Should Cycling be allowed in the Botanic Gardens?

The Christchurch Botanic Gardens are the jewel in the crown that is our wonderful Hagley Park. On display there are a huge selection of interesting plants and flowers, both around the grounds and inside the numerous conservatories. When my …

Guest Post: Should kids be able to ride on the footpath?

Here’s an interesting guest topic from Jo Clendon:

Do you cycle with kids?  Do you sometimes let them ride on the footpath? Perhaps you’ve seen or heard in the news about my campaign to make cycling on the footpaths

Photo of the Day: Rolleston Ave Shared Path

One of the more popular places to ride a bike in Christchurch is along Rolleston Ave in front of Christ’s College, Canterbury Museum and the Botanic Gardens. This section of shared pathway (mostly 3m wide) provides a useful connection to/from …

Why Traffic Speed Matters for Walking and Cycling

In my overviews of looking around Europe, I noted that lower speed limits were prevalent virtually everywhere I went. Yet, in New Zealand we are still only taking a few hesitant baby steps towards similar environments. There are a …

End of Tour: Reflections on Cycling in Europe

So, two months after I actually returned home, we come to the end of the belated reports on my 3-month study tour of Europe. I finished with a couple of days in Frankfurt, Germany, before flying out, and I’ve …

Unterhaching, Munich: Cycling and good planning

While I was in Munich for a week, I made a visit to one of the outlying suburbs of Unterhaching. Technically it is a self-contained town just 10 km away from central Munich (about 20 minutes by train); what …

Vienna: Cycling on the Rise

After the hustle-bustle of Velo-City in Nantes, I headed across the continent to the Danube and the Austrian capital of Vienna. With 1.8 million people, Vienna is a major European hub and also well known for its fabulous …

What can Christchurch learn from The Netherlands?

Having had a month ranging far and wide around The Netherlands (and a month since to reflect), I think I’m starting to see some common trends emerging in terms of what makes the Dutch get on their bikes so much …

Enschede – a pioneer for cycling

My final Dutch city report is about the place where I was based throughout my time in The Netherlands (I just took day trips by train to visit the other centres). Enschede (pop. 150,000) is near the eastern border of …

Cycling in Amsterdam – does it live up to the hype?

Five years ago, I visited Copenhagen for the first time and was blown away by the sheer numbers of people cycling. It was truly awe-inspiring to stand by a busy central city street and just watch the thousands of riders …

Cycling in Bristol

Well after spending three weeks in Bristol, UK, my time is nearly up. I came to spend time with some colleagues who also do quite a lot of work on sustainable transport issues like cycling, so it’s not surprising that …

Highlights from #2walkandcycle Conference Nelson

Well I’m a few days back from Nelson, where an action-packed 2WALKandCYCLE Conference kept ~190 delegates engaged for three days last week. The term “action packed” might not sound right in the same sentence as “conference”, but it seems an …

Construction starts on Avon River Promenade

The rebuild of the Central City continues at a busy pace. This week, CERA’s Central City Development Unit announced the start of the “Terraces” section of the Avon River Corridor, on Oxford Terrace between Cashel and Hereford Streets. This link …

Where should our next Open Streets be held?

For a first-time event, the recent Christchurch Open Streets ciclovía was a fairly successful activity (especially considering the so-so weather). Lots of people enjoyed various activities around town without the distraction of motor vehicles. So, on the assumption that we …

Does your mother not let you ride on the road?

Recently a Christchurch cyclist told me this story. A workmate of hers approached her, soon after he had started. “Do you remember”, he asked, “shouting ‘Does your mother not let you ride on the road?’ at someone riding on the …