"A Recipe for Ride On"- for SASTA presentation. Emphasis on integration.

Presented by: Marg Parfitt, road safety advisor Nelson City Council, and Sarah Downs, Tasman District Council/Nelson City Council school travel planner.

• Nelson has a rich history of cycling initiatives, including Bobbies on Bikes, 0800 cyclecrash (no longer NZTA supported but still going) and Upcycle!
• But something is not right yet- still have injuries, obesity, school gate chaos
• Have been working in silos- Police, school travel plans, promotion, adult skills, safety campaigns
• Ride On is a new project with an integrated approach, including health, sport/recreation, Police, council community road safety, schools, clubs, wider community
• Cake baking analogy: need the right ingredients (had them already), follow recipe; right mix, get balance right.  Add and blend ingredients.
• Ingredients: stakeholders, skills trailer, tutors, UpCycle (upskilling adults on bikes), map, theory
• Mixing: classroom time- using map to help plan safer routes to school- game using points based on intersection difficulty grading (could give extra points for hi-vis?)
• Add the theory test- based on CAN Bikeability booklets, NZTA, Road Code. For 11-14 yr olds.
• Mix in the cycle skills trailer- built by the Mens Shed; 12 BMX bikes. Also a promotional tool- take to events.
• Blend in some tutoring- trained to help students run bike & safety checks; ABCs
• Fold in flour & baking powder- cake will fail otherwise: tutors and Police Education Officers
• Training to ride on the road- main ingredient. 1:6 tutor:student ratio required
• Partnership with local Police Education Officer- essential to ensure complement what they do
• Extra ingredients: community events, holiday programmes, UpCycle
• Pour into mix and cook!
• Desired outcomes: more students cycling to school- cycle trains, lower incidence of bike crashes, more students riding independently to school
• Longer term- more people biking, more safely, more often
• Integration also had benefits that funding could be pooled.

Presented by: Glen Koorey and Graeme Lindup (CAN) - PDF presentation (2MB)

Timeline:

• May 2010- initial proposal to NZTA- more of a safety focus than the previous Networking Project
• Nov 2010- cycling fatalities, then BikeNZ joint media work
• Dec 2010- invited to prepare joint proposal with BikeNZ
• Feb 2011- revised proposal, MoU with BikeNZ
• Mar 2011- started the project.

Project runs over 16 months and has $340,000 funding from NZTA.  It has three components:

• cycle instructor training (led by BikeNZ)
• road user workshops (led by CAN)
• Share the Road (led by CAN)

A joint steering group with members from both CAN and BikeNZ was set up to oversee the project.

Cycle Instructor Training

Glen showed a diagram showing the various components of the training programme, including:

• cyclists (grades 1-3)
• instructors- CAN, Police, others
• NZTA
• trainers of instructors
• instructor assessors
• Skills Active
• NZQA (for trainers, not for cyclists)

CAN/BikeNZ tasks:

• develop instructor training resources
• instructor training courses
• ongoing instructor support

Results:

• grade 1 training manual produced (including material on how to teach), grade 2 and 3 started
• 6 training courses delivered, over 100 participants
• grade 2 course in late November
• details of trained instructors online, plus other online resources; 7 assessors available

Costs for instructors:

• $75 for 2-day course, subsidised
• $75 /year for ongoing support
• NZQA registration ($75?)
• Skills Active assessment ($125) + ? to assessor

How to ensure quality is kept up (repeat assessment)?

Road User Workshops

Workshops aimed at increased understanding between cyclists and two different road user groups: bus and truck drivers.

CAN/BikeNZ tasks:

• 8 bus workshops
• 7 truck workshops
• ongoing trainer mentoring/support
• other road user interaction resources
• look at delivery to other road user groups (taxis etc.)

Results:

• lots of bus workshops, not so many truck ones (reasons include: more fragmented industry, smaller operators, timing problems etc.)
• formats: working well for bus; more driver focused
• need to adapt a bit for trucks- smaller cab, can't use for classroom
• tie in with RTA "Pit Stop" sessions? just dialogue, no on-road training
• use Interislander?
• 2-day Whangarei model?

Resources:

• posters, certificates
• resources for facilitators
• driver invitations before workshops
• who is this? breaking down barriers

Training/mentoring:

• Julie Roe, Marilyn Northcotte, Stu Bell
• Target November 2-4 road user workshops
• Cycle Buddies course?

Share the Road

CAN/BikeNZ tasks:

• engage with road user groups
• report for NZTA-review, key audiences, messages
• proposed campaign to implement
• pilot one or more campaigns

Behaviour goals: understanding rules, safe movement, less aggression.

Used Tamaki Drive (Auckland) as a case study:

• original group of four who wanted to 'take the lead'
• grown to 28
• focus on bunch riding (often perceptions of 'roadies' transfer to other cyclists)
• develop protocol, ride leader training, website resources

"The Good Bunch"

• business card sized rules summary for bunch riders- e.g. keep to two abreast, 20 rider limit on bunch size, 200 m between bunches, follow the rules and leader's instruction
• comments: good response, seen as a model that could be applied elsewhere
• building relationships with other agencies- RTANZ, RTF, AA, Auckland Transport

Input into "Tips for Cyclists/ Motorists" resource.

Longer term:

• seen as a "kick start" project
• more potential with Share the Road
• need to put forward some proposals to NZTA.

CAN/BikeNZ crash/incident media

Presented by: Glen Koorey (CAN)

Coordination between CAN and BikeNZ- to get consistent messages.
Guidelines developed - useful for others too - copy of guidelines attached (PDF)

Mock interview (Glen interviewing Patrick).

Be careful not to include too many different points.

If it's a fatality, don't say things that might be construed as making light of the situation.

SafeKids

Presented by: Ann Weaver, Sara Bennett (SafeKids)

• Cycling makes up 6% of child injury burden.
• Aim of SafeKids is to reduce incidence and severity of injuries in the 0-14 year age group.
• Funded by Ministry of Health (Starship)
• Based on US model- started in 1990s
• Part of a global network (22 countries)- issues similar around the world
• 3 arms: policy/advocacy (position papers, fact sheets); information centre (online catalogue); public awareness (campaigns)
• Coalition model- local fire departments, Plunket, Road Safety etc; implement at local level

This year's campaign focus has been on driveways.  Next year- out and about: cycling, beaches.

Cycling campaign:

• Context: cycling has health and community benefits; part of growing up
• Perception of risk by parents
• Most of injury burden falls on boys in under 14s
• Development of DVD resource on helmet use
• Under 10s- mostly supervised. Encouraging helmet use, skills training, conspicuity
• Not much research on visibility aids for kids
• What is the place of riding on the footpath? Overlooked by the authorities for under 10s. What are the rules- age, wheel size? Is footpath riding any safer?
• Speed reduction.

Questions:

• how much of the 6% of child injury burden caused by cycling occurs on road? varies with age- more for over 10s
• focus on any particuar demographics?  Injuries are correlated with deprivation, for all types of injury. May need different interventions for different demographics.
• importance of environmental factors- lower speeds etc.

Stop at Red

Presented by: Patrick Morgan (CAN)

• Perception of cyclists as not law-abiding
• Campaign funded by Road Safety Trust (not CAN)
• Hove to show respect to earn respect
• You can get ticketed for running red lights
• How to trigger lights- positioning yourself over detector loops
• Website http://www.stopatred.org.nz
• Probably won't go much further with it than have already done
• Cyclists have to be doubly squeaky clean
• Is there scope for changes for cyclists within upcoming changes to Give Way rules? No- it's a very long process.

Cycle Action Whakatane/BikeWise

Presented by: Richard Hamer (Cycle Action Whakatane)

Inspired by attending a workshop earlier this year, with presentations from Model Communities (Paul McArdle & New Plymouth District Council).  As a result, started two projects:

• Bikes in Schools- like swimming, bikes for use in school; including maintenance schedule
• bike park

BikeWise- two locals in Whakatane got the contract to look after the national BikeWise website.

Two main events:

• Big Bike Fix Up
• Leading Light campaign

Presented by: Stephen Wood (CAN)

• Discussion at CAN Do 2010 on the future of Chainlinks. After subsequent discussion, have reduced distribution from four to three issues per year
• Special issue for start of 2012- for BikeWise month (and 2 Walk & Cycle conference). Longer shelf life- coffee table edition, promotional. Less on current news. Copy needed by 23 November.
• Will include a page for each local group (could be adapted from home pages and/or CAN Do reports)
• more on CAN advocacy work, specific projects
• practical information for new cyclists- commuting, school, family, touring (some can be adapted from website material)
• do we need a bigger print run?

CAN policies

Presented by: Graeme Lindup (CAN)

• We need policies for when asked our position on specific issues.
• Graeme outlined the policy development process.  (Does CAN Forum still operate? only intermittently.)
• Interactive session: priority levels of policies under development were revised.

Cycle Action Waikato

Presented by: Robbie Price (Cycle Action Waikato) and Julie Roe (CAN)

"2011-an analogy along Wairere Drive"

Hamilton

• Trying to grow. Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on development, four-laning, ring road, inner city bypass, expressway
• One of the National Cycleway routes to go through the middle of Hamilton
• City has $400 million debt
• Traffic issues
• NZTA is no longer co-funding active transport
• Building for peak traffic

Cycle Action Waikato

• 24 paid members, 6 active, 3 executive, 175 Friends
• Focus mostly on plans and consultation. Good relationships with Hamilton City Council Sustainable Transport group, Living Streets, Disability Access.  Meet with NZTA staff.   Manage fleet bikes.

Outcomes

• Crisis control measures. Debt crisis- 100% cut in capital works in 10 year plan.
• Some new infrastructure: Wairere Drive extension, Te Awa river ride, river trails, National Cycleway projects.
• Continuing issues- Wairere Drive great to ride on but misses shopping centre, The Base, major Wintec campus- doesn't go anywhere.  River Pathway- often closed, underwater for a month each year.
• Where do we want to be?  Moving focus from infrastructure more towards the social side.  Frocks on Bikes: one event in 2011, organised by University. Bums on Bikes: getting people out of commuting by car.
• Cycle training: signed three year contract with Hamilton City. One fulltime team member,  $150,000/year funding. Focus on year 6 (10 year olds).
• Some 40 km/h zones going in.
• Recent research carried out by Beca - surveyed NZ shops and shoppers. How much spent- motorists spent only slightly more per visit, but others visited more. If the cost of parking is included, cycle/walking win hands down.

CAN Strategic Plan and Portfolio Groups

Presented by: Graeme Lindup (CAN)

Strategic plan from 2007-2009: focus areas were Money, People and Delivery.

Strategic plan from 2009: focus areas are: Governance and Delivery.
(delivery).  This led to the proposed split between CAN Board (governance) and Portfolio Groups.  Haven't yet fully achieved the split between board and portfolios.

Some of the portfolio work is done by staff (Patrick Morgan)- group/member support, communications/website, contract delivery, revenue, campaigns.

Portfolio groups:

• CAN Board: possibility of bringing in people from outside with particular skills.  Barriers: have to pay them- reliant on revenue stream.
• Portfolio groups- haven't reached critical mass, often driven by only one person.  Earlier debate about possible need for an overall portfolio coordinator.  Do need a leader for each group.
• Since we took on the Networking Project, have had to devote time to managing staff etc., not so focused on lobbying.
• Voluntary groups everywhere are having trouble getting/retaining volunteers.
• Can't go back to old purely voluntary model.
• Difficulty with local/national volunteer split.
• Maybe taking on too much: e.g. lots of policies unfinished.
• Opportunity to make fuller use of the CAN website for bringing in contributions from locals- in between CAN Dos?
• Useful to have smaller regional get togethers like last year's Waiheke one?  Could have them focused on addressing one issue.

Kapiti Cycling

Presented by: John Baldwin, Lynn Sleath (Kapiti Cycling)

• Kapiti Cycling is a small group: 14 individual members, 3 supporting organisations
• Riding on the back of Liz Mikkelsen's efforts- less progress this year since she stepped down
• John is on the local Road Safety Advisory Group, which was very vague on objectives- now revised thanks to John's efforts
• First 40 km/h zone in Kapiti- took 15 emails to do it
• One win can make other ones easier
• Committee- meet at a cafe.  Liz is still running OCEAN, just launching into a bike-lending business
• Otaki Main St upgrade- controversial
• Kapiti Expressway is coming- may have a cycleway included. Want East-West flow maintained- crossings.
• Cycling numbers increasing- 10% increase last year according to KCDC
• Kapiti Rd still rough- won't be developed until airport and shops done
• Marine Parade extension- nearly 1 km long.

Coroner's inquiry

Presented by: Glen Koorey (CAN)

• Arose out of cluster of cycling deaths in November 2010.
• Hearings: Palmerston North first, then Hamilton. Others are waiting on prosecutions.
• Also recent inquest in Steve Fitzgerald's death.
• Aim of hearings is to draw lessons, not apportion blame.
• Concern that focus is narrow- only deaths; not near misses, minor/serious injuries. CAN has submitted on this.
• CAN is looking at giving guidance to groups to keep messages consistent across the country.
• Format of hearings: present evidence; questioning; oral submissions.
• Sometimes drivers/families present.
• Coroner has a wide brief in terms of recommendations e.g. law changes. Historically some recommendations are less appropriate than others- they aren't experts in the field.
• Coroner can't tell the Police to hand out stiffer penalties.
• Jane Dawson presented on behalf of CAN at the Steve Fitzgerald inquest.
• Hearings are not adversarial- more like a European court.
• At Steve Fitzgerald's inquest, evidence was heard from NZTA, Hutt City Council and the truck driver.  First two were old-school engineers - this skewed the coroner towards thinking the cyclist shouldn't have been there.
• CAN made an oral submission- doesn't have official status but still very valuable.  Can raise wider issues- e.g. driver scheduling, roundabout design, etc.  Coroner picked up on these.
• Media were there- some picked up on CAN input.
• Highly recommended to attend and submit.
• Should we be asking for input from e.g. injury prevention researchers, other experts?
• Glen has undertaken an analysis of fatal cycling crashes using data from the Crash Analysis System (CAS).   Looked at past crashes from 2006 and collated key issues.  These data are not publicly available.
• Age factor- more cyclists are at fault at the young & old ends of the spectrum. In between, mostly drivers at fault.  Ages of deaths are skewed towards older riders. Some of that will be due to fragility.
• Cyclist-only crashes are not picked up in CAS (has to involve a motor vehicle). Lots of other data are also not recorded, e.g. whether the cyclists was wearing hi-visibility clothing.
• 29% of fatals involved heavy vehicles.  Need truck side underrun protection.
• State Highways are over-represented.
• Gender is in proportion to usage- not an obvious factor.
• Helmets: also typical usage - so a helmet won't save you.
• About half of the drivers reported that they "didn't see the cyclist" (or weren't looking?)
• Other factors include: drivers passing too close, sometimes left turning, cyclists pulling out right at the wrong time.
• Alcohol and wet weather factors didn't show up.
• Aim to get this information out to local groups in time for hearings.

The Greens

Presented by: Kevin Hague MP (Greens)

• Safety dilemma- how much do we focus on it, vs. encouraging cycling?
• Community Roadwatch- was recently revealed that the data are not really used- unless a vehicle registration comes up repeatedly.
• Given the makeup of the current government, what opportunities exist? 
• Minister of Transport Stephen Joyce has prioritised efficiency over safety.
• NZ Cycle Network- going well.  Roll-on effects- not just a tourism project, wider commitment to eventual network.  Back Country Rides- e.g. Forgotten Highway.  Shows the potential of linking off-road rides to on-road and to urban routes.  Generating enthusiasm in local government for cycling.  Some projects will go ahead even if they don't get government funding.
• Building alliances with recreational cycling is useful. Some recreational groups have links to government that we don't.
• Parliamentary Friends of Cycling- around 20 members from the Greens, National, Labour.  Glen and Kieran presented to it on priorities.  Helps to de-politicise cycling.  Not going badly.
• Labour has been a bit dismissive of the NZ Cycle Trails project- a mistake, as their cynicism isn't widely shared.  Job creation is admittedly more indirect than Key originally claimed.
• Last summer- tried to engage with social media (Facebook/Twitter) to ask for suggestions about improving safety over summer. Got quite a few responses and sent back out.
• As a rider- end points of cycle routes, and what comes after, have to make sense.  Doesn't matter if different bits are funded by different organisations.
• Have to work with carriers to ensure links with public transport work.
• We all have a role in supporting the NZ Cycle Trail in our communities.

Spokes Canterbury

Presented by: David Hawke, Glen Koorey (Spokes Canterbury)

• Over the past year, lives have mostly been centred around the earthquakes.  Bikes proved very handy for getting home after shocks.
• Spokes has made multiple submissions: earthquake recovery plans and general transport strategies.
• Council ran a Share an Idea programme- got 106,000 ideas back. Lots of participation- so council has to take notice. Lots of ideas mentioned cycling, green space etc.
• Draft Plan for CBD- lots of good stuff in it.  Concern about the fine print- e.g. are shared paths essentially just allowing cyclists on footpaths?  And timing. Vague about clear outcomes, and how to measure success.
• Greater Christchurch recovery plan- made a detailed submission.
• Early on after the shocks, council removed some cycle lanes.
• Councillor and cycling advocate Chrissie Williams resigned, said the council is dysfunctional.
• Oral presentation to city council- normalising cycling by having two women presenting it, in ordinary clothes- to get away from the usual stereotypes.
• Lots of other groups are positive about cycling- 'people friendly city'. Supportive editorials.
• Isolation of new subdivisions- there's a history of not looking at linkages between them.
• Public transport has suffered since the quakes, but there are more people on bikes.

CAN website

Presented by: Stephen Wood (CAN)

The CAN website serves as our public website and also hold pages for local groups, working groups and the committee. Since last year it also now holds our membership database.  Stephen does some of the maintenance to keep the website running, and some is done by our hosting company, Egressive.

Recent proposal from Tim Gummer: to improve usability and aesthetics- design and layout fixes.  Initial work to be carried out for free, but will charge for the work to be continued.  There is some useful stuff in the proposal- but need to establish costs and agreement.

Website issues to go to Stephen/Anne- webmaster@can.org.nz.

Cycling Around the World

Presented by: Patrick Morgan (CAN)

Patrick reported on his recent Churchill Fellowship study trip to look at cycling initiatives in Japan, UK, Europe and California, and presented a slideshow.

Cycle Aware Wellington

Presented by: Patrick Morgan (CAN)

• CAW has an active committee
• Relationships with other groups- Cycling in Wellington, Frocks on Bikes. Have common messages: normalising cycling, cycling as transport
• Council negotiated discounts on folding bikes- to get around peak hour restrictions on bikes on trains
• Great Harbour Way project is going ahead
• CAW annual report 2010/2011 can be viewed on the CAN website

Presented by: Graeme Lindup, Glen Koorey (CAN)

Before June 2012, we need to decide what ongoing work we would like to do for NZTA.

Last May's bid had a lot of 'safer road user behaviour' components, which didn't get picked up, including:

• develop/disseminate Share The Road guidance
• provide specific guidance for various interactions
• share the path guidance
• provide material on legal situations, especially grey areas
• guidance on implementing lower speed limits
• develop material for Councils etc.
• provide variety of media for key messages
• road user training workshops
• focus on obligations of both cyclists and other road users

Brainstorming for NZTA proposal- more ideas:

• Single website for resources- with separate branding. Could have local sub-pages- though would be hard to maintain.
• Resources (including print, video)- best practice (situations, guidance); legal/Road Code.  Cycle Aware Wellington and Cycle Action Auckland are already working on video resources.
• Speed limit reduction: process/website; success stories
• Getting school kids to produce short video clips on getting more kids cycling
• Resource for new commuter cyclists