NEWS

Congratulations to the 2012 Cycle-Friendly Awards Winners

MWH award for Best Cycle Facility Project

Te Ara a Waiau Walkway / Cycleway & Te Weheka Walkway / Cycleway (Fox and Franz Glaciers Access Project) - Dept. of Conservation, NZTA

NZTA award for Best Cycling Promotion Project

i-Way Share the Road Campaign - Hastings District Council

Dunedin City Council award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Business

Auckland Harbour Bridge - Copeland/Airey

Auckland Transport award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Public Organisation

i-Way Model Communities project - Hastings District Council

iWay award for Cycling Champion of the Year

Steven Muir - Cycle Trailers, IceCycles, Fossil Free Event

Joint Walking and Cycling Award

Let's Go - Walk Ride Bus - New Plymouth District Council

Full details in attached file. 

2012  CAN Cycle-Friendly Awards Finalists

The Awards are designed to acknowledge and celebrate the most notable achievements that are helping to promote cycling and to create a cycle-friendly environment.

The Awards are devised by the Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN), the national organisation promoting everyday cycling.
Awards coordinator Dirk de Lu says the finalists are exemplary projects and cycling champions.

"There are many exciting efforts being undertaken to meet the needs of the New Zealanders taking up cycling for recreation, commuting and health."

Award winners will be announced at the "2 Walk and Cycle National Active Transport Conference" at the Hastings Opera House on February 23.

Information on the conference can be found at http://www.hardingconsultants.co.nz/2walkandcycle/

Each finalist receives a certificate of accomplishment, and the overall winner for each category takes home the coveted bike bell trophy.

Details on all finalists are at www.can.org.nz. To contact individual nominees, you can send emails for forwarding to awards@can.org.nz or tel 03 337 1790

Joint Walking and Cycling Award Finalists
i-Way Model Communities Projects - Hawkes Bay
Let's Go - Walk Ride Bus - New Plymouth District Council
Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers Access Project - Dept. of Conservation, NZ Transport Agency
Bell Block Path - New Plymouth District Council

MWH Consulting award for Best Cycle Facility Project
Onehunga Harbour Crossing and Mt Roskill Cone - NZTA, Auckland City Council
Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers Access Project - Dept. of Conservation, NZTA
Marine Parade, Kapiti Coast - Kapiti Coast District Council
i-Way Green Cycle Lanes - Hastings District Council
Cycle Friendly Sump Gratings - Wellington City Council

NZTA award for Best Cycling Promotion Project
Free Bicycles and Repair - IceCycles, Christchurch
Bike Fix Ups - New Plymouth District Council
GLOW "light your bike night" - New Plymouth District Council
i-Way Share the Road Campaign - Hastings District Council
iMove - Sport Manawatu

Dunedin City Council award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Business
Fixmystreet.org.nz - Jonathan Hunt
Auckland Harbour Bridge - Copeland/Airey

Auckland Transport award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Public Organisation
Tumeke Cycle Space Bike Tutorials - Tumeke Cycle Space, Auckland
Ride On Cycle Skills Trailer - Ride On, Nelson
Bike Support - Sport Manawatu
i-Way Model Communities project - Hastings District Council
Prison Bike Recycling Programme - Hastings District Council

i-Way award for Cycling Champion of the Year
Felicity Masters, Sport Manawatu
Eileen Evans, Cycle Action Waiheke
Steven Muir, Cycle Trailers, IceCycles, Fossil Free Event, Christchurch
Vicki Butterworth, Bike NZ Regional Co-ordinator Hawke's Bay

Detailed Finalist listing

1. Joint award for Walking and Cycling Award Finalists

i-Way Model Communities Projects - Hastings District Council and Various
Contact: Mayor Lawrence Yule, HDC
Description:The i-Way programme has produced effective model projects which provide infrastructure, education and promotion efforts for both walking and cycling.

Let's Go - Walk Ride Bus - New Plymouth District Council
Contact: Carl Whittleston, NPDC
Description: Let ‘s Go is the brand New Plymouth District Council gave to our Model Walking and Cycling Community initiative which started in July 2010 and is funded as a joint New Zealand Transport Agency and New Plymouth District Council partnership. The Let's Go project is tasked with an outcome of making walking and cycling an easier choice for some of our daily trips. Our Let's Go brand is an invitation to our community to get out and give walking, cycling or taking the bus a go. The Let's Go brand is a success and getting greater community buy in every day.

Fox and Franz Glaciers Access Project - Dept. of Conservation, NZTA
Contact: Tom Hopkins, DoC
Description: The Franz Josef and Fox Glacier shared walking and cycling tracks are the first of their kind in New Zealand. Utilising innovative planning, design and construction methods they have provided a high quality, fit-for-purpose solution that greatly enhances the visitor experience and heralds a new approach to accessing areas of the country's 2.5 million hectares of National Parks.

Bell Block Path - New Plymouth District Council
Contact: Katheryn Scown, NPDC
Description: The path extends the Coastal Walkway from New Plymouth to Bell Block, along very significant land and includes the internationally recognised Te Rewa Rewa Bridge. It has become a potent cultural symbol and has been embraced as a destination, recreation asset, tourist attraction, marketing tool and landmark.

2. MWH award for Best Cycle Facility Project

Onehunga Harbour Crossing and Mt Roskill Cone
Contacts: Claire Covacich, Auckland Council, Blair Harkness, NZTA
Description: The Onehunga Harbour Crossing and Mt Roskill Cone sections of Auckland's Waikaraka Cycleway have been long awaited by the residential and commercial communities they serve. In the past year since their opening they have proven to be an outstanding success. They have transformed the Waikaraka cycleway from a lightly used local path into a pre-eminent cycling route for the Auckland region.

Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers Access Project - Dept. of Conservation, NZTA
Contact: Tom Hopkins, DoC
Description: The Franz Josef and Fox Glacier shared walking and cycling tracks are the first of their kind in New Zealand. Utilising innovative planning, design and construction methods they have provided a high quality, fit-for-purpose solution that greatly enhances the visitor experience and heralds a new approach to accessing areas of the country's 2.5 million hectares of National Parks.

Marine Parade, Kapiti Coast - Kapiti Coast District Council
Contact: Stuart Kilmister, Cycleways, Walkways, and Bridleways Administrator, KCDC
Description: Kapiti Coast District Council has recently completed a 400 metre extension of the existing concrete pathway along the seaward boundary of Marine Parade at Paraparaumu Beach township on the Kapiti Coast. This has attracted a significant interest from all users, linking with the upgrading of Paraparaumu Beach retail area, and the beachfront cafes and apartments.

i-Way Green Cycle Lanes - Hastings District Council
Contact: Frans Krause, HDC
Description: As part of its iWay programme, Hastings District Council have created a 64km (and growing) network of on-road cycle lanes marked in bright green, using a unique and distinctive design. The colour and design were introduced as a result of research of other markings world-wide and also paint trials. The lanes are highly conspicuous and strongly promote road safety for cyclists, as well as making a big statement about cycling in the area. Due to the chosen colour, they are also more visible in the dark, bad weather and to the colour blind. Instead of marking just intersections (can be inconspicuous) or marking the full width of the lane (too expensive), this scheme marks dotted green lines inside the standard white lines, with large green cycle boxes at intervals.

Cycle Friendly Sump Gratings - Wellington City Council
Contact: Paul Barker, WCC
Description: Sump gratings are a humble but essential part of the roading infrastructure, which pose a significant hazard and inconvenience to bicyclists. Wellington City Council has installed an innovative grating design that captures water efficiently but not bicycle wheels, a small change to the roading infrastructure with great benefits for cyclists.

3. NZTA award for Best Cycling Promotion Project

Free Bicycles and Repair - ICECycles
Contact: Steven Muir
Description: The ICECycles group of volunteers run three free bike maintenance workshops a year in Linwood and Richmond, where there are many people on low incomes with poor access to affordable bike shops. Since June 2010 there have been five workshops fixing over 150 bikes and giving away 80 restored bikes.

Bike Fix Ups - New Plymouth District Council
Contact: Carl Whittleston, NPDC
Description: Anyone with a bicycle was welcome to come along to have their bike checked over by experts and have minor repairs done for free. Fix ups were held in New Plymouth, Waitara and Marfell. By providing minor bike repairs for free, Let's Go were aiming to see more people take to the streets on safer bicycles.

GLOW "light your bike night" - New Plymouth District Council
Contact: Nathaniel Benefield, NPDC
Description: Our goal for Glow - "light your bike night" was to have good night out on bikes, pick up a new set of lights, watch world class bike riding and enjoy an eclectic DJ set. Yeah we did our bit for road safety too. To lure in the passing Friday night trade the event was held after dark in a central open aired venue. Trials riders entertained the onlookers with some pretty impressive bike work over a specially built scaffold for over an hour. For the retailers GLOW was an opportunity to sell bike lights and hi viz product to a happy, excited audience. For the public they had the opportunity to look over a full range of lighting gear and cash in on the one night only special prices.
The kids got glow sticks and took part in a GLOW ride.

i-Way Share the Road Campaign - Hastings District Council
Contact: Paul Evans, Marketing Manager, HDC
Description: The "Share the Road" media campaign" was created as part of the Hastings iWay programme, to promote tolerance and better understanding between road users in our area by moving the debate away from a "them and us" type confrontation. Safety concerns have been identified as the top reasons preventing more people cycling in the area. A review of worldwide Share the Road campaigns and cycling literature showed that a strongly emotive - but positive - message is most effective in addressing some of the dangerous behaviour seen by both drivers and cyclists. The Hastings campaign emphasises that cyclists are often car drivers as well, by showing them in both these roles. Through posters, billboards, newspaper and radio ads it promotes a variety of real local cyclists, using their occupations and relationships in order to portray them as members of a caring community - "Lets look out for each other"

iMove - Sport Manawatu
Contact: Felicity Masters, Sport Manawatu
Description: iMove is a Sport Manawatu active transport initiative encouraging and motivating the community to walk or cycle to their destination instead of driving. It is broken down into three main components: iMove Workplaces, iMove Schools, iMove Adult Introductory Cycle Safety Training.

4. Dunedin City Council award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Business

Fixmystreet.org.nz - Jonathan Hunt
Contact: Jonathan Hunt, Hunt Design
Description: This is a citizen initiated web service to notify issues relating to the built environment and route them to the appropriate council for service. Issues include glass on road, potholes, lighting, parking on cycleways, problem intersections, etc. An interactive online map allows users to easily locate and mark an issue online or via a smartphone application while still on the street.

Auckland Harbour Bridge - Copeland/Airey
Contacts: Barry Copeland, Copeland Associates
Roger Twiname, Aireys Company
Description: Airey Consultants, engineers, and Copelands Associates, architects, are jointly responsible for the creation of a structurally feasible and architecturally stunning concept design for the Auckland Harbour Bridge Pathway. As well as providing a break-through creative and structural solution to the critical issue of access on the AHB, their directors and staff have shown a passionate commitment to the wider issues involved, contributing thousands of hours of voluntary and pro-bono advocacy in addition to their professional work.

5. Auckland Transport award for Cycle Friendly Commitment by a Public Organisation

Tumeke Cycle Space Bike Tutorials - Tumeke Cycle Space
Contact: Claire Dann, Tumeke Cycle Space
Description: Tumeke Cycle Space is a non-profit, community-run, DIY bicycle workshop in Auckland. It's a place where people can fix, build, and learn about bikes in a safe and inclusive environment. We provide tools, knowledge, and training, with a focus on teaching people how to fix their own bikes. In this way we aim to empower people, encourage skill sharing, and promote cycling.

Ride On Cycle Skills Trailer - Ride On, Nelson
Contact: Sarah Downs
Description: The Ride On cycle skills trailer aims to improve the cycling skills of students around the Nelson-Tasman region. It is part of a larger cycling project aimed at increasing cycling safety. The equipment is taken around the region in a trailer so it is more accessible to more people.

Bike Support - Sport Manawatu
Contact: Tamara Scott-Valath, Sport Manawatu
Description: Sport Manawatu is committed to supporting and growing cycling in our region. This includes supporting national and international cycling events, and working with bike clubs and organisations in the region. Our major aim is to make Manawatu the "Best place in New Zealand to ride a bike". We aim to make cycling an attractive recreation and sport option for the wider community including schools, workplaces, families, and sportspeople. A large part of this is building and sustaining quality relationships with key cycling groups and advocates in the region.

i-Way Model Communities project - Hastings District Council
Contact: Mayor Lawrence Yule, HDC
Description: Since 1 July 2010 The Hastings District Council, led by Mayor Lawrence Yule, have implemented their joint NZTA / HDC funded $6.4m Model Communities project to create a successful biking and walking city that is a example to the rest of NZ. By delivering both new quality infrastructure and clever behaviour change programs, Hastings is fast becoming the NZ city where biking and walking is easy, safe and fun. By making this project a major success, this will encourage and enable NZTA and other cities to fund and implement similar projects around NZ. Potentially this will lead to the biggest positive impact on biking in NZ.

i-Way Prison Bike Recycling Programme - Hastings District Council
Contact: Cheryl Paget, HDC
Description: The iWay Prison Bike Recycling programme started as a response to two local issues:
Accessibility to bikes in some low decile local areas is very low
We had no sustainable model for fixing bikes that had been left for recycling
The scheme is a partnership with Hawkes Bay Regional Prison and Hastings District Council. Old bikes are taken from a public collection point at the HDC recycling depot (and also from the local police), and delivered to the local prison where a weekly session refurbishes them. The prison have provided the facilities and employ a mechanic to train and oversee the programme, while HDC have provided the tools needed and also the spare parts. The newly refurbished bikes are then returned to HDC and distributed within the community.

6. i-Way award for Cycling Champion of the Year

Felicity Masters - Sport Manawatu
Description: Felicity is a cycling advocate with an enormous amount of passion, commitment and determination! Her aim is to make cycling the preferred mode of transport in every environment she is working in whether that is schools, workplaces or the wider community. Not only is she an advocate of active transport but she is also extremely passionate about cycling as a sport.

Eileen Evans - Cycle Action Waiheke
Description: Eileen Evans has been a motivated and determined advocate and champion for walking and cycling on Waiheke Island for many years. Eileen's represented the island on its community board. Eileen held the delegation for parks and reserves and under her care, many kilometers of public walking track where completed on Waiheke. Eileen's last campaign before retiring from local body politics was her most important and challenging. Eileen was a crucial champion for the closure of the Esplanade road to motor vehicles. Over the last year, walking and cycling numbers on the road have increased and new users have started using the place: Children have started cycling to school in the now safe environment, convincing School management to publicly support car closure.

Steven Muir - Cycle Trailers, IceCycles, Fossil Free Event , Christchurch
Description: Steve does a multitude of activities that help hundreds of people in Christchurch make more trips by bike, more often.
Since 2005 he has made about 180 bike trailers. His supermarket challenges demonstrated how time-efficient shopping by bike and trailer really is. Over the past year he has taken over the organisation of "ICECycles" a bike maintenance workshop and bike giveaway service to deprived populations. Steve organised the world's first fossil fuel free triathlon. Steve continues to loan out his clean green limousine - a tandem for airport pickups for up to four passengers, complete with a luggage trailer and/or folding bikes.

Vicki Butterworth - Bike NZ, Regional Co-ordinator Hawke's Bay
Description: Vicki Butterworth deserves to be Cycling Champion of the Year because in my experience as a cycle advocate I have seen and recognised the huge effort and commitment that she has given to get more people cycling more often. The range of cycling projects that she is involved with in the Bay is above and beyond what most people would cope with, but she does it with good grace and a level of expertise second to none.