Comments on: Is Christchurch cycle-friendly enough?

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 16 Jul 2016 01:36:57 +0000

Cycle stats need to distinguish between the different types of cycling. Recreational cycling or sport cycling are very different to utility cycling to get somewhere. Being happy to cycle down a path by a river on a sunny day has much lower demands than cycling to get somewhere along ordinary roads. A lot of those occasional cyclists will be recreational.
Recreational cycling in many ways detracts from cycling being treated as a normal, practical form of transport.

By: LennyBoy

LennyBoy — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 09:07:58 +0000

In reply to Stephen. I think part of the answer lies in the fact that the survey asks a wide range of people, not just those who currently ride. The opinion of those who ride may not change much because they experience the reality of it, and things don't actually change that quickly on the ground. Meanwhile the ~50% who don't cycle (for whatever reason) are probably more guided by media perception; so if there are bad news stories then they all think it's terrible and if there are good news stories then they probably think it's pretty good.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 07:48:41 +0000

Score so far = B– . Showing a lot of promise, but could do better .

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 03:29:18 +0000

I find it weird how safety perception reached a trough in 2014, but that doesn’t seem to be reflected in the responses to "how often did you cycle". What are the implications for our belief that perception of safety is what holds people back from riding a bike?

By: Cyclomaniac

Cyclomaniac — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 08:04:30 +0000

The answer probably depends on who you are asking. Confident riders probably are more inclined to say yes. There is no denying that the infrastructure is improving. We have seen in other NZ cities that it is not always easy ‘to get it right" when it comes to implementing cycling infrastructure. Our Council deserves credit for their vision of a cycle-friendly Christchurch and balancing this with competing demands (like parking ..yawn). At the same time there are still lots of examples of roads that are not safe enough. From my perspective, Christchurch will only really be cycle-friendly if we can see people of all ages and abilities pedaling.