2012 Winter Appeal

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Cycling Advocates' Network Winter Appeal (2012)

At CAN we're united by our love of cycling and all the benefits it brings: to our health, wallets, well-being, family and friends, community, and our environment.

CAN is committed to a broad vision:

To promote the benefits of everyday cycling: cost savings, better health, less congestion, cleaner air, reduced reliance on imported fuel, and a better quality of life.

More than ever, the tight economic environment opens the door to develop affordable, sustainable, and healthy transport opportunities throughout New Zealand, but this requires the will of the people. As an a-political organisation, CAN is the credible and authoritative voice for the everyday cyclist.

With your financial support, CAN is able achieve much more [either] by [joining CAN as a financial member or] becoming a regular donor, or a one-off donation.

CAN is a registered charity, so donations made to CAN are tax deductible. If your employer offers payroll giving, you can donate to CAN straight from your pay and receive a tax credit. Please contact your employer about payroll giving.

Cash-strapped councils

The Government Policy Statement (GPS) on transport substituted Roads of National Significance (RoNS) for sustainable transport and road safety programmes, including cycling. Under the GPS, over the next 10 years, 51 cents of every transport dollar will go to new road construction (mostly RoNS), with worryingly less for road maintenance and safety, public transport, walking, cycling and travel demand management (TDM).

CAN groups have shown there is strong support for cycling projects, but these are grinding to a halt because Government money has been diverted to seven big road projects, starving local councils.

At most, only one cent in the transport dollar will go to walking/ cycling and TDM, the most cost-effective investments possible.

The Coroner's Inquest

Lessons from cycling crashes need to be learned for our safety to be improved.

The Coroner's inquest into recent cycling deaths is a key issue for CAN. The Coroner has held inquests in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, and Wellington, with one more to be held in Christchurch. CAN believes the inquest needs to go wider than recent deaths - we need to look further back and include near misses. CAN believes strongly in the need to counter a climate of fear around cycling. The inquest will examine whether there were any patterns in relation to the deaths and if law changes are needed.

Campaigns

CAN is working with BikeNZ in conjunction with NZTA to deliver cycle skills training, Road User Workshops for bus and truck drivers and targeted Share the Road messages. We work hard to advocate for cycling but there is much to do. Successes include new cycleways in Auckland, bike parks in Whakatane, Wellington City Council doubling its cycling budget and a higher media profile for CAN.

Our objective is more people cycling more often.

Your support is vital to CAN's effectiveness. We thank you once again and ask that you give generously.

Yours sincerely

Graeme Lindup
CAN Chair

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