This is part one of our three part series on issues reporting problems you encounter on cycleways. Check out part two and part three.
Have you ever tried to report an issue for a ‘council-owned asset’? It could be something broken in a park, broken glass in a cycle way, or a slippery dangerous boardwalk. First you need to figure out who owns the ‘council owned asset’ then you need to navigate the process to report the issue…then you need to cross your fingers and maybe your toes too that action will be taken. Oh and wait, you might have to wait, and wait, and wait and then wait some more.
And speaking of waiting we have waited for the right time to share these stories and maybe we hoped that sanity would prevail and issues, particularly dangerous ones, would be rectified quickly or even a little quicker but sadly it would appear not much has changed so have decided there is no better time than now to share these stories.
Over the years, Bike Auckland has seen many situations where people have had to work very hard to get these sorts of issues resolved. People are bounced around between different organisations, with none taking responsibility, or are left waiting for a long time without any updates, or are even dismissed altogether with clear hazards being labelled as ‘user issues’. In some instances, Bike Auckland is able to help via advocacy, but we really shouldn’t have to as often as we do. The system by which people report issues to their local government should be easy and straightforward, with any complexity and nuance handled by the controlling powers. You shouldn’t have to be an expert in city planning, with an abundance of free time, and ideally some connections to someone ‘on the inside’ just to get issues resolved, especially when some of these issues involve people’s safety.
To get more of an idea about the issue with reporting issues, a while back Bike Auckland asked people to complete a survey. We got 27 responses about 50 incidents across Tamaki Makaurau.
Of the incidents that people experienced only 17% were reported. Of course we wanted to know why people didn’t report their incidences and this is what we found out:
People who didn’t report their incidence had a range of reasons for not reporting including ‘I didn’t think they would fix it’ and ‘I’ve reported things in the past and nothing has happened’.
With 18% of people reporting they didn’t know how to report an issue it looks like there could be some more communication around the many ways to report an issue.
How to report problems on the road or on a cycleway
For now, Auckland Transport are the ones to contact about anything that’s getting in the way of your safe travel on the road or on the surfaces of shared paths and cycleways.
This is likely to change when some Auckland Transport responsibilities move to Auckland Council in late 2026.
Issues could be:
- signal failure
- glass in the bike lane
- a pothole that needs fixing
- someone or something parked in or across the bike lane
- debris on the surface of the path (including e.g. leaf litter)
- broken fences or missing signage
You can phone Auckland Transport on (09) 355 3553, or let them know via this web form which also lets you attach a photo and locate the issue on a map.
If you’re a smartphone user, we recommend you install the page as a shortcut on your home screen, so you can easily report problems on the go.
No need to put yourself in a situation where things might get aggro. With motorists parking across bike lanes or entering protected cycleways, simply note the details (address, description of vehicle, license plate if you can) and make the call. They will give you a ticket number so you can get updates as needed.
How to report a problem on a path in a park or reserve
Some shared pathways run through public parks and reserves, which does complicate things a bit. These paths are usually managed by Auckland Council. The cycleway on Westhaven Drive is, for example, an Auckland Council responsibility.
Their Report a Problem page is a good place to start.
Auckland Council has recently launched Ask Auckland Council, an AI-supported tool to help Aucklanders resolve issues easily. We haven’t tried it yet, but we hope it brings faster help to those reporting problems.
