Finalists announced for Cycle Friendly Awards 2014

Cycle Friendly Awards 2014 - Awards Finalists announced

This year people supporting cycling in New Zealand will be gathering in Nelson at the 2 WalkandCycle Conference. Celebrate people who make it happen at the Cycle Friendly Awards ceremony. Held in conjunction with Living Streets Aotearoa's famed Golden Foot Awards

Finalists by Category with description

ViaStrada Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Public Organisation

Wellington City Council Annual Plan Funding Increase

Wellington City Council has increased the cycling budget to $4.3 million for the 2014/15 financial year, a large increase on previous years. The extra will fund new cycling routes and various other cycling related projects. It is a solid backing for the 73% increase in commuting cyclists since 2006, shown in the 2013 census. All 15 Councilors approved the budget.

Wellington has more than 3600 people who cycle as their main form of transport, up 73% since the 2006 census. About a third of residents ride bikes, for transport and leisure, both on-road and mountain biking. This increase in spend puts Wellington at second only to Christchurch for cycling infrastructure spend, and is of an order of magnitude that will enable real quality in the implementation of cycle facilities.

Christchurch City Council Numerous Actions

The Council has now committed $68M for building 13 Major Cycleways. The Council is encouraging a culture of cycling across the whole community. Cycle improvements will target the 33% of residents ‘interested in cycling but currently concerned to do so'. Cycle improvements will also affect a large number of the remaining residents, who will reap the benefits and be more tempted into active transport modes as the results are evidenced.

The Christchurch City Council plans to foster a culture of cycling following the Canterbury earthquakes. Council has made a fundamental shift from policy right through to capital works. The ‘Share an Idea' campaign began a major community discussion to capture the community's priorities and aspirations for rebuilding the city, cycling was a key theme raised. The ideas informed the draft Central City Plan (2011) and other plans, including the Christchurch Transport Strategic Plan (CTSP, 2012). The CTSP sets a new vision for transport to support recovery. Following public consultation, the Council worked closely with interested parties on the ‘Cycle Design Guidelines' (2013). These include design concepts to show how new cycleways will look and feel. Supporting technical standards have been developed with assistance from the Netherlands.

Dunedin City Councilors

The commitment to improved cycling displayed by the Mayor and Councilors of Dunedin since 2012 is fast making Dunedin the leader for high-quality cycling infrastructure in New Zealand. In particular, their commitment to installing separated lanes on SH1 through central Dunedin has already inspired other cities around New Zealand to seriously consider separated lanes. The City Council recognized local expertise and explicitly directed Council staff and NZTA to include cycle advocacy group SPOKES Dunedin in the SH1 working group.

The Dunedin SH1 separated cycle lanes project is quite possibly the most significant breakthrough for urban cycling in New Zealand history. This marks a turning point where Councils are willing to support high level separated facilities, even at the expense of on-street parking loss - previously regarded as impossible. Since Dunedin's plan became public, Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch have all started to think seriously about building separated cycle lanes. However, Dunedin's project stands out both for its scope as a world-class facility on the major arterial routes running the length of central Dunedin, and for the advanced stage of the project. We expect Dunedin's separated lanes to become the flagship cycling infrastructure in NZ, the success of which will inspire real change in cities and towns across NZ.

Dunedin Leading the Way in Cycle Planning

Dunedin's cycling mode share is expected to increase significantly due to the planning of a comprehensive urban network aimed at targeting the widest potential cycling audience - the Interested but Concerned. With full implementation by 2015, Dunedin will be leading the way. The aim of the project was to attract as many new cyclists as possible (in turn improving safety and reducing congestion).

The Interested but Concerned group was chosen as the target audience for most corridors. This group comprises a huge 2/3 of the population and encompasses people of different levels and abilities, with different motivations and trip purposes. The success of this target audience planning approach is a model with potential applicability across New Zealand and Australia. The relatively low cost of the South Dunedin network, at $4.5m makes it an affordable proposition for many other cities across Australasia. This approach can result in people feeling safe choosing to cycle and a much larger cycling mode share.

NZ Bus Road User Workshop

The Road User Workshop programme is designed to educate professional drivers and cyclists about sharing the road with each other. The programme, developed and delivered by the Cycling Advocates' network in cooperation with BikeNZ, is currently funded by the Road Safety Trust and overseen by NZTA. The Wellington workshops are funded and run by the Greater Regional Council.

The programme gives both professional drivers and cyclists the opportunity to see the road from the other's point of view. Working along side other road users including representatives from the transport industry the programme aims to make New Zealand roads safer for all. Since 2011 nearly 300 NZ Bus employees (drivers and management) have taken part in workshops in Wellington and Auckland. The workshops have been very effective in opening communications between road users and identifying problems and solutions. By reducing hostility urban streets become more enjoyable to ride. NZ Bus has also supported drivers who have participated in the workshops and then shown interest in cycling to work.

CAN Best Cycle Facility Project

Nga Haerenga The NZ Cycle Trail

Nga Haerenga The NZ Cycle Trail is a nationwide network of 23 Great Rides and connecting routes covering close to 2500 km. The combination of local and central government support with the drive and passion of the trail managers and local advocates is driving an increase in the awareness of cycling as a strong domestic tourism option and, in turn, encouraging increasing cycle use in NZ. The benefits of increasing cycle use are well documented - from both public health and transport perspectives.

The government investment of $50M has been matched by a combination of local government and private/in kind funding - this funding has resulted in significant opportunities only now being realised, as the focus of Nga Haerenga moves from construction to socialising the network as both a community resource and an opportunity to create employment in regions through the increase in both domestic and international tourism.

The 23 Great Rides and connecting network of road routes are moving strongly towards supporting tourism growth throughout NZ's regions. Nga Haerenga has developed an extremely high profile with anecdotal evidence indicating many riders are progressively working their way through the entire network of Great Rides.

St Vincent Cycle Way

School travel planning, community engagement and knowledge of the network clearly showed there was inadequate road cycle connection between Nelson CBD, especially the Railway reserve for vulnerable and non-confident cyclists.

Phase one of the the St Vincent Street 2-way cycle lane has been built and phase 2 is in design stage. Council have installed a 2 way cycle lane between the footpath and parked cars. The project involved the challenge of removing 135 car parks - a traditional battle ground for installing cycle facilities.

This street was chosen for this new approach because it's an important link to the off road Railway Reserve cycle route and will provide for young cyclists heading to Victory School and Nelson Intermediate. It's also the link from the city to the Great Taste Trail, a ride that is becoming more and more popular for visitors. In addition the route has close proximity to the local hospital, minor and major retail, and 3 preschool facilities.

The facility affected many road users - not just cyclist so it was seen as important that a comprehensive education campaign was carried out explaining the differences and the expectations of different users.

With the removal of 135 car parks careful and considered community engagement essential. Where businesses were concerned about loss of parking staff worked with them to explore parking management for staff and customers.

Hawke's Bay Cycle Trails

Hawke's Bay Trails extensively covers the urban and near-urban cities of Napier and Hastings, offering more than 200 kilometres of mainly off-road trail. It was largely completed in 2012. More than 22,000 people used the Marine Parade coastline section during January 2014, 5000 along the Te Awanga section and 8000 in Westshore. The trail network is unique in that it links numerous activites and attractions and is near to many accommodation venues for visitors.

Hawke's Bay Trails benefits and is benefitted by the Hastings District iWay model communities project. The connections between trail sections and Hastings city are aligned to enable the best linkage within and between the two cities. With the cooperation of all councils and numerous agencies working together a comprehensive and consistent asset been created. With future projects in Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa are anticipated with support and assistance from agencies like Sport Hawke's Bay this effort can be seen as a benchmark for integrated project management.

The Hawke's Bay Trails cycle network is one of the star attractions to the region's commitment in achieving the goal of getting more people cycling more often. For commuter cyclists, there are good options to join road and pathway connections making the pathways a valuable network which reaches most points in the Bay.

Secure Bike Parks at Auckland Train Stations

Auckland Transport engaged an initiative in 2013 to encourage rail patrons to cycle to rail stations to utilise public transport. AT installed two secure ‘Bike Parks' at Papakura and Papatoetoe train stations as a trial solution. The facilities were designed, manufactured and installed by CAM Shelters www.camnz.co.nz.

The new facilities installed each offer secure covered parking for 20 bikes (expandable) and external uncovered Sheffield style bike rails for 10 to 14 bikes. As not everyone cycles every day, the project initially effects well over 100 people at these two sites alone with potential to expand in the future. The facilities also encourages cycling combined with public transport to reducing short trip travel by cars.

Early uptake of registrations for the secure parking exceeded initial expectations and targets. Since the installation of the new infrastructure, a significant increase has been recorded in the number of people cycling to the Stations. A minimum of 100% increase has been recorded in the number of bicycles parked post installation to pre-installation. Surveys taken show that 50% of new registered users only started commuting by bike due to the new infrastructure being installed.

Due to the success of these facilities and others such as the covered open bike parking facility at Onehunga Station, Auckland Transport is currently evaluating similar infrastructure at other rail, bus and ferry terminals.

Dunedin SH 1 Cycle Lanes

Dunedin's SH1 cycleways project has already delivered significant safety improvements, most notably the widest on-road cycle lanes in NZ at 2.4m, with a well-advanced plan for world-class physically separated lanes that has inspired plans for separated lanes in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

The Dunedin SH1 separated cycle lanes project is quite possibly the most significant breakthrough for urban cycling in New Zealand history. This marks a turning point where Councils are willing to support high level separated facilities, even at the expense of on-street parking loss - previously regarded as impossible. Since Dunedin's plan became public, Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch have all started to think seriously about building separated cycle lanes. However, Dunedin's project stands out both for its scope as a world-class facility on the major arterial routes running the length of central Dunedin, and for the advanced stage of the project. Dunedin's separated lanes will likely serve as a model for cycling infrastructure in NZ, the success of which will inspire real change in cities and towns across NZ.

Contact: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/network/projects/project.html?ID=236

CAN Best Cycling Promotion

Cycling the Go Summer

The Cycling's the Go Summer Programme delivered 73 activities across the Auckland Region during February and March 2014 and included an integrated media campaign using five Auckland residents who became the faces of the campaign.

With events and activities offered through one overall summer programme people were able to attend multiple activities to progress their skills. The use of real people to front the programme encouraged potential attendees by showing that ‘people like them' attend training courses and events. The videos which profiled the cycle training courses in particular showed potential trainees what the experience would be like and helped to overcome hesitancy to attend.

Cycling's profile was raised in the public's eye through extensive media coverage including the Share the Road messaging by showing that everyday people cycle.

The programme was tied together under the brand ‘Cycling's the Go' and offered a dedicated website at www.cyclingsthego.co.nz

CAN Road User Workshops

Collaborations with the Road Transport Forum, NZ Trucking, and National Road Carriers are currently producing new workshop formats, resources, videos, and interactive displays on safer heavy vehicle and cyclist interactions.

Let's Get Going, New Plymouth District Council

Let's Get Going is a joint initiative between New Plymouth District Council and Sport Taranaki, started with seed funding from Sport New Zealand. Designed to deliver bike skills to children under five it provides them with the opportunity to learn, develop and practise fundamental cycling skills. Graduates gain the skills, information and motivation to progress towards riding a bike independently. Programme participants have had a 77 per cent increase in cycling confidence. The instructor's toolkit in both English and Te Reo Maori is also available so anyone can deliver Let's Get Going throughout New Zealand. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Sport Taranaki website in August http://www.sporttaranaki.org.nz/

Let's Get Going has been enjoyed by almost 2900 children from more than 50 Early Childhood Centres or Schools in the New Plymouth District. This equates to approximately two-thirds of 3-6 years in the district. In addition to this 384 teachers or teaching students have received training on how to deliver Let's Get Going. Parents/caregivers are also invited to the sessions and are influenced by their children's enthusiasm and new found skills.

Since participating in the programme children are cycling on average one hour more per week. Indications are that whole families are now getting more involved in cycling as their pre-schoolers promote it and want to use their skills and confidence.

Kids Bike Taupo

Bike Taupō, a bike advocacy group, believe that getting kids out riding will lead to an increase in adults on bikes, a safer and healthier community, and help to develop a stronger cycling culture in Taupo. The Kids Bike Taupo Programme is now a mobile bike riding programme that goes to schools, holiday programmes, community events and at some preschools. Bikes in Schools / Youth Programme Development focuses on getting kids riding bikes. Too many do not have the opportunity to gain confidence on a bike. This programme provides the opportunities to build up their cycling skills.

With 40 bicycles and a dedicated van, Kids Bike Taupo can visit the whole district. Eighteen schools from the district are involved in the programme with over 7 000 rides. As schools and groups are hearing of the opportunity to use the bikes the sessions are booked out..The programme offers skills/fun at school, BMX tracks, mountain biking tracks, Pureora Forest and school camps.

Children also have the opportunity to bike along the Lion's Walk, Tongariro River, Waikato River and Craters mountain bike tracks. These are opportunities for children to ride tracks they wouldn't normally have. Children are discovering the skill to ride the Taupo Pump Track and Skatepark and to ride a unicycle.

Pedal Ready

Pedal Ready is a cycle skills programme for schools and adults in the Wellington region. Training involves bike/helmet checks, and confidence building handling skills to prepare anyone for all their future riding opportunities - whether it's out with friends/family, on the BMX track, mountain biking, or riding from a to b.

Since the programme started in September 2012, over 3500 school students throughout the greater Wellington region have taken part in Pedal ready training. Of those, more than 150 primary and intermediate school aged students have trained to Grade Two level and can now ride their bikes with confidence on local streets, near their homes and schools. In the 2013-2014 time period more than 2000 school children have enjoyed the Pedal Ready programme.

Pedal Ready is a good employer and provides part time work on a regular basis to a roster of more than 30 cycling instructors throughout the region. The part time staff are supported in their professional development by attending courses and seminars relevant to the work they are involved in.

Pedal Ready is committed to supporting the Wellington region's growing number of cyclists by reducing the incidence of cyclist injury and improving the relationship between cyclists and other road users.

CAN Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Business

ANZ Cycle Facilities

ANZ are supplying facilities for up to ten percent of the staff at each of their corporate offices to park their cycles. The facilities include good showers and lockers.

Cycle parking is designed to be accessible from the staff entrance or directly off the street. Access is by way of staff identity card that also controls access to the gender specific shower facilities and each individual's locker. The cycle park is monitored 24/7 by in house security systems and employees can also lock their bike to the parking mount. Additional cycle parks are to provide a total of120 cycle parks for a staff of 1,200.

ANZ has committed to supporting and encouraging employees to cycle.

Jade Bike week

Jade Bike Week (JBW) supersizes National Go By Bike Day, engaging Jade's New Zealand based staff. The week's schedule includes bike related events suitable for all abilities. It is designed to familiarise staff with bikes and bike safety and encompasses Jade's values of collaboration, being real, and spontaneous fun.

The JBW event is organised for Jade staff New Zealand wide and more than 300 staff were exposed to the event. JBW included TV coverage, high-profile sponsors, events at Canterbury Technology Park, conversation with the mayor of Christchurch, and fund-raising that included follow-up charity auctions.

JBW is now a regular annual event in the company's social calendar. Jade's commitment to the health and wellbeing of staff is clear, with bike sheds, bike stands and showers. As well as free group fitness classes and other sports activities at lunchtime. Jade supplies a bike maintenance kit which includes a bike stand, pump, spare tubes, tyre levers and all the essentials for staff to ride safely.

A JBW case study featured in Bike Wise's "Get Your Workplace Cycling" guide. This document is used by Bike Wise to promote biking of the workforce. Jade is proud to be encouraging other businesses to follow their lead.

Abley's McLeans Island Cycle Crossing

When a park ranger from Environment Canterbury approached Abley Transportation Consultants for engineering advice to design a safe road crossing for a temporary walking and cycle track following wind damage to McLeans Island Forest Park last year, Abley donated the time needed to help get the park up and running again for summer!

This crossing connects the McLeans Island recreation area to the path to the city and temporary parking area. There can be over 200 people who use the McLeans Island recreation area during a typical weekend in the summertime.

This path and cycle trail is used by a families and young children so a high standard of comfort and safety was a priority. The final design was customised to suit the site location, incorporating river stones from the nearby Waimakariri River. Speed has been controlled to enable drivers to stop safely if they need to, and to encourage eye contact and mutual awareness between road and path users. The existing users of the road had some concerns about how the changes were going to affect them, but an inclusive conversation before construction let them understand the design decisions and made sure their concerns were addressed.

The path is now busy with people enjoying McLeans Island Forest Park and the completed crossing has been well received with positive feedback from all involved.

Beca Christchurch

Beca is one of the largest employee-owned engineering and related consultancy services companies in the Asia Pacific region, with over 1,500 employees across New Zealand. Care, including cycle safety, is a core value. Even with the Christchurch quakes requiring many of their offices to relocate the need to support staff who cycle remained a priority. Beca continues to encourage cyclists with a number of initiatives and additional resources to enable as many of our 300+ Christchurch staff to comfortably and safely cycle to work.

Beca has been encouraging staff back onto their bikes post-earthquake despite the difficulties that came with a large number of their offices now spread across the city. High-visibility bag covers were distributed to 65 keen cyclists in the Christchurch office alone. The result has seen Beca maintaining and growing the percentage of staff regularly commuting by bike. One indicator is an increasing number of bicycles filling the bike cage and various bicycle racks around the offices.

Group participation at the McLeans Mountain Bike Relay event and the ‘Get on your Bike' lunchtime rides have been very popular and encouraged people to grow confidence in riding as well as meet new people from around the office. The ‘Yammer group' has become a great forum for sharing information on routes cycles should avoid, as well as hazards that could be avoided on Christchurch's cone-cluttered streets.

Shell Todd Oil Safe Cycling

Healthy people perform better at work and deliver more sustainable outcomes. At the beginning of the millennium, only a handful of staff biked at Shell/Todd's New Plymouth office. Today, dozens of staff commute by cycling, creating a healthier workforce and reducing the environmental impact of vehicle emissions.

Over the last three years, the company has supported a range of cycle-related initiatives to encourage biking as an alternative means of transport. A collaborative approach to achieving a healthy work/life balance and reducing the health risks at work, is important.

A bike storage area is provided in a thoroughfare between the company's two buildings. With staff working on site late at night and on shifts 24/7, it was decided to improve security by installing security gates accessed using the company's security swipe cards. The security gates are programmed via a timer to automatically close in the evening and open in the morning. Access during these times can only be made using the company's personalised security cards. The location of a secure, under-cover bike rack storage area that is close to the offices, is very attractive to the alternative of taking a car to work and finding a park in local streets, resulting in less congestion of surrounding roads. The company is looking to increase the number of bike racks next summer.

NZ Bus Road User Workshop

NZ Bus has been a stauncy supporter of the Road User Workshop programme designed to educate professional drivers and cyclists about sharing the road with each other. The programme, developed and delivered by the Cycling Advocates' network in cooperation with BikeNZ, is currently funded by the Road Safety Trust and overseen by NZTA. The Wellington workshops are funded and run by the Greater Regional Council.

The company also collaborated with CAN and BikeNZ on a series of "safety tip" videos for drivers and cyclists in 2012. Campbell Live did a segment on one of the summer 2014 workshops in Auckland. http://www.3news.co.nz/Auckland-drivers-cyclists-learning-to-share/tabid...

CAN Cycle Champion

Robert Thompson

Robert has shown himself over the past year to be a tireless advocate for cycling in Dunedin and across New Zealand. Robert has provided a clear, well informed and unwavering voice for engaging with city council, the New Zealand Transportation Authority, and local businesses alike. With his energy and enthusiasm for all things pedal powered, Robert has inspired an numerous dedicated volunteers to commit their time and energy to making Dunedin sweet for cycling. Equally important, his efforts have helped inspire hundreds of Dunedin residents to make public submissions in support of several local cycling infrastructure projects over the past year. This commitment to engaging locals has paid off, with one recent public opinion survey showing majority support for protected cycleways through the city centre. Robert has even built his own penny farthing from scratch (!) and his advocacy efforts are helping make Dunedin a flagship city for a more cycling friendly New Zealand!

Robert has helped ensure that Dunedin City Council widened the road along the Otago Peninsula to accommodate cyclists, moved forward with its South Dunedin Cycle Network, incorporated significant cycling into its latest transportation plan, and moved forward with a proposal for protected cycleways on the State Highway.

Robert's particularly ambitious advocacy in support of proposed protected cycle lanes on Dunedin's State Highway 1 has resulted in the NZTA receiving a vastly unprecedented number of public submissions in favour of the project (well over 1000 submissions in favour)! As the NZTA is a national body, it is Robert's hope that Dunedin sets a precedent for better cycling infrastructure on urban highways across New Zealand.

Barbara Cuthbert

Barb Cuthbert's contributions to cycling in Auckland and New Zealand are numerous. She first became involved in cycling advocacy through her work as a planner on the Northboro Reserve walkway. She started riding a bike for transport and has never looked back. Not only has she worked to build a greater degree of collaboration between the local advocacy group in Auckland, Auckland Transport, and NZTA but she has also encouraged and worked to gain other advocacy groups around NZ greater access to and collaboration with their NZTA Regional Directors.

Barbara has been at the forefront of all Cycle Action Auckland's achievements since 2009 (http://caa.org.nz/about/achievements/). In, 2013, she worked to have a greater integration between cycling and public transport in Auckland, working with Auckland Transport on bike parking facilities at train , bus, and ferry hubs. To pursue excellence in the redesign of Tamaki Drive she set up a working party which brought numerous stakeholders together to ensure the best outcome for infrastructure changes and road user behaviour, including piloting the road cyclist courtesy pilot "Good Bunch" In addition to progressing big projects like the Grafton Gully Cycleway and the new Nelson Street off Ramp Pilot, Barb has worked hard to continue to ensure Auckland Transport and NZTA in Auckland are pursuing quick wins.

Hasely Lobb

Hasely is a person of great community spirit, ability and generosity. Hasely's contributions may be measured in kilometers of built bike trails, hundreds of freely fixed bikes, scores of ‘give it a go' and other bike events and as an influencer of New Plymouth bike culture.

Hasely has been a driving force that Let's Go (NPDC walking and cycling project team) have relied upon to turn up and fix bikes for free all over Taranaki over the past four summers. It is difficult to accurately estimate how many people's bikes Hasely has got back on the road but it would be in the low hundreds and all for free. Along with New Plymouth's three ‘Big Bike Fixes' Hasely has also set up in Inglewood town, again at Inglewood kindergarten's Gala day and Marfell School's gala day too to get people back out on their bikes.

Hasely has been involved in fifty separate council run or sponsored community bike events since summer 2009 when Hasely collaborated on Taranaki's inaugural ‘Wild West Bike Fest'. In this first summer calendar of biking Hasely was involved in the delivery of the mountain bike experience', a women's mountain bike skills workshop, a downhill race, and the popular ‘Night Rider' rides. Hasely has been a very active member of the New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club for eight years and currently serves as club president. He has devoted much personal time to mapping out the ever growing trail network and of course trail building. He and his shop staff are responsible for the BBQ sizzler track and he has had a spade in most of the tracks at one time or another.

Dr. Glen Koorey

Dr, Glen Koorey's passion is helping achieve a more attractive & accessible cycling environment to entice and support people to cycle. He helps achieve this through role modelling, practically supporting cycling promotions, teaching engineering planning/design skills, and sharing & dissemination of credible academic research and specialist advice.

Glen's winning Cycle Champion formula: knowledgeable (academic credibility & applied), widely networked (academia, governmental, advocacy, & public), practical, patient, constructive and pleasant, cycling regularly from A to B, current member of a variety of local & national Advisory Panels/committees, reliable intelligent quotable media spokesperson, and his wife Dianna & four children who are a big part of his motivation and allow Glen time to pursue his passion.

Glen is a Senior Lecturer in Transportation at the University of Christchurch and a cycling champion active in local, national, & international spheres. Glen is active with:

Spokes Canterbury, Living Streets, Cycling in Christchurch, and a member of Christchurch City Council major Cycleway Routes team, National Cycle Safety Expert Panel, Bicycle Transportation Research Committee of the US Transportation Research Board and Scientists for Cycling

Darren Fidler

Darren Fidler is a year-round cycle commuter in Christchurch. He wears a giraffe onesie to improve his visibility, and goes to extraordinary lengths to improve the presence of cyclist by encouraging bright and novel apparel. Wearing a cycle camera, he provides evidence to traffic management contractors, Christchurch City Council, SCIRT, newspapers and Police regarding cycling issues and incidents. He has even taken the brave approach to talk to drivers who have put him or others in danger. This engagement is particularly important in Christchurch, where road works are common and often result in eliminating cyclists' space, increasing the danger for cyclists and making cycle commuting unattractive to all but the most confident cyclists. Darren's tireless efforts not only improve the safety of cycle commuters, but also give a better understanding of the ‘plight of the cyclist' to contractors, clients, and the public.

Darren's choice to cycle every day in a giraffe onesie increases drivers' awareness of cyclists on the road, and also serves as a humours reminder to other cyclists and drivers about the importance of wearing high-visibility gear.

As a transport planner he holds the holistic view that "if we are to encourage people to cycle rather than drive everywhere, we can move more people more efficiently" and understands that this has greater benefits for not only cyclists, but the economy, health, drivers, pedestrians and the environment. Darren understands the importance of providing facilities which make cycle commuting more attractive. As the office leader at work he is currently lobbying for a new covered bike rack is provided. He also advocates cycling as a mode choice to his colleagues and has hosted lunch time information sessions on cycling.

Special Auckland Transport Best Joint Walking and Cycling Project Award

Open Streets Christchurch

Open Streets Christchurch (29 Sept 2013) opened up 3km of central city streets free of motorised vehicles for 6 hours to walking, wheeling, cycling and playing. CCC was supported by three community partners - Spokes Canterbury, Living Streets Aotearoa and Healthy Christchurch - who assisted with planning, promoting and delivering the event.

The Open Streets event was hugely popular despite challenging weather conditions. For many, it was the first time back into the central city post-quakes. It inspired many of the ‘interested but cautious' non cyclists to try cycling in a car-free environment similar to the separated cycle paths that Christchurch has planned for development.

There is much enthusiasm among active transport enthusiasts and the general public for repeat events. CCC is currently considering how to make Open Streets Christchurch a regular event and how to leverage off this with respect to developing a walking and cycling advocacy partnership.

Some of the innovative activities at Open Streets include:

• Creative marketing using bikes with event signage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyL5v1rghd4&feature=youtu.be;

• Cycle Trailers NZ provided a custom built billboard trailer which was cycled around by volunteers for a month before the event.

• A bike trailer blowing bubbles was very popular with young and old alike.

• A bike blender made free fruit smoothies for the crowds.

• A bike band led the grand parade, which also included the Kidsfest mascot riding on an armchair bike trailer.

Auckland Ciclovia

Ciclovia on Quay was an Auckland Council event delivered in collaboration with Auckland Transport, Waterfront Auckland, property owners, emergency services and SkyPath. Providing a taste of Quay Street as a place where pedestrians and cyclists have priority, it engaged the public in the street redesign process and profiled aligned projects. Ciclovia on Quay was more than an occasion for pedestrians and cyclists to enjoy city streets. It was an occasion to taste and contribute to the permanent reclamation of city streets for the people of Auckland. This reclamation will transform the city for walkers and cyclists.

This Ciclovia event has proved useful in seeking broad engagement from the cycling and general public, in particular families and those with a casual interest in walking and cycling who might not otherwise be represented by special interest groups traditionally represented in consultation projects.

The initiative is able to be applied at other locations and by other organisations where engagement with a similar audience, would be useful, where changes to a cycling or walking environment are proposed and where an organisation wishes to tell the story of people-centred roading projects.

With 20,000 event attendees and 1.4m + indirectly impacted including Auckland residents, u-tube viewers and Webinar participants this event placed Auckland up with other major world cities Ciclovia events.

Adolescent Mobility Health Consortium

An academic initiative coming from the University of Otago, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, the Adolescent Mobility Health Consortium broadens the focus for assessing adolescent road safety. No longer limited to assessing crash risk a broader and healthier vision of less driving through mobility modal shift from cars to active and public transport acknowledges demographic changes now underway. This paradigm shift represents the dynamics of considering simultaneously health and well-being, transportation safety and environmental sustainability.

Motor vehicle (MV) injury remains THE leading cause of death and serious injury among New Zealand adolescents age 15-19. New Zealand also has the highest adolescent road crash death rate among OECD countries. Regrettably, NZ adolescents are no safer than they were 10 years ago. Maori youth are at substantially increased risk for both motor vehicle mortality and serious injury. But other harms from car use, outside the gaze of injury prevention and driver education programmes, go far beyond traffic injuries. Although poorly documented, ‘non-traffic' teen risks from car use include physical inactivity, obesity, alcohol and drug use, poorer grades, and sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, ubiquitous driving places huge external costs on society in the forms of noise, pollution, congestion, sprawl, community severance, inequity, energy poverty, energy depletion, biosphere harm and climate change.

Adolescent Mobility Health Consortium has broadened the thinking on youth and transportation options. With two symposia including academics, youth and internationally recognized transportation experts important ground work has been done. Video of the symposia available at https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/amc/

Te Henui Walkway Upgrade

Te Henui Walkway upgrade has opened up an unused and historic area of the riverside and in turn built a foundation to tell the stories of the area while significantly increasing the accessibility of the entire walkway for bikers, mobility scooter users and those with pushchairs. Between the Coastal Walkway and Cumberland Street Te Henui Walkway provides a 3km long pathway that provides a quick, direct, off-road route between the CBD and New Plymouth's south eastern neighbourhoods of Welbourn, Merrilands and Highlands Park, which includes New Plymouth Girls and Boys High schools and the Western Institute of Technology.

Te Henui Walkway is within reach of 10,000 people for active transport and recreation. The walkway can be used as part of a trip to the CBD, the Coastal Walkway, a church, two cemeteries, two high schools, our tertiary education institute and the city's largest primary and intermediate schools. It is also used for recreation by runners, walkers and cyclists whether walking their dog, or training for a marathon.

A project to tell the stories of the area prior to European settlement was initiated with the local language trust, Te Reo O Taranaki, who provided research and sought further funding for four large interpretation signs along the walkway. The walkway is cared for by a group called "Friends of Te Henui" who provide much appreciated support. The leader of their group became an informal on-site observer, providing feedback and scones to busy contractors whilst ensuring the environmental impact of the construction works was minimised.

Manawatu River Shared Path (Manawatu Pathways)

This Manawatū River Shared Path section offers cyclists and pedestrians a recreational facility designed for wide audience use and takes in to consideration the Manawatū River's significant landscape and the Manawatū Gorge's unique east to west river flow.. The Manawatū River Shared Path encourages active recreation, meeting the Manawatū Regional Development Strategy vision of being the best place in New Zealand to raise a family. Agreement to private property access and high use by residents and regional visitors signify the project's success.

The Shared Path programme was developed from a citywide integrated Active Transport Strategy which set clear direction for the city to provide an off-road path network in, and around the city. The Shared Path along the Manawatū River is for all commuting and recreational pedestrians and cyclists, and forms part of the wider Shared Path network. It is intended that this Shared Path will eventually be developed to the city (urban areas) and be opened up to the wider community in Ashhurst and Palmerston North.

Young to elderly, abled to disabled, can readily use the paths without any health and safety concerns. The path is closed to any motorised transport (other than service vehicles) - allowing for walkers to cyclists (and everyone in between) to share and enjoy the path, its numerous river beach access points and spectacular perspectives of the Manawatū Gorge, Ruahine and Tararua Ranges not previously accessible to the general public.

The Cycle Friendly Awards devised by the Cycling Advocates Network (CAN) in 2003 acknowledge and celebrate notable NZ achievements promoting cycling and cycle-friendly communities. CAN appreciates the significant support for the Awards provided by the New Zealand Transport Agency.

Winners will be announced 29 October
Join with transport decision makers, advocates and other professionals at the 2WalkandCycle Conference 29-31 October.

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