The University of Auckland, back in 2010, researched the health benefits from shifting just 5% of NZ’s vehicle kilometres currently travelled by car onto bikes (an eminently achievable goal which is being exceeded in much of the first world, especially Europe and Asia). As noted, that research is from 2010, but the use of the statistics by a group of health professionals advocating for more cycling funding for Auckland made me look it up again, and the health benefits are, to say it bluntly, staggering. 116 deaths avoided annually in New Zealand among those people who now cycle, or cycle more. 6 deaths avoided annually from reduced air pollution. On …
Jane
Jane Admore, our membership secretary, recently discovered a wonderful new volunteer initiative that welcomes older people back to the joy of bikes. She shares the story, below. Recently, I met Zac and Jackie from Wisconsin via Warm Showers (the worldwide network of cycle tourists hosting cycle tourists). They were biking and tramping their way around various great places in New Zealand, following Jackie’s happy experiences as an exchange student in Dunedin years ago. A mutual bike-mad mentioned that Zac was involved in Cycling Without Age, an initiative founded in Denmark in 2012 which uses Christiana bikes or tri-shaws to give older people a chance to re-experience the joy of riding. As the motto goes, everyone deserves ‘the right to …
Are self-driving cars the way of the future? According to their boosters, autonomous vehicles could transform urban life. No more worries about parking: your car could theoretically drive you to the city, and then head back into the burbs to pick up your kids from school and drop them home, before returning to collect you from work when needed. But critics warn that these apparently brilliant inventions may make traffic worse than it already is. ‘If you make it easier to drive,’ points out transport activist Ivana Baiklayn, ‘more people will want to drive more often, just as people started taking more photos when digital cameras first appeared.’ Without a massive road-building programme, a flood of such vehicles could add to …
While designing our fabulous new logo late last year, Su Yin Khoo was also working on another major project: her first child… while fearlessly biking round the city pretty much up till the last minute. My first and only child was born on Christmas Day. (Yeah, we know). The birth went pretty well; in fact, I think what helped with my stamina during labour was the fact that I rode my bike all throughout my pregnancy last year. The day before I went into labour, I biked up Franklin Rd to have lunch with my sister at Ponsonby Central. Can still cycle up Frankln Rd! But shit it’s scary. Cars zoom up too fast — …
When you stumble across an idea whose time has come, you don’t have to talk anybody into it, it just makes instant sense. That’s how Bike to Soccer came to be: a brilliant initiative by the North Shore United Football Club and Bike Devonport, with the help of Auckland Transport, Bike Barn Takapuna, and a bunch of lovely sponsors. Bike Devonport member Chris Werry had the initial brainwave. “I started biking to soccer a few years ago because I hated the car park chaos so much, and it’s a nice way to start the day and warm up a bit for the game. Once I started biking to soccer, I realised it just …
No great surprises here, but research in the United States has found a link between improved cycle infrastructure and positive health outcomes. The research specifically concentrated on the development of the Minneapolis Greenway and the effect on travelling patterns in the areas near the Greenway. The Midtown Greenway is a 5.5-mile [8.8 km] long former railroad corridor in south Minneapolis with bicycling and walking trails. It sounds very similar to the Glenn Innes – Tamaki cycleway, work on which is due to start shortly. In fact, there is a proposal in Minneapolis to build a street car (tram) line along the Greenway to cash in on the fantastic synergy between public …
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