'You might be surprised how sedentary my work can be.' he says. 'Although I love what I do for CAN, there's a lot of keyboard bashing, phone calls and meetings. I can't wait to start the ride.'
After taking out top spots in the under 19s 30km race at the SRAM Tour de Ranges on Saturday, the girls carried on their cycling road trip to Cambridge to complete their accreditation to race at the Avantidrome.
And in Spain the drivers are so aware of and so courteous towards cyclists.
Toward Vision Zero in Christchurch
Perceptions of safety are a serious barrier to people taking up cycling. Vision Zero is an approach to road safety that has, as its aim, zero fatalities or serious injuries.
CAN and Living Streets Aotearoa together endorsed Vision Zero at the 2 Walk and Cycle Conference in mid-2016, and local councils and community boards are beginning to pick up the idea.
Halswell Residents Association (Inc.), of which I am Secretary, approached our Community Board in Christchurch in November 2016 seeking their endorsement. Despite reluctance from City Council staff, Community Board referred us to City Council’s Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee in December 2017. They have requested a workshop in early 2018, following which we hope that there will be a recommendation to the full Council for adoption and implementation.
Enforcement and education are fundamental components of Vision Zero. This vehicle has been parked in such a way that vehicles crossing the cycleway cannot see people on bikes (St Asaph Street cycleway, Christchurch, November 2017).
In NZ we hear a continuous media narrative of cyclists being injured and killed, and while 2017 was an appalling year for fatalities, increases in injury levels were not nearly as great. A new study from England clarifies the figures, finding travel fatality rates vary more by age and gender than by transport mode.
Local groups engage with their Councils, check cycleway plans, run events, do bike fix-ups and whatever else it takes to get MORE PEOPLE ON BIKES MORE OFTEN. Here's a small sample of news from around the Network. See a full list -and join up- here.
Cycling advocates have welcomed new plans to make New Zealand roads safer this summer.
Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter today announced a boost in road safety funding. She has signalled a new focus from the Government on introducing safer speed limits.
CAN group Cycle Aware Wellington have serious concerns about the Let's Get Wellington Moving process. CAW have called for a more bike-friendly approach:
'We want an obvious, all-new CBD biking network with a consistently high level of service. A grid of north-south and east-west connections that:
- don’t mix with traffic (sharing with buses can be OK for access but doesn’t give a good level of comfort for key routes)
Yep these are some rough & ugly photos of building, digging and painting, but they are certainly wonderful to see! Thanks Robert, it's not often we see a whole biking network taking shape at once, and it's heartening to think that this reflects what's happening in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Hamilton and other towns. Wow New Zealand!
See Robert's graphic photos here-