After biking for 30 years around Wellington, Ngaio resident Jonathan Kennett has seen infrastructure and safety improve. On his daily commute to work as a writer he says he feels alive and invigorated during and after the ride.
“I ride daily and have not had a crash since being doored while...
Coming back to New Zealand from the biking utopia that is the Netherlands, Koen teamed up with Wellington local Stuart Cunningham to co-open Get Lost Cycling in Mt Victoria, Wellington. He enjoys biking in the lush mountains and commuting around town. His favourite aspect of biking is the feeling of escaping from the busyness of the city and getting into the hills. He says that recreational cycling around Wellington is awesome....
Student and avid cyclist Inka is often found pedaling up Makara Peak or in Polhill Reserve.
“My favorite part about biking is being able to super easily get into the bush for good mountain biking or cross country cycling. Least favourite is a tie between bad drivers and the narrow, unsafe roads...
Born and raised in Wellington, Stuart Cunningham has learned to love the mountain bike trails the city has to offer.
“Biking through the native forest is the best. The birdlife is incredible and combined with the jungle trails, it a great experience.”
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Fraser MacMaster loves overtaking cars on his morning commute from Northland into the city. With more than 12 years biking in Wellington and experience as a bike store owner, he has seen cycling conditions improve, but at a very slow rate.
“Getting from Aro Valley into the city is not a good...
Tim is a Hutt resident who loves the freedom that biking gives him in. He has been biking since he was a child and has recently taken it up as his primary means of transport. He greatly appreciates the bike lanes already in place but concedes that there are not currently enough to make biking in Wellington as safe as it could be.
"With more connected lanes, biking numbers will increase dramatically and will benefit both us, and our planet."
by Matt Lorah #PeopleofHutt
Adrian Kearns, a Northland resident, has succeeded in living in the city without a car since 2010.
Since April he abandoned the buses due to their unreliability.
He picked up a Bullitt electric cargo bike for both commuting and going to the grocery store, and has never looked back.
“I love the exercise, lowered environmental impact, and mixing with the cycling community.”
He believes that safety is the biggest issue preventing more people from cycling.On some streets, things have gotten so bad that I plan my route around where the least traffic will be, and not around...
Peter Burtonwood stopped to talk with us at our people-protected bike lane event, on his commute home from work at the Fire Service. He has been cycling all his life and he enjoys the reliability of getting places on time, and the freedom to go wherever he wants.
“I hope the City Council will prioritize linking up the many bike lanes around the city to make it less fragmented and a more consistent cycling experience.”
by Matt Lorah #PeopleofWellington
Be it commuting to work, biking around the bays, or mountain biking in the hills, Jill Ford does it all. This Newtown resident has been consistently biking since her days in university and sees no end in sight. She says the lack of cycling lanes and the oversaturation of cars are holding back the popularity of cycling in Wellington.
“To reach our carbon reduction goals our leaders need to be brave. They need to have a long-term vision. We need to update all of our public transportation systems, especially bike lanes to reduce the number of cars on the road.”
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As co-chair of Cycle Wellington, Linda Beatson gets to interact with a lot of people on bikes. At the people-protected bike lane event on Cambridge Terrace, she said that her favorite part was getting to meet the diverse collective of people that make up the cycling community of Wellington.
“I love the convenience, reliability, and speed that come with riding a bike.”
She sees the addition of green paint to cycleways and the increasing number of cyclists as a good thing.
“The council can and should do much more to help progress the expansion of protected bike lanes.”
David Gurr is a Hataitai resident who has been riding in the city for over 30 years. Over this time he has seen risks get worse for bikers as traffic congestion has increased. He loves getting away from cars on the town belt tracks.
“I hope to see protected bike lanes grow throughout Wellington.”
People on bikes deserve protection. We love the protected bike lanes Wellington City Council has built, but progress is far too slow. So we're taking action into our own hands. If the city won’t protect us, we will protect our own.
Join us as we build our own people protected bike lane on Cambridge Tce, Wellington. Meet at the Basin Reseve end. Let's show the Council we need them to move much faster on building safe and healthy streets. We'll all be better off.
7:30 – 8:30am, Wednesday 9 October 2019
People on bikes deserve protection. We love the protected bike lanes Wellington City Council has built, but progress is far too slow. So we're taking action into our own hands. If the city won’t protect us, we will protect our own.
Join us as we build our own people protected bike lane on Cambridge Tce, Wellington. Meet at the Basin Reseve end. Let's show the Council we need them to move much faster on building safe and healthy streets. We'll all be better off.
7:30 – 8:30am, Wednesday 9 October 2019
Do you want safer and more attractive cycling in New Zealand? Vote cycling.
Whether you are a family with kids, a mountain biker, roadie, commuter or simply love to ride, now is the time to take action.
There are Council elections in October. We need help to make cycling an election issue, so candidates realise that there are a lot of people on bikes out there, most of whom vote.
How you can help
Vote
Check with your Council that you are enrolled.
Vote for the candidates who best reflect your views...
Do you want safer and more attractive cycling in New Zealand? Vote cycling.
Whether you are a family with kids, a mountain biker, roadie, commuter or simply love to ride, now is the time to take action.
There are Council elections in October. We need help to make cycling an election issue, so candidates realise that there are a lot of cyclists out there, most of whom vote.
How you can help
Vote
Check with your Council that you are enrolled.
Vote for the candidates who best reflect your views on...
Do you want safer and more attractive cycling in New Zealand? Vote cycling.
Whether you are a family with kids, a mountain biker, roadie, commuter or simply love to ride, now is the time to take action.
There are Council elections in October. We need help to make cycling an election issue, so candidates realise that there are a lot of cyclists out there, most of whom vote.
How you can help
Vote
Check with your Council that you are enrolled.
Vote for the candidates who best reflect your views on...
Opinion: Ruling against cyclist may actually be good for cyclists
By Simon Louisson
A lost court ruling for a British cyclist, who was sued for colliding with a “zombie” pedestrian running a red light, may actually be great for cyclists and cycling in the UK as well as Aotearoa.
A UK court...
Lessons from Planning the Cycling City summer school in the Netherlands
By Patrick Morgan, CAN Project Manager
This month I attended Planning the Cycling City summer school in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam. Lucky me. Along with 30 students from 20 countries, we examined cycling through social sciences lenses. We applied lessons from planning, economics, modelling, history, marketing, epistemology, and anthropology. We rode 10,000 km over the three weeks.
What did I learn?
Dutch city streets are quiet places. You can hear...
Cyclists welcome new road safety strategy
Cycling advocates say the Government's new transport strategy is good news for safer roads.
The Government released the Road to Zero strategy for consultation last week.
Cycling Action Network spokesman Patrick Morgan says everyone's a winner under the new plan – but that quick action is needed.
The case for safe and appropriate speeds
AA bosses argued that cutting limits did not necessarily increase road safety, while transport leaders said such a move risked "slowing New Zealand down".
But Patrick Morgan, from the advocacy group Cycling Action Network, said road safety should not be framed as a "productivity or compliance issue".
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