Cycle Aware Wellington 

Submission to Greater Wellington Regional Council 

DRAFT REGIONAL CYCLING STRATEGY 

CYCLE AWARE WELLINGTON WISHES TO MAKE AN ORAL PRESENTATION COVERING THE CONTENTS OF THIS WRITTEN SUBMISSION.

ABOUT CYCLE AWARE WELLINGTON 

Cycle Aware Wellington (CAW) is the cycling advocacy group for the Wellington region, with a particular focus on the bicycle as a means of transport and recreation. Our goal is more people biking more often. 

CAW speaks for its 700 members. 

We also believe to represent an estimated 14,000 Wellington residents (7 % of the population) who claim to have travelled to the CBD at least once a week using a bicycle in 2006, according to WCC Residents Satisfaction Survey (Wellington City Council 2007). 

We also believe to represent 40,000 Wellington residents who have cycled in Wellington in 2006, according to WCC Residents Satisfaction Survey (Nielsen, 2007). 

We also believe to represent the aspirations of 75 % of Wellington residents, who have ranked "Improvements to the cycling network" as the the most favored of all short term projects included in the Ngauranga to Airport Draft Corridor Plan, according to  Research New Zealand's Public Opinion Survey (Kalafatelis and Raggett, 2008)  

We also speak on behalf of the 3,000+ people who sent submissions on the Draft Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Study, stating their support to walking and cycling. 

We also speak on behalf of the 1,354 people who have signed the petition "Bike Freely programme in Wellington" in May 2008, who have requested an asessment of the possibility of creating a public bicycle rental scheme in Wellington (Wellington City Council, 2008)  

We also speak on behalf of 798 people who have petitioned Wellington City Council against the removal of the cycle lane from around Greta Point (Wellington City Council, 2008a).

Since our inception in 1994, CAW has worked constructively with local authorities, business and the community on a wide variety of projects, including 

• •
• • Go By Bike Day, Bike the Bays, Road Safety Week and other cycling promotion events 
• • Safety and bike skills training for police officers, transport staff, adults, and children 
• • Dr Bike cycle safety checks 
• • Working with the transport sector to improve safety for cyclists in Wellington 
• • Capital City Cycle Guide  

This submission was prepared by: 

Andre Cymbalista 

andrecymb@yahoo.com  

3/23B Maida Vale Rd, Roseneath 

Wellington 6011 

04 384 7048 

021 77 3839 

Cycle Aware Wellington 

PO Box 27120, Wellington 6141 

www.caw.org.nz 

email: info@caw.org.nz 

COMMENTS ON THE REGIONAL CYCLING STRATEGY 

We contend that the Draft Cycling Strategy is inconsistent with the Regional Land Transport Strategy. 

The Regional Land Transport Strategy: 

"seeks to improve the level of service for cycling throughout the region" 

The Regional Cycling Strategy, however, does not include any specific projects to improve cycling in the region. 

The Regional Cycling Strategy "passes the buck" to road controlling authorities when it comes to implement the improvements on the cycling network. We contend that this way of implementing the Land Transport Strategy is ineffective. 

We contend that the Greater Wellington Regional Council should take on an active role in the provision of cycling infrastructure. 

We believe that solely advocating for cycling improvements will not deliver the targets set at the National Land Transport Strategy. It is time to stop talking about cycling and start doing something about it. 

National Land Transport Strategy has targets for increasing cycling: 

"Increase walking and cycling to 30 percent of total trips in urban areas by 2040 (Ministry of Transport, 2008 p. 6)" 

The proposed cycling strategy does not include specific targets for cycling which are consistent with the national targets. 

The increase required by the national targets, the Wellington Region would have to increase by approximately two and a half times from the current mode share of active transport, in about 30 years or so, and this means an increase of aproximately 80 % every 10 years.  

We believe that the proposed action plan is not strong enough to deliver these targets. 

We would like to see the Greater Wellington Regional Council investing in projects that actually improve the level of service in the cycle network and public transport integration, such as: 

• • Adequate end of journey facilites in train stations, including bike lockers and public bicycle rental schemes in all train stations. 
• • Target for completion of the cycle network. The cycle network is incomplete, and there is no target set for completion of the network. 
• • It is urgent to address the problem of cycling along the harbour shore between Petone and Wellington, which is a vital segment of the Great Harbour Way around Wellington Harbour. A route on the seaward side of the motorway and rail track between Petone and Kaiwharawara should be investigated and implemented as soon as possible. 

We would also like to see GWRC advocating more efficiently with local authorities to meet the targets set at the national and regional levels. Just to give a couple of examples: 

• • The WCC Draft Cycling Policy does not address the need to increase cycling in Wellington City, which is inconsistent with both the national and the regional strategy. 

• The solution proposed by WCC to improve the regional links to the CBD - shared bus and cycle lanes - are clearly not acceptable for all cyclists. Only the most experienced cyclists will use those lanes. WCC will be catering only for those who already cycle, resulting in minimal increases in cycling, which won't deliver the targets set at the regional and national levels.