Auckland Transport’s fund for supporting community bike activities has just announced its second round – applications are open from now until Thursday 5 April. Applicants may apply for grants from a minimum of $300 to a maximum of $5,000. (Groups with no formal legal structure can apply for a grant up to $1,000.) You’ll find out if you’re successful by Wednesday 15 April, and projects must be delivered by 30 June 2018. What kinds of projects are eligible? Here’s the full policy: it’s aimed at community groups, large and small (no political parties, commercial entities; unfortunately, schools and members of the Council family aren’t eligible either). The successful projects from the …
Bike Auckland
Auckland looks set to lead the world – and flood the streets with bikes – thanks to a revolutionary funding idea that would see every citizen given a free bicycle or the equivalent. Documents have been obtained today by Bike Auckland that outline a policy to reallocate the funding set aside for building cycling infrastructure. Under the official name 2020 Vision, the policy would redeploy the $900m originally earmarked for Walking, Cycling, and Local Board Priorities over the coming decade under the ATAP agreement. This amounts to about $500 per city resident, which coincidentally is the price of a decent average bicycle. Apparently inspired by the tireless work of local charities …
Unless you’ve been totally out of media range, you’ll have heard about ATAP: a short acronym for the biggest change in AKL’s transport planning for decades, the Auckland Transport Alignment Project. The news stories have focused mainly on public transport: all the new light rail lines, busways and other improvements on the way. On this score, our friends over at Greater Auckland deserve as much glory as the politicians in Government and Council for boldly articulating the kind of rapid and reliable transport network a fast-growing city needs in the 21st C. Of course, our own eyes went immediately to what’s in ATAP for people on bikes. And the news is good! …
The GPS (Government Policy Statement) for Land Transport sets the nationwide direction for transport investment for the next decade. The Government wants feedback on its new draft from local government, the transport sector and community groups – and individuals are also welcome to have a say. This is your chance to be the change you wish to see in the world! If you want a more bike-friendly New Zealand, please take a second to support the draft GPS and its beefed-up focus on cycling, walking, and safety. Details below. Feedback closes at 5pm on Wednesday 2nd May. The quickest way to have your say CAN, the Cycling Action Network, has put together …
Some great news, especially for our Bike Burbs and other local heroes out there getting stuff done: Auckland Transport’s Walking and Cycling department has opened up a special funding pool to encourage community bike events. As AT’s Walking, Cycling, and Road Safety manager Kathryn King said, ‘Many community organisations have great ideas to get more people on their bikes, and we are keen to work with them to deliver some creative projects that encourage more people to ride bikes more often.’ Wellington has a similar fund which has achieved fantastic things, so we’re overjoyed to see something similar here and hope this one-year trial grows to represent the vast range …
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 …
We sent Bruce Copeland on a road trip to Rotorua last Thursday to represent Cycle Action at the announcement of the second tranche of funding for the Urban Cycleways Fund (UCF). Here’s his report on what it all means for biking in Auckland: Last Thursday had the feel of watching history in the making: at long last some serious cash is being invested in proper cycling infrastructure. (A fiscally prudent motorist may say this is a crazy lolly scramble, but it’s small lollies compared to the big bickies spent on tarmac). Whatever your viewpoint, how has Auckland fared? Have we got our fair share, and is it being spent in the right places? The UCF is a $100m fund designed to …
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