Contents:
- Finalists announced for 2014 Cycle Friendly Awards
- Love cycling- vote for the bike
- $100 million for urban cycleways
- Bigger investments in cycling pay off, says study
- How to inspire millions more people to bike
- People living near biking and walking paths get more exercise
- How protected bike lanes helped Denmark win its war on inequality
- Weblinks
Finalists announced for 2014 Cycle Friendly Awards
8 August 2014- The finalists for this year's Cycle Friendly Awards have been announced:
http://can.org.nz/article/nzta-cycle-friendly-awards-2014-finalists
The winners in each of the four categories will be announced at the award ceremony, held in conjunction with the "2WALKandCYCLE" conference in Nelson, 29-31 October:
http://www.2walkandcycle.org.nz/
Love cycling- vote for the bike
Don't forget, the NZ general election is coming up on 20 September- your chance to exercise your democratic rights and send a signal to the government that you want NZ to be a cycle-friendly place. Vote for cycling!
A quick summary of political party policies related to walking and cycling can be found here:
The folks at Transport Blog also ran an election transport debate on 28 August, with speakers from National, Labour, Greens, NZ First, United Future and Act- a summary of it, including some video, can be found here:
http://transportblog.co.nz/2014/08/28/election-transport-debate/
$100 million for urban cycleways
18 August 2014- Prime Minister John Key has today announced $100 million in new funding will be made available over the next four years to accelerate cycleways in urban centres.
Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says an Urban Cycleway Investment Panel will investigate opportunities to invest in urban cycleways that would expand and improve the cycling network.
Mr Brownlee says National recognises that commuting by bike has health benefits and takes pressure off other transport networks, but says cycleways in our largest centres are fragmented and offer varied levels of service.
"This funding builds on significant investments the government is already making, with projects in Hastings and New Plymouth showcasing how cycling can be a safer, more reliable and realistic transport option.
"Many people cite safety concerns and a lack of infrastructure as reasons for not cycling, so we're going to begin building cycleways to a standard that delivers real incentives for commuters to make a change."
Read more here:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1408/S00273/100-million-for-urban-cycleways.htm
And an editorial on this from the Dominion Post:
Bigger investments in cycling pay off, says NZ study
18 August 2014- You get what you pay for, goes the old saying, and a new study out of New Zealand makes the case that when it comes investing in bike infrastructure, it's best to invest in quality.
For every dollar spent to build new separated bike lanes, cities could save as much as $24 thanks to lower health care costs and less pollution and traffic, according to a new study from researchers in New Zealand," according to Adele Peters.
However, small investments in bike infrastructure can actually be a setback for biking's mode share. According to Peters, "[in] cities dominated by cars, a small increase in cycling tends to lead to more biking injuries and deaths, making other people more afraid to ride. The way to overcome that problem, the researchers found, is to make a bigger commitment to better bike lanes."
Read more here:
http://www.planetizen.com/node/70846
How to inspire millions more people to bike
9 July 2014- You can see big changes happening across North America as communities from Fairbanks to St. Petersburg transform their streets into appealing places for people, not just cars and trucks.
"Over the past five years we're seeing an infrastructure revolution, a rethinking of our streets to accommodate more users- busways, public plazas, space for pedestrians and, of course, bike lanes," says David Vega-Barachowitz of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. "More protected bike lanes is one of the most important parts of this."
Protected bike lanes are standard practice in the Netherlands, where 27 percent of all trips throughout the country are made on bicycles. That's because more women, kids and seniors along with out-of-shape, inexperienced riders feel comfortable biking on the streets. Dutch bike ridership has doubled since the 1980s, when protected bike lanes began to be built in large numbers.
Read more here:
http://onthecommons.org/magazine/how-inspire-millions-more-people-bike
People living near biking and walking paths get more exercise
21 July 2014- People who live near safe, high-quality biking and walking infrastructure tend to get more exercise than people who don't, according to a study published last week in the American Journal of Public Health.
Researchers surveyed randomly selected adults before and after new bike/ped infrastructure was built in three communities in the U.K. Two of the selected communities opened bike and pedestrian bridges with well-connected "feeder" infrastructure. The other community upgraded "an informal riverside footpath" into a boardwalk during the study period.
Researchers found that people living within 0.6 miles of a protected bikeway got about 45 minutes more exercise biking and walking per week than people living 2.5 miles away. For every kilometre closer respondents lived to the infrastructure improvement, they exercised roughly 15 minutes more per week. People without access to a car were most likely to exercise more in response to the infrastructure improvements.
Read more here:
How protected bike lanes helped Denmark win its war on inequality
7 August 2014- We don't have to dream of a country where protected bike lanes and other quality bike infrastructure have dramatically improved life for people in poverty. We can visit it.
It's called Denmark, and it's arguably the most egalitarian country in the world.
Data published online for the first time suggests that bicycle transportation has been part of that triumph. Not the biggest part, but a very real one.
Ask Danes what sort of Danish people bike and they will probably say: "everyone." In a sense, that's true. But it also obscures something you'll almost never hear a Dane mention: the massive benefit biking provides to the country's poorest.
Read more here:
Weblinks
Pictures of stunt bikers from 100 years ago:
http://www.vintag.es/2014/07/pictures-of-stunt-bikers-from-100-years.html
Denmark gets its first bicycle hearse:
http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-07-15/how-get-one-final-bicycle-powered-ride-copenhagen
Bike share's impact on car use: new research looking at the degree to which car trips are replaced by bike share schemes, in cities that have them:
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/67026/
Moving flats by bike: in Wellington, using cargo bikes, in the rain:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10291579/Cargo-bikes-move-entire-flat
Cycling advocacy in Australia: a minority movement or much more?
http://theconversation.com/cycling-advocacy-in-australia-a-minority-movement-or-much-more-29554
A day in the life of a London Boris bike:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/26/day-in-life-boris-bike
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