There’s been a lot of discussion by the public and the media over the past couple of years about the value of the Major Cycle Routes programme. That’s perhaps to be expected; $160-odd million is a lot of money for …
Category: Benefits of cycling
economics, health, fitness etc.
Spring is back – and so are we!
The days are getting lighter and there is also the hint of some warmer weather popping up on occasion. Meanwhile a few more people are coming out of hibernation to hop on their bikes. And there’s lots happening on the …
The GPS: Govt Pro-roads Statement on transport
If you’ve ever wondered why it is that cycling only seems to get a pittance of the funding that roading does, it’s largely down to an innocuously named document called the GPS. No, it’s not about determining your location …
Solutions to traffic queues
I was impressed with this image from a story on Auckland’s traffic congestion which suggested Aucklanders spend 4 weeks a year stuck in traffic.
It’s a great perspective with the queued traffic snarling to a standstill while the lone cyclist …
What has Cycling ever done for Walking?
For fans of Monty Python, there’s a classic scene in the movie The Life of Brian where the People’s Front of Judea (or is it the Judean People’s Front…) bemoan the occupation of their homeland by the Romans and ponder …
Highlights from #2WALKandCYCLE Conference Auckland
As mentioned recently, I attended the 2WALKand CYCLE Conference in Auckland last week. About 260 people took part and there were over 90 different presentations, which are now available on the website (some also have papers as well). If …
Is Christchurch cycle-friendly enough?
We’ve heard a lot of good news stories over the past year or so as Christchurch has started “rolling out the green carpet” and introducing lots of new cycleways around the city. But I guess the real proof of the …
Guest Post: A Cycling Dogma
Guest blogger Catherine shares some of her thoughts about the key factors that influence her daily choice to commute by bike:
I developed a cycling dogma! It’s taken time to create, but here it is:
Cycling offers me freedom like …
Guest Post: Statistics, Dollars, and the Intangible (Priceless) Benefits of Cycling
Guest blogger Robert has a look at his wallet (and a few other measures) this week:
It was good to see the recent post from Lennyboy sharing the reports of an increase in numbers of cycles using the shared Hagley …
Photo of the Day: Xmas Shopping by Bike
‘Tis the season, and everyone is frantically rushing around getting their festive goodies. That tends to mean that traffic and parking get a bit crazy, which duly gets reported in the media (not that it’s really “news” if it happens …
Mythbusting: The business benefits of bikeways
With the new Major Cycleways coming to Christchurch, a major trade-off in many locations will be the removal of on-street car-parking (either on one side or both) to provide enough space for separated bikeways. Already we are seeing some concerns …
Do the economics of Chch’s cycleways stack up?
Earlier this year, we brought you information about the economic assessment done of the Major Cycleway Programme by external consultant transport modellers QTP. Although many conservative assumptions were made, the total benefits were still considerably higher than than the $160m …
Guest Post: Cycling and making sense of life
Another guest post by Robyn M Speed
Sometimes life is like biking into a never-ending headwind. Sometimes life is happening so fast and out of control that it’s like flying downhill, both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
The …
The sanity of cycling
Phew, what a week… 16 lectures to prepare and deliver, a bunch of student research meetings, preparing for a conference this coming week, and the usual emails and admin to deal with. It meant a lot of late nights followed …
Guest Post: As Easy As Riding a Bike
Here’s a guest post from Jack Jiang, kindly reprinted from his original AECOM blog post:
Improving urban wellbeing: as easy as riding a bike
The landscape of post-earthquake Christchurch, New Zealand is changing rapidly. When there is change, there …
Show me the money – The Economics of Cycleways
Spending any significant sum of money by the City Council tends to attract the scrutiny of some ratepayers, especially if they’re dubious about the benefits to be gleaned from the investment. We’ve seen some of that with the planned expenditure …
Thoughts from Velo-City Global 2014 Adelaide #vcg14
Well it’s been a while since my last post, but that’s mainly because I’ve been in Australia this past week. Most of my time was spent in Adelaide for the Velo-City Global 2014 cycling conference, the first time this international …
Biking – Easier on the Body
I’ve had a few significant aches and pains lately (mostly self inflicted – don’t play football against your son’s team…) and have been feeling less mobile than normal. This was then exacerbated when I moved into my new house last …
Cycling and Health
This is a wee collection of articles that look at the health effects of getting on your bike!
From looking at the effects of exercise on general health to understanding how having fewer people in motor vehicles has a downward …
Book Review: Everyday Cycling in Aotearoa New Zealand
by Alastair Smith (185pp., Awa Press, Wellington, RRP $35)
Here’s something that might be handy as a Xmas stocking-filler!
Over the years I have collected a variety of books on cycling for transport and urban cycle commuting. Invariably they …