The weekend just gone in Christchurch has been an awesome feast of activity as the new One NZ Stadium (aka Te Kaha) hosted the Super Rugby round for all ten teams. It certainly brought the crowds in; the central city was pumping all weekend.
One thing that some people have been wondering is how everyone is going to make their way to and from the stadium for the big events. There’s been an assumption by many that most people will drive or Uber (and traffic was certainly crawling along when I was in town around game times). So I was curious to see what it was like for people looking to bike there.
I happened to be in town on Sunday afternoon about half an hour before the 2pm Highlanders / Moana Pasifika game. So I wandered around the periphery of the stadium to check out the bike parking situation.
From what I understand, there are bike stands in place for about 140 cycles around the stadium block; some at the street edge, and some closer to the facility. If you need, there are also plenty of additional parking spaces slightly further away in the surrounding blocks as well.
As mentioned, I was there roughly half an hour before the game was starting, so there may have still been more people arriving by bike later (indeed, some turned up while I was wandering around). Nevertheless, already the bike stands were about roughly half full, which is an encouraging sign (a few e-scooters also parked up around the place…).
I guess the likely take-up can depend on different factors at the time. On Sunday, it was a lovely sunny afternoon – the kind of day when people will often be quite happy to hop on a bike. It may be a different story if it’s a cold or wet evening, when only the more sturdy may opt to ride in.
Biking wasn’t the only sustainable transport option being taken up during the weekend. Plenty of people walked in from surrounding central city residences or maybe nearby businesses. And when I was waiting at the Bus Interchange on Friday night to head home after my trip to Auckland, the place was absolutely packed with people leaving the Crusaders game and heading for some buses.
My partner and I didn’t get to the rugby games over the weekend, but we do have a few other events coming up there. Fortunately we live very close to the stadium, so (good weather willing…) we will probably avoid the queues/delays and ride there ourselves – it’s good to know we have options there…
Would you bike to the new One NZ stadium?
You’d be a mug not to bike if you can – only way to get a park by the entrance! I always use the bike racks when attending shows at the town Hall, and at the Piano, so why not the stadium too. (Town Hall and Piano far less well provisioned alas). I’d like to put in a good word for Parakiore’s bike parking while we’re at it. Lots of it and well used in my observation.
Good to see this, I’d been eyeing that up as I drove past and wondering where the bike parking was. Will they have security? I wonder how it will cope for the Six60 concert? 140 bike capacity vs 30,000 crowd does not compute… Being in May it may be only the hardy but cycling is really a no brainer especially if you want to be able to have a drink or two. And if it is wet/cold what is the deal with bags, coats, etc that cyclists may need to take with them? I’ve heard no bags bigger than 30 x 30, so what do you do with helmets and panniers, leave them on the bike to get nicked? Some paid lockers like at pools would be great.
I would have thought that you secure any helmet or pannier through your bike lock – solves that problem. Certainly I’ve never had any issue with these anywhere else around Christchurch, even at other events…
Having a bike valet service to look after bikes (especially expensive ones) and panniers/other items that you would be worried that would be nicked during a large event would be great. It’s a shame that Venues Ōtautahi are not interested.
Thanks LennyBoy!
I was working at Te Kaha/One NZ Stadium over the Super Rugby weekend and keeping an eye on the bike stands (at least what I could easily see while walking around the outside between my NW station and the staff entrance in the SW, but chose to use a locky dock for my own bike on Lichfield St for added security (with added D lock for the other wheel), and to free up space closer to the venue for patrons.
The bike stands on Friday night (including Lichfield St) were completely packed! As were the two buses I saw on my ride home. The bike stands were less busy Saturday and Sunday, so I wondered how much of the busyness on Friday was after work drinks, unrelated to the rugby. Will keep an eye on things when I’m in the area and certainly when working at Te Kaha.
Good point re panniers, lights, etc. I’m lucky I can take my stuff to the staff area. The bag limit is 30x30x30. A valet service is a no brainer!
Also disappointed to see so many cable locks in use. Would be good to do a campaign around using a better lock (something to mention to CCC/VŌ – perhaps signs on the bike racks?). I’d be curious if any bikes were stolen. Should ask Police.
That’s a very interesting thought about the after-work drinks. Latent demand? Biking boozers under-served!
How many bikes were stolen? “Your lock is inadequate” is another barrier to entry for getting people back on bikes.
Oooh, you captured my bike in one of your photos. I attended the Highlanders vs Moana Pasifika game (go ‘Landers!) and left before the Chiefs vs Fijian Drua game. The bike racks were looking very full, and there was plenty of informal bike parking against light poles etc too.