Contents:
- Cycling advocates say 'get used to petrol price hikes'
- Gemini Cycle-Friendly Awards 2008 nominations called for
- Put it in your diary - the annual CAN Do, 3-5 October
- Bicycle fee dropped for Wellington rail users
- Job vacancy: Hamilton City Council walking & cycling projects engineer
- Cycling and walking key to solving global food crisis
- Bicycles pedaling into the spotlight
- Build traffic out of kids' lives, urge experts
- USA to get cycling strategy
- Weblinks
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CYCLING ADVOCATES SAY 'GET USED TO PETROL PRICE HIKES'
11 May 2008- The Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN) says fuel price hikes are inevitable over the foreseeable future, so motorists need to get used to them, or drive less.
CAN also calls for the government to increase fuel taxes to help wean New Zealand off its car addiction.
CAN spokesperson Axel Wilke says, "CAN calls for 'tax shifting', where government increases petrol taxes and introduces diesel excise tax while reducing company and income taxes. We need urgent measures to encourage more sustainable travel in line with the New Zealand Transport Strategy. Increasing the petrol price helps reduce dependence on the car, but on its own also has negative impacts for consumers, and for disadvantaged groups especially. Countries such as Austria, Finland, Germany and Sweden use tax-shifting successfully and New Zealand should follow suit."
As a result CAN says people will have real incentives to walk, cycle and use public transport more, while also saving money and staying healthier.
Wilke comments, "New Zealand has amongst the lowest fuel taxes and prices at the pump in the western world. But the transport sector uses more energy than any other sector and is also the fastest growing, with its carbon emissions growing in parallel. Transport's impacts on the environment, as well as other sectors, are significant. For example, transport-related health conditions are a major cost in the health sector. Tax shifting works and makes more sense than emissions trading, for example, because it is more targeted and doesn't hit the ordinary consumer as hard."
CAN believes that petrol and diesel excise should be increased by 20 cents/litre now, and by an additional 10 cents/litre/year in subsequent years. This increase is likely to be minor relative to the increases that will occur regardless. Petrol prices have increased by more than 30 cents per litre in the last year.
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GEMINI CYCLE-FRIENDLY AWARDS 2008 NOMINATIONS CALLED FOR
Nominations are open for the Gemini Cycle-Friendly Awards 2008, supported by Ministry of Transport. New Zealanders are being asked to put forward their favourite cycling projects or people.
Devised by the Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN), the national organisation promoting everyday cycling, the Cycle-Friendly Awards are designed to acknowledge and celebrate some of the most notable achievements in New Zealand that are helping to promote cycling and to create a cycle-friendly environment.
Nominations are being called for in five categories:
- Avanti award for best cycle facility project;
- Land Transport NZ award for best cycling promotion;
- Land Transport NZ award for cycle-friendly commitment by a business;
- ViaStrada award for cycle-friendly commitment by a public organisation and
- Roger Boulter Consulting award for cycling champion of the year.
Projects need to have been undertaken or completed between January 2007 and June 2008.
The Minister of Transport, the Hon Annette King, will present the awards to the finalists. The ceremony, supported by Environment Canterbury, will be in the Canterbury Provincial Buildings Stone Chamber, Durham Street, Christchurch, on Friday 3rd October.
Winners will receive a uniquely designed 'bicycle-bell' trophy, and a certificate. This year every valid nomination received by 25th July will be entered into the draw for the nominating person to win a $150 Ground Effect gift voucher.
Nominations are due by Friday 8th August. Download entry forms from http://www.can.org.nz/awards/ , complete and email to: awards@can.org.nz or post to: CAN, P.O. Box 6491, Auckland.
For further information, visit the CAN web site or contact Cycle-Friendly Awards Co-ordinator, Gaz Sanvicens, 021-023 1 5758, awards@can.org.nz
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PUT IT IN YOUR DIARY - THE ANNUAL CAN DO, 3-5 OCTOBER
This year's CAN Do, CAN's annual members' get-together, will be held in Christchurch on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October. The weekend will include CAN's AGM, workshops, training, rides, plenty of food and drink, and a chance to catch up with fellow CANners from around the country.
As a curtain raiser, Annette King, Minister of Transport, will be presenting the Gemini Cycle-Friendly Awards 2008 at a ceremony in the Canterbury Provincial Buildings Stone Chamber, Durham Street, Christchurch, on Friday 3rd October.
As usual, CAN will be providing financial assistance to help ensure all local groups can be represented at the Do.
The CAN Do and Cycle Friendly Awards are always fantastic fun and a great morale booster, so put the dates in your diary now. More details to follow later in the year.
For further information contact: Patrick Morgan, patrick@can.org.nz, 04-385 4967, 027-449 1844.
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BICYCLE FEE DROPPED FOR WELLINGTON RAIL USERS
15 May 2008- Wellington cyclists are celebrating a move by Greater Wellington, scrapping fares to take their bikes on trains.
The regional council's transport committee has agreed to remove the $4 charge from July, in order to encourage more people to use public transport.
Cycle advocate Patrick Morgan says cyclists have been campaigning for the move for at least six months, and it will mean a more economical commute.
He says already many people ride their bike to a railway station and lock it up there, but it is so much easier to take the bike with them on the train. Patrick Morgan says the practice is common is Europe and he is pleased Wellington is coming round to more sustainable transport options.
He says as the price of petrol goes ever higher, more people are looking for alternatives to driving, and this is a common sense decision.
[Newstalk ZB]
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JOB VACANCY: HAMILTON CITY COUNCIL WALKING & CYCLING PROJECTS ENGINEER
Fancy a job developing and managing projects that promote cycling and walking networks in Hamilton? For a job description, go to:
http://careers.hamilton.co.nz/jobcentre/applycod.asp?job=708
Applications close 8 June.
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CYCLING AND WALKING KEY TO SOLVING GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
21 May 2008- An article just published in The Lancet argues that the world's food crisis will not be solved until there is greater recognition that transport policy is inextricably linked to food policy.
Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine argue that a sustainable solution to the global food crisis must include measures to reduce transportation oil demand. The key to achieving real progress, they say, is greater investment in walking and cycling which will reduce oil demand and obesity levels and improve population health.
'Petrol tanks and stomachs were competing to be filled well before biofuels were proposed to tackle climate change', they say. 'Motorised transport accounts for almost half of world oil use. Because oil is a key agricultural input, demand for transportation fuel affects food prices. Increased car use also contributes to rising food prices by promoting obesity which, because fat people eat more, increases the global demand for food'.
Read more at:
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=38547
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BICYCLES PEDALING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
12 May 2008- The world produced an estimated 130 million bicycles in 2007- more than twice the 52 million cars produced.
Bicycle and car production tracked each other closely in the mid-to-late 1960s, but bike output separated sharply from that of cars in 1970, beginning its steep climb to 105 million in 1988. Following a slowdown between 1989 and 2001, bike production has regained steam, increasing in each of the last six years.
Much of the recent growth has been driven by the rise in electric, or 'e-bike' production, which has doubled since 2004 to 21 million units in 2007. Overall, since 1970, bicycle output has nearly quadrupled, while car production has roughly doubled.
Read more at:
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php?id=3284
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BUILD TRAFFIC OUT OF KIDS' LIVES, URGE EXPERTS
20 May 2008- The 'Places to Go' conference in the UK examines the plight of the latest 'species' to face habitat destruction: children.
The habitat of children - pavements, streets, greenspaces - is constantly being diminished and degraded. Ask children their opinion and they want local streets to be made safer for play, walking and cycling, with their number one concern being traffic. And their concern dictates their behaviour, between 1973 and 2005 the percentage of children playing near homes on pavements and roads dropped from 75 percent to 15 percent.
60 percent of today's children will be the obese population of 2050, with health problems that threaten their long-term future.
Read more at:
http://www.bikebiz.com/news/29547/Build-traffic-out-of-kids-lives-urge-e...
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USA TO GET CYCLING STRATEGY
29 May 2008- Last week in the USA, the House passed a non-binding resolution calling for a national cycling strategy.
Some quotes from the bill:
- 'a national transportation system conducive to bicycling produces enriched health, reduced traffic congestion and air pollution, economic vitality, and an overall improved quality of living is valuable for the Nation'
- 'bicycle commuters annually save on average US$1,825 in auto-related costs, reduce their carbon emissions by 128 pounds, conserve 145 gallons of gasoline, and avoid 50 hours of gridlock traffic'
- 'the greatest potential for increased bicycle usage is in our major urban areas where 40 percent of trips are 2 miles or less and 28 percent are less than one mile'
The bill was sponsored by congressman Earl Blumenauer. You can read it here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hc110-305
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WEBLINKS
- Konsult: the Knowledgebase on Sustainable Urban Land use and Transport, developed in the UK to help policy makers, professionals and interest groups to understand the challenges of achieving sustainability in urban transport, and identify appropriate policies:
http://www.konsult.leeds.ac.uk/
- Map My Ride: another bike ride mapping site, similar to
http://www.bikely.com:
http://www.mapmyride.com/
- Hauling goods by bike: advice and discussion on how to carry stuff on your bike (including cups of coffee):
http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2008/04/28/
- Pedaling art: bikes as art in Berlin:
http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/the-post-materialist-pedal...
- Durham bike racks: a website showing bike parking locations in Durham, North Carolina, USA- an idea that could be adapted to other locations:
http://www.durhambikeracks.com/
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ABOUT CAN
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Cycling Advocates' Network (CAN) is New Zealand's voice for cyclists. We want
to see cycling become an everyday activity in NZ. CAN's membership includes
experienced cyclists, advocates, engineers, planners, local and regional
councils, bike shops, and local advocacy groups throughout the country.
To find out more about CAN, go to our website, http://www.can.org.nz.
Sign up to CAN online via credit card at http://cms.can.org.nz/join-can/. Join
us!
ABOUT e.CAN
----------------
e.CAN is distributed approximately every 1-2 weeks to CAN members and other
interested people. CAN members also get our bi-monthly magazine, ChainLinks.
To check back issues of e.CAN, go to http://cms.can.org.nz/ecan
To subscribe or unsubscribe from e.CAN, go to http://cms.can.org.nz/joinfriend
--
Adrian Croucher
Secretary, Cycling Advocates Network (CAN)
PO Box 6491, Auckland
email: secretary@can.org.nz
CAN website: www.can.org.nz http://www.can.org.nz http://www.can.org.nz