Contents:
- The 2015 CAN Do: everyday cycling
- CAN AGM and committee
- Love to Ride NZ
- Bus use plummets, cycling rises in Christchurch
- Work begins on London cycling superhighways
- Study: what puts cyclists at greatest risk? it's not what you wear
- Computer model evaluates effectiveness of cycling initiatives
- Eight percent of EU adults prefer biking
- Weblinks
2015 CAN Do: everyday cycling
The 2015 CAN Do, our annual get-together of cycling advocates from around the country, is coming up. This year it'll be held in Christchurch over the weekend of 28-29 March.
The programme includes discussion of CAN's campaigns and activities over the coming year, guest speakers, workshops for effective advocacy, and of course plenty of good food and good company and the odd bike ride.
For those keen for more riding there is a post-CAN Do touring ride on the Kumara-Hokitika leg of the West Coast Wilderness Trail. There will also be an option for people to do the Little River Rail Trail before the CAN Do.
Some financial assistance to help with travel costs to the CAN Do will be available to paid-up CAN members; email either Patrick Morgan or David Hawke.
For more details, check the CAN Do webpage on our website. You can register for the event online (or download a form and email it in). For discounted early-bird rates, please register by 21 March.
CAN AGM and committee
On the Sunday morning of the CAN Do (29 March), the 2015 CAN Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held.
Nominations are now open for the CAN Committee. If you are interested in being involved in the CAN 'pedalling-room', coordinating CAN's campaigns and activities, or know of someone else who might be, we'd love to hear from you.
If you're not sure what being on the committee is all about, or what it involves, there's more information here.
More details on the AGM (including the agenda, audited accounts and previous minutes) and how to make a nomination for the committee can be found here.
If you would like to put forward a motion to the AGM, the above page tells you how. All motions will be posted on the web page above. You can vote on them either in person at the AGM, or by proxy vote.
Love to Ride NZ
Help us get more people on bikes, more often.
The Love to Ride Challenge now has more than 100 teams participating. It's also been extended to April 12th - so there's plenty of time to set-up a team, get your friends riding, and get into prize draw.
The prize pool has got sweeter, too - you can win a trip for two to Wanaka (including 3 nights accommodation, skiing or mountain biking). Or a new bike, $2,000 of bike gear, etc. Check out all the prizes here.
Love to Ride is an initiative to engage existing riders from around New Zealand and give us a fun and easy way to encourage our friends and work mates to ride.
Please do check out the website and get involved: http://www.lovetoride.net/nz
Bus use plummets, cycling rises in Christchurch
11 March 2015- Commuter patterns in Christchurch have changed dramatically post earthquakes, with employees travelling to the new business capitals of south Riccarton and Middleton.
A Statistics New Zealand report on greater Christchurch commuter patterns said changes were due to the exodus of workers from the central city post earthquakes.
University of Canterbury transport professor Simon Kingham said the "big loser" post earthquakes was public transport.
"The earthquakes has completely knocked it," he said, the reason being three-fold. Buses were viewed as unreliable due to road changes; bus routes did not serve the new business areas and people needed to feel "secure" in cars as a reliable source of travel in the direct aftermath, he said.
The report said more people were choosing to cycle to work, up from 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent in 2013. Kingham said Beckenham had the highest cycling rate as it was close to Middleton and Addington work areas.
"People are figuring you don't get stuck in traffic [on a bike] and can push your bike through road works, avoiding queues," he said.
Read more here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/67211780/Bus-use-plummets-cycling-rises-in-Christchurch
Work begins on London cycling superhighways
10 March 2015- Boris Johnson today hailed a "big day for cycling" as he began construction work on the first of two flagship segregated cycle superhighways in central London.
The Mayor was at the controls of a JCB at St George's Circus as the conversion of Blackfriars Road from a car-dominated street into what Transport for London dubbed an "urban boulevard", with protected space for cyclists and extra room for pedestrians got underway.
The North-South superhighway linking Elephant and Castle and King's Cross is due to open next April, with its southern section finished by the end of the year.
Read more here:
Study: what puts cyclists at greatest risk? it's not what you wear
9 January 2015- When a cyclist is killed or seriously injured, the responses you hear often pin the blame squarely on the victim. "Why wasn't she wearing a helmet?" Or, "Why was he wearing dark clothing?"
But according to a new study by a team of Canadian university researchers, those factors don't seem to have much impact on the overall severity of injury when cyclists are hurt in collisions.
The report looked at injury severity among about 700 adults in Toronto and Vancouver who were hospitalized after a bike collision or fall. Researchers teased out which factors had the biggest impact on the extent of people's injuries.
Read more here:
Computer model evaluates effectiveness of cycling initiatives
20 January 2015- Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona researchers have developed a computer simulation model which helps city officials decide which improvements can be made to increase the number of bicycle users in the city. The model compares different actions and determines which sets of measures are the most adequate according to their impact.
Initially developed for the city of Skopje, Macedonia, the model allows foreseeing results and predicting the effect a set of actions will have on the number of bicyclists. Thanks to its application, the city of Skopje foresees an increase from the current 2.5% to 5%, a percentage typical of northern European cities, where bicycle transport is a consolidated option.
Read more here:
http://phys.org/news/2015-01-simulator-effective-urban-aimed-bicycle.html
Eight percent of EU adults prefer biking
10 December 2014- "On a typical day, which mode of transport do you use most often?" 8% of the 27,000 people in the 28 EU Member States answered 'bicycle' when being asked this question.
The top 5 countries where people cycle most are the Netherlands (36%) followed by Denmark (23%), Hungary (22%), Sweden (17%) and Finland (14%). At the bottom rank Malta (0%), Cyprus (1%), Greece and Ireland (2%). Among the 6 big EU Member States, only Germany (12%) scores better than the EU average; Poland (7%) and Italy (6%) are slightly below average, France (4%), Spain and UK (each 3%) lag far behind.
The Eurobarometer reveals a number of other noteworthy results:
- Gender split: For the EU as a whole, bicycle use is evenly split over female and male (both 8%).
- Age: The youngest population group interviewed (15 - 24) cycles the most (13%). In the age groups 25 - 39 and 40 - 54, 7% of the interviewed ticked the 'bicycle' box. 55+: 8%.
- Subjective urbanization: Most cycling occurs in small/mid-size towns (9%); large towns are average (8%); in rural areas, 7% of the respondents chose the 'bicycle'.
Read more here:
Weblinks
Low cost interventions to encourage cycling: selected case studies from Austroads in Australia and NZ:
https://www.onlinepublications.austroads.com.au/items/AP-T281-14
9 simple tips for biking in the rain:
http://www.sfbike.org/news/9-simple-tips-for-biking-in-the-rain/
Stockholm's newest bikes-only parking building:
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3042292/stockholms-newest-parking-garage-is-only-for-bikes
How big was cycling in Australia in the past?
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2015/03/15/how-big-was-cycling-in-australia-in-the-past/
About e.CAN
e.CAN is distributed approximately every 1-2 months to CAN members, Friends of CAN and other interested people. CAN members also get our bi-monthly magazine, ChainLinks.
To check back issues of e.CAN, go to http://www.can.org.nz/ecan .
About CAN
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://www.can.org.nz/join-can/. Join us!
We also welcome donations to support our work. You can donate online at: http://can.org.nz/donate
address: PO Box 25-424, Wellington 6146 email: secretary@can.org.nz
website: http://www.can.org.nz