Flashback Friday – The GPS: Govt Pro-roads Statement on transport

So, after much bluster and talk, the new Government has released its draft GPS on Transport and it’s perhaps not surprising that it’s mostly roads, roads, roads. I’ll make some more comments on this in a future blog, but it

Cycling in Chch 2023 in Review: The Good, the Bad, the in-Between

And just like that, another year is over and we ponder what has happened since we last reviewed the state of cycling Chch at the end of 2022 – suffice to say that it seems like a mix of things……

Flashback Friday: Draft Govt Policy Statement is good news for cycling

After a fair bit of horse-trading, we finally look like we have a new Government about to be formed. Then it will be interesting to see how much they change existing transport policies, including how much cycling continues to get

Flashback Friday: Money galore for cycleways

The Government’s latest Budget was just delivered; given the current political environment it was no surprise to see it focus on “the basics” and cost of living. On the transport front, there were lollies for public transport services and fares

Flashback Friday: Progress on Cycle Safety Panel Recommendations

It hasn’t be a great year for cycling safety in NZ, with a larger than average number of road deaths to date. While there is sadly an element of randomness about whether some crashes become fatal or not, it has

Submit on getting a Fringe Benefit exemption for Bikes-to-Work

Connor Read (co-founder of the Shutl e-bike rental service) has alerted me to an interesting but troubling development in the world of fringe-benefit tax (FBT). Many of you may know that current legislation in NZ requires FBT to be paid …

Flashback Friday: The Orthodoxy of the Highway

It’s been an interesting week for transport policy, both nationally and locally. For a start the Government’s first Emission Reduction Plan was finally released on Monday, which personally was a bit underwhelming but at least makes some signals about further

Flashback Friday: “Accessible City” Plan – What’s In it for Cycling?

As we get around our post-quake rebuilt city, it seems a lifetime ago when the original plans for the rebuild (esp. in the central city) were being finalised by Govt after Council’s initial proposals. Not surprisingly the transport aspects of

Big funding boost for Chch cycleways

Yesterday morning, Christchurch woke to the news that the Government was investing in the completion of six major cycle routes, thanks to funding from the Government’s shovel-ready infrastructure fund for COVID-19 recovery.

An extra $87 million is being pumped …

National Land Transport Programme has a bumper crop of cycleways

Every three years, the NZ Transport Agency prepares a National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) that summarises what is going to be spent by the Government and local councils on roads, pathways, public transport, etc. 2018 was the year for a …

Draft Govt Policy Statement is good news for cycling

We’ve heard lots of cycle-friendly murmurings from the new Government since they came into power. But as the saying goes, that all counts for naught until you “show me the money”. That has now happened with the release of …

Progress on Cycle Safety Panel Recommendations

There wasn’t a lot of fanfare, but just before last Christmas the final Cycle Safety Panel report was presented to the Government. You will recall that this came from the national group of experts convened by NZTA and the …

“Accessible City” Plan – What’s In it for Cycling?

At long last, the Government (through CERA) has released its final transport strategy for the central city, “An Accessible City”. It’s been almost exactly one year since the draft Plan was released, and about six months since it went …

The Orthodoxy of the Highway – The true believer’s approach to transportation planning

Back in the 1940’s urban planners found that building or expanding roading increased traffic congestion. This point was further reinforced in NY in 1973 when the West Side Highway collapsed and the predicted traffic chaos was instead a reduction in …