In debates all candidates profess support for cycling and the incumbent says “and we will be spending more on cycling”. Don’t let the rhetoric stand in the way of examining a voting record that shows less commitment!
Moved Foster/Wade-Brown amendment for the 2009 Long Term Plan
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Volunteers in New Zealand will fix bikes as part of the world's largest day of practical action to fight climate change.
On Sunday October 10, people across the planet will pick up spanners, hammers, and shovels and join the 10/10/10 Global Work Party.
Organizers of Bike Fix-up events in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin expect hundreds of people to haul disused bikes out of sheds and, with the help of volunteer mechanics, get them back on the road.
"We're doing our bit to fix the climate, one bike at a time," said Cycling Advocates' Network spokesperson...
Give way rule change is good news for cycleways
Changes to the give way rules were welcomed by cyclists today.
Cycling Advocates Network spokesperson Patrick Morgan said cyclists have for many years advocated for a change of the rules, so that right turners give way to opposing left turners.
"This change will be beneficial for all road users, as it makes the decision making process easier when turning."
"In addition, we see the give way rule change as a necessary pre-cursor for a review of the right of way when travelling along a road corridor."...
Give way rules at intersections are about to change, Transport Minister Steven Joyce announced today.
The changes for turning vehicles, to be in place by early 2012, were needed because the current system was confusing and out of step internationally, he said.
"Research shows changing the rules could reduce relevant intersection crashes by 7 per cent."
Currently a vehicle turning left must give way to right turning traffic coming towards it. That is to be changed so that left turning vehicles have right of way.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1...
Share the Road is a campaign, started in London in 2008, that speaks to all road users as people. We advocate simply that we all respect each other’s equal right to use the road.
What does it all mean?
We all use the roads. Some of us prefer to drive, some ride, others walk.
But it’s easy to forget that road users are all the same people; they just chose to travel in a particular way on a particular day.
So the next time you turn left in front of a cyclist, remember that he might be driving a Porsche tomorrow; and if you’re riding a bike, that pedestrian you...
Bike industry reacts to Daily Telegraph report on potential Government cuts
Over the weekend the national press has reported on an 'uncertain future' for Cycling England and the Bikeability project.
An article in the Daily Telegraph said that Government cuts affecting public bodies, added to the news that the Department for Transport will have its budget slashed by £683 million, have led to that unsure future.
The results of the coalition's study into which public bodies should be shelved will be available 'within weeks'.
The threat of cuts to cycling...
From the UK:
We know you, as the Secretary of State, have to make difficult decisions because of the scale of government cutbacks. Transport will be particularly heavily affected.
We are extremely concerned at the rumours emerging that Cycling England and its programmes could be facing the chop. Most worrying would be the loss of the very successful Bikeability child cycle training scheme. We urge you to think twice and look at the facts before considering scrapping these.
As you know, Cycling England is the small but highly effective part of the Department for Transport...
THE Dutch have long been known as a free-wheeling nation, open to foreigners, cool about sex and drugs and wedded to a relaxed and healthy lifestyle.
Now Amsterdam's citizens have managed the unthinkable for a major Western city: they do more two-wheeling than driving, abandoning their cars for bikes.
It may seem a pipedream for car-dominated Sydney, but statistics compiled by the Dutch capital's municipal authority show that in the city centre, 57 per cent of all movement is done by bicycle. Even in new suburbs and on ring roads, close to 40 per cent of all trips are...
A Siberian divers' club has marked the end of their diving season with an unusual competition: a cycling and skiing competition on the bottom of Russia's pristine Lake Baikal.
Lake Baikal is the world's deepest fresh-water lake, sometimes reaching a depth of over 4,000 metres. But the diving competition took place closer to the shore where the water was just three metres deep.
The shallow waters did not make the competition any easier though. Divided into two competing teams, fifteen divers tried to follow an underwater track of over six metres on bicycles or on skis....
Early morning cyclists need to make sure they are well lit in the dim mornings following daylight saving, say cycling advocates.
"The start of daylight saving on Sunday means more cyclists about, but some may be caught out by morning twilight," said CAN spokesperson Patrick Morgan.
"Lights, reflectors and high-visibility riding gear make you easier to see," said Mr Morgan.
With popular events such as the Taupo Cycle Challenge just two months away, many riders will be making the most of lighter evenings to pile on the miles.
"As the days get longer we can expect to...
The economic benefits of environmentally smart cycle tourism can drive a recovery in provincial New Zealand and have the potential to double the amount tourists spend annually – from $320 million to $640 million, tourism leaders say.
At the Ecotourism 2010 conference in Rotorua this month, cycle tourism leaders explained the power of pedallers and applauded the injection of $9 million of the prime minister's $50m cycleway fund into "quick start" ventures that will see new multi-day routes operating this summer.
"Cycle tourism is about economic development," says...
Hungarian bicycle designers have unveiled their new Stringbike in Padova, Italy. The design replaces the traditional chain with a symmetrical rope and pulley system, which they say is more efficient, makes for a more comfortable ride, and provides improved maneuverability around winding streets.
The new system is more complex than a chain and gears and consists of a rope and pulley on each side of the bike. The rotation of the pedals forces arms at each side to swing forward and backward on its shaft. When moving forward, the arm pulls the driving wire that is...
Bike a bit with Andy at Queen Elizabeth Park, Paekakariki on Sunday 3 Oct
Imagine a sanctuary for birds like Kapiti Island, 5500km away in the Pitcairn Islands. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has plans to eradicate rats from Henderson Island in 2011, but is short of funding. This project is a single effort that will provide lasting ecological benefits for thousands of years in the future by protecting a breeding ground. It only needs to be done once.
Wellington vet Andy Maloney is getting on his bike to raise money. His sponsored cycle (...
SYDNEY'S cycleways will save the city millions of dollars in travel time, pollution and fatalities over the next 30 years, a new report suggests.
Economists put a dollar value on factors surrounding the cycleways: Human life ($165,659 per year), health ($487 per year), and sitting in gridlock ($12.20 per hour). By crunching the numbers, top global economists AECOM found that over 30 years the paths would save Sydney $507 million - or 84c per kilometre.
As Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Premier Kristina Kenneally nut out the final details of their car-free vision of the...
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore
ON Sydney's annual Ride To Work Day next month, city workers will take to the cycleways and ride into the CBD dressed in their suits.
An increasing number of CEOs and their staff have taken up cycling since last year. One reason is the cycle network and the safety it provides.
Instead of weaving in and out of traffic, these commuters can take a separated cycleway and feel confident they can make it to work safely. The city has done the early work in building a safe and sustainable 200km cycleway...
Today is World Car Free Day. I met David, Liz and Richard in Island Bay and we teamed up to ride into town. Yvonne and Gilbert greeted us at the Basin Reserve with free chocolates (thanks Whittakers), then we headed for Civic Sq to meet the other grupettos, from Ngaio, Lyall Bay, Karori and all over. One superhero pedalled in from Waikanae. Crikey. Met a bunch of lovely people and some old friends. Thanks to the GW team and CAW volunteers. That’s how we roll.
From Cycling in Wellington
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Take a look, post a comment, suggest content:http://www.sharetheroad.co.nz/
Nathaniel Benefield
Sustainable Transport Co-ordinator
New Plymouth District Council
Private Bag 2025
NEW PLYMOUTH
Ph. 06 759 6060 Extn 8850
A lot of Torontonians are wondering where they will move after the election in October, as the candidates race to the bottom to outdo each other in slashing services, getting rid of bike lanes, building underground highways that make Boston's Big Dig look small and cheap, and where the formerly leading candidate lost my vote with his rallying cry "Scarborough, not Copenhagen"! (Scarborough is a troubled, car-dominated suburb)
That rallying cry was particularly troubling because Toronto could use a little Copenhagen, and even more Jönköping, a Swedish city where Architects We...
Designboom has been spoonfeeding out the short list in the Seoul Cycle Design Competition 2010 over the last few weeks. Some have been idiosyncratic and odd, but others, like this Bagbike from Francois Bernard, Sonja Breuninger and Marion Pinaffo makes a lot of sense.
The designers write:
'Our cities and awareness have evolved and influenced our behavior, but the urban bicycles have not evolved in the same way, so they no longer correspond exactly to our practice in town. 'Bagbike' is a proposition for what could be a natural evolution of bicycling, improving uses...When you first visit Copenhagen, the first thing you'll notice after being mesmerized by the sheer number of cyclists on the roads is the eclectic kinds of bikes, especially ones that carry groceries, baggage, furniture or other people & children. As Copenhagenize's Mikael Colville-Andersen happily points out: for many in his city, the cargo bike is equivalent to the SUV.
Thus, for this final chapter in Streetfilms' 2010 Copenhagen Triology (check here: for previous vids on bicycling & pedestrian space) we present this quirky look at some of the types of wonderful bikes...