra exercise, and we felt it fitted into our lifestyle, trying to minimise our carbon footprint. We are a family of 5: three kids, my husband and myself, with one car, five bikes – and now a cargo trailer. I think we’re the only one-car household in our street; it’s definitely not ‘normal’. Because we run our own business from home, business use …
Sometimes it’s very simple. The council is currently consulting on the Regional Fuel Tax (RFT) and what to spend it on via the Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP), and the feedback process couldn’t be more straightforward. Here’s our super-quick-and-easy guide to making sure bikes count. Read on for VERY IMPORTANT DETAILS on how to make sure Auckland doesn’t wind up with a half-pie compromise for cycling. Be sure to have your say before Monday 14 May! Question 1 asks how you feel about the Regional Fuel Tax – support or no? We strongly suggest you SUPPORT this – without it the full range of cycling projects won’t happen. The fuel tax …
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