Jonathan Wood rides a bike, and is a lawyer. This is the first of an intermittent series of Ask A Lawyer on a Bike, but since no one has asked him anything so far, he sought out a question that hasn’t been asked or answered yet… “If a cycle lane is provided, am I obliged to use it?” In other words, must you ride in the cycle lane? Or can you ride on the road? Strictly speaking, someone has asked this question, but it was a wee while ago and the answers were, despite best intentions, ultimately unhelpful. It’s also been raised in Australia just this week, so it seemed timely to bring a local perspective for …
Bike Auckland
Remember when Auckland had a paltry $5 million across 3 years to spend on all improvements for walking AND cycling across the entire city? Us neither! Those bad old days seem eons ago – yet it was only in 2015 that the Urban Cycleways Programme (UCP) unlocked extra funding and kickstarted the bike boom, the effects of which we’re just starting to see. Now, Auckland Transport along with the NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Council, is looking a decade into the future with an investment business case for cycling investment 2018-2028. Yesterday, the AT Board formally approved it. The guts: a proposed combined investment of $600million over the next 10 years …
The days are short and the weeks feel shorter – and suddenly it’s almost closing time for feedback on Local Board Plans. Feedback closes 4pm Friday 30 June – make sure you have your say! Q. Why is this important? Because your Local Board is one of 21 hyper-local bodies with significant place-making power. Via your Local Board, you can transform the streets you live, walk, and bike on – from little things like better bike parking, or ramps instead of hard curbs, to area-wide issues like safer speeds and Vision Zero and greenways through parks. The Local Board Plan will cover the next three years… and you can get a lot done in three years! Your board …
Just us, or… is there a bit of a tone-shift lately in the way bikes are being covered in the news? Matt Heath’s Herald column in praise of Lightpath made us smile on a Monday morning. Admittedly, it’s hard not to break out in a grin when you read a description like this: I know it had to close down for a re-pinking, but boy is it futuristic. I ride that Utopian overpass to work every morning. The lights are so bright and blue. The pinks so pink. The convenience so convenient. You feel like you’re on a Tron Light Cycle. Like you’re in a Battlestar Galactica launch tunnel. Matt’s point is, why quibble about …
Bike Auckland is happy to announce that we are joining the Coalition for More Homes to support Auckland passing the Unitary Plan – giving us the ability to get on with building the homes that our growing city requires. One of the key reasons Bike Auckland exists – alongside the joy of riding bikes, of course – is that we love our city and want to see it prosper. With housing having become a crisis over the last decade, this is not a time when we want to stand off to one side, even if at first glance it may not relate to transport or bikes. In fact, transport and housing are two …
One of the delights of our cycleways, both new and old, is how green they can be, especially with the new landscaping. Likewise our greenways through parks. But this being Auckland, everything grows. And you don’t want vegetation branching out into your head’s way, creeping along across your path, or tickling your ankles as you ride. So whose job it is to keep the planting under control? After all, NZTA builds the cycleways alongside motorways; those then revert to being AT’s assets (along with the on-road cycle lanes and shared paths), while paths through parks are the domain of Auckland Council. All a bit complicated. Thankfully, AT’s Walking & Cycling crew has cleared it …
You may or may not have opinions on Auckland Council’s 2016/2017 budget. But in amongst the local board priorities are some flagship projects that will make life better for people on bikes… and indeed, there are a few local boards who have forgotten to put easy cycling wins on their list of priorities. If you have a moment, it’s well worth adding your voice. There are several ways to do this: tweet @aklcouncil and use the hashtag #aklbudget post on the Council’s Facebook page, with the hashtag #aklbudget email your thoughts to annualplan@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz fill in the online feedback form Feedback is due before 5pm, Thursday 24th March, 2016 If you’re using the online form and want to get straight to the point, scroll …
Auckland Council is currently seeking your thoughts on designs for an upgrade to the Mt Albert Town Centre – feedback closes 4pm, Friday 27 November. You can see the proposed plans here; note that most of what you see in the images is hypothetical, as the only part that’s funded for completion in 2016/17 is the part outlined in red. It’s great to hear of a long-awaited upgrade for this part of town, which has been ushered through a few ups and downs by the dedicated folk of the Albert-Eden Local Board. This part of town is well overdue for some love. Pick a corner, any corner, of the intersection of Carrington Rd, …
Remember when buses and trains were the Cinderella of Auckland’s transport system, sitting sadly in the cold kitchen, out of the limelight, at the mercy of ugly stepsisters who zipped off to the ball in their single-occupant vehicles. “Why waste money on slow, grimy machines?” went the reasoning. “Especially for a few sad punters who can’t afford cars or are too old or young to drive? Oh, sure, we have some plans on the shelf. Maybe next year. If we have the money. Now go and do your chores.” Luckily, public transport had some fairy godmothers who saw the light and the potential — and who looked overseas for models of what can happen when you give PT the royal treatment. It didn’t happen overnight, but …
A couple of months ago AT told me their staff were working on a trial to allow taxis to use the Grafton Bridge bus lanes. I was pretty shocked, as I know how much cyclists value the traffic- free environment of the Bridge on weekdays. I know many of us ‘specially enjoy the ‘B’ lights as well. I told AT I didn’t see the justification to give taxis access to the bridge during the bus lane hours, and didn’t support the trial. I was also interested to know how the bus companies have responded. Taxi drivers give me grief in the Central City. Numerous times they’ve ‘u’ turned across my …
What: Auckland Conversation’s event on “Transport in Auckland – The 10-Year Budget Proposal” When: Monday, 2 March 2015 5:00 p.m Where: Lower NZI Conference Room, Aotea Centre, 50 Mayoral Drive Auckland is the country’s fastest growing region with transport considered the single biggest issue. Major investment will be needed in the next decade to avoid worsening congestion and the impact this will have on our economy, environment and way of life. We have a choice to make. Do we accept a basic transport network which costs less, or do we invest more to get the advanced transport programme set out in the 30-year vision for our region known as the Auckland Plan. If …
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