News

Cycling deaths Inquest announced
Waikato Coroner Gordon Matenga will travel to four separate regions throughout the country to hear evidence relating to nine cycling deaths to try and identify any common trends or information that could prevent a re-occurrence of such tragedies.

The first hearing will be held in Palmerston North on 21 July, followed by Hamilton on 25 August and subsequent hearings in Auckland and Wellington.

Coroner Matenga said travelling to different regions will mean family members and witnesses can attend the Inquest relevant to them...

Since 2008, Hikurangi, alongside many other organisations and individuals, has been working for a national network of cycleways. We are convinced of the benefits it can bring to the people, environment and economy of New Zealand. We were excited when the Government announced investment in developing cycleways around the country, but there is still so much more to be done to realise the true potential of a national network.

Sustained support is needed to ensure the national network can grow and thrive. Communities need help to get behind their local cycleway and promote and use it...

Over the last four years, New York City has seen a transportation renaissance on its streets, striking a better balance by providing more space for walking, biking, and transit.

As with any departure from the status quo, it can take a while for everyone to grow accustomed to the changes. So Streetfilms decided to look at three of NYC’s most recent re-designs — Columbus Avenue, First and Second Avenues, and Prospect Park West — and show how pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers benefit from safer, calmer streets. We talked to transportation engineers with decades of experience,...

Being Cycle Aware
A half-day workshop for bus drivers and bikers, New Plymouth, 27 April 2011

Workshop Evaluation Report

4 bus drivers and 7 bikers attended.
Feedback from 8 participants was collected.

Summary of Feedback
Participant were asked 5 questions.

1. How often do you cycle?: regularly (3 or more times/week) / occasionally / never
Most (6) cycled regularly, 1 occasionally and 1 never.

2. What did you find most valuable in the workshop?
Making everyone more aware of each other on the road, especially different...

Ghost bikes are memorials to fallen riders. A white painted bicycle is placed at the crash site where a cyclist was killed or injured. Each ghost bike is unique: a remembrance, advocacy, activism, street art.

Ghost bikes have appeared in over 150 cities across four continents.

Ghostbikes.org.nz was formed to show support for this important way of remembering tragedies and making our roads safer.

Please find attached a document on the proposed direction for the next
Government Policy Statement on Land Transport Funding, and a covering letter
inviting you to submit your views on the proposed direction.

Bike Futures Seminar
Lifting cycling to the next level - lessons from Melbourne and Portland
Friday 15 April 2011, 9am - 4pm, Auckland

The Auckland Bike Futures Seminar focused on the latest thinking and major issues confronting communities as we move to embrace the bicycle revolution.

A key message
Don't sell biking. Find out what the Council wants and sell that e.g. prosperity, quality of life, tourism, resilience, health, low debt.

What should be the priorities for our Councils?
Spending - at least $5 per resident per year.
...

Cycling Advocates Network manager Patrick Morgan will travel to Europe in September to study best-practice cycle training programmes. The study trip is partly funded by a Winston Churchill Fellowship.

Report: It's as easy as riding a bike

Mr Morgan says cycling skills can be acquired informally or taught in training programmes.

"Cycle skills are basic life skills which everyone should have, much like swimming and literacy."

Learning how to ride properly makes cycling more enjoyable and safer for children, adults and other road users, he says.

"Today, bicycles continue to provide mobility and freedom to many people in the U.S. who don't have driver's licenses, don't own a car, don't have access to public transit, or simply don't want to drive.

President Obama understands that.

And when cycling advocates see me exhibiting my enthusiasm for more bicycling and pedestrian options, it's out of this Administration's desire to give people more flexible, convenient, and
affordable options when it comes to getting around.

Now, the transportation budget President Obama proposed to Congress is a big, bold...