Last year, we foreshadowed the announcement by Transport Minister Chris Bishop of several planned changes to NZ road rules, including several quite relevant to cycling. Last week, the Government launched consultation on these Rule changes, with public submissions due …
Category: Bicycle politics
Anything about politics, politicians, submissions etc.
Flashback Friday Guest Post: Should kids be able to ride on the footpath?
You might have heard the news the other day that the Government is proposing a number of interesting road rule changes, many of them with significance for cycling. I’ll cover them in more detail in a future post but, for …
Flashback Friday: Hey world, have you heard of Christchurch?!
The media have just picked up the announcement from Christchurch City Council that our fair city has been named the most bicycle-friendly city in Asia and Oceania and 38th globally (I’d like to think they got the heads-up from an …
A new Christchurch City Council – does this change anything for cycling?
After all the drama and debate, the dust has settled and we have a confirmed set of City Councillors and Community Board members – congratulations to all the successful candidates! Again, I’m a bit disappointed in how few people actually …
Local Elections! Who to vote for?
Another three-year cycle (see what I did there…) is drawing to a close, and it’s time for local government elections once more. By now, you should have received your voting papers in the mail and can now ponder who to …
Flashback Friday: Council Rates and MCRs 101
No surprises that cycleways are one of the hot topics in this coming election, and will no doubt get some airing at the Mayoral Forum next Thu 4th Sep. A news article last week looked into the supposed extravagance …
Flashback Friday: A near-brush with The Law
Hot on the heels of all the palaver about cycle helmets (and even The Spinoff has waded into the discussion this week), let me take you back to this post from Nov 2012, when guest blogger “Meerkat” decided to …
A heads-up about the bike helmet rule
There’s been an interesting flurry of discussions in the past few days, following the news that Regulation Minister David Seymour sought advice on the possibility of removing mandatory cycling helmet requirements. The upshot (for now at least) is that …
Mythbusting: Cyclists or Bikes should be Licensed
You may have seen a week ago some fairly big transport news came down from the Government, announcing future plans to do away with petrol excise levies for motorists and replace them with Road User Charges (RUCs) instead. Not surprisingly, …
Flashback Friday: What the recent elections told us about support for cycling in Chch
As of 12pm today, time is up for nominations by people to stand in the coming local body elections. Now the fun begins of even more campaigning, leading up to us, the voters, to decide who to support. No …
Flashback Friday: Have your say on allowing Footpath Cycling
Hot on the heels of the recent Road Rule change announcements, including introducing footpath cycling for children, let me take you back nine years ago when an earlier proposal for this was being campaigned on, as reported in this …
Proposed new Road Rules might help cycling
It’s fair to say that the current Government hasn’t been a big fan of cycling. So it was something of a minor surprise when about a month ago, Transport Minister Chris Bishop announced a raft of proposed Land Transport …
Annual Plan 25/26 brings some good cycling news
Last week, the Christchurch City Council finalised and adopted their Annual Plan for the 2025/26 year. This is the annual review of where Council will get their income from (e.g. rates, fees, Govt subsidies, etc) and what they will …
Flashback Friday: A successful “CAN Do” Weekend
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For those interested in further developing support for cycling in Ōtautahi Christchurch and beyond, you’re welcome to attend the Cycling Action Network’s “CAN Do 2025” advocacy workshop, being held at Tūranga next weekend (22-23 Mar) – note that an $80 …
Cycling in Chch 2024 in Review: People, Places, and Pushback…
Another calendar year flies by and we’re ready to herald in 2025 – Happy New Year! For many of us, we might be grateful to see the back of 2024, with various worrying signs for cycling foreshadowed back in our …
Book Review (and a Launch): The Cycling Pioneers
The Cycling Pioneers
by Michael Toohey
138pp.
Kennett Brothers: $25
(Book or PDF versions)
While cycling history may often seem like the realm of other parts of the world, New Zealand was a surprisingly early adopter in trying out the …
The Long, Long, Long Journey of the Wheels to Wings Cycleway is ready for another twist…
I’d like to invite you to cast your mind way back to mid-2009… Spurred on by some concerns from nearby school children about cycling to school, consultation was undertaken on a proposal to add cycle lanes to Harewood …
Flashback Friday: A complete cycling network for 34 cents a year
About six weeks ago, the Govt’s National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) came out and currently Councils around the country are grappling with its implications for their funding plans, especially when it comes to road safety and sustainable transport projects – …
Flashback Friday: National’s Transport Dystopia
Any day now, we should be getting news of the finalised National Land Transport Programme, which will then inform Councils about what projects they will get funding subsidy for. Not that we should be getting our hopes up too …
Flashback Friday: Council Long Term Plan brings some good cycleway news
In case you haven’t noticed; the Chch City Council is currently consulting on its 2024-34 Long Term Plan (with feedback due Sun 21st Apr). This important exercise every three years sets out the key priorities for the various Council activities, …