In the past week I had to travel to Wellington twice, necessitating early starts to catch the 7.05am “red eye”. My wife needed the car (and that would have still cost $25/day for parking). I didn’t fancy paying $60 a …
Category: Cycle-centric ideas
Bright ideas about cycling
Photo of the Day: Quake City Biking
The recent shaky events not too far north of us remind us all of our own darkest days back in 2010-11. The graphic and thought-provoking details of the city’s earthquakes are well captured in the Quake City exhibit in Cashel …
A cycle-friendly hotel
Being a cycle-friendly city means more than just providing some nice cycleways; all activities need to think about how they can support cycling in what they do. So it’s nice to see examples of businesses around Christchurch that have …
Lessons from the Dutch – @Cycling_Embassy Take 2
Three years ago, Christchurch was graced by the visit of two Dutch cycling experts, courtesy of the Dutch Cycling Embassy, who provided lots of useful advice regarding our (then) planning for the Major Cycleway network. Last week, another …
Cycling insights from North America
One of my colleagues, Megan Fowler, has just returned from a five-week study tour of North American cities, courtesy of an IPENZ Transportation Group Study Award.
Megan’s focus during her tour was to look at how cycling is catered …
Guest Post: Trial by Jury
Here’s a timely guest post by Ian Chesterman – thanks Ian!
The debate around what to do with Victoria street has gone along typical lines, with the pro-biking/walking/public transport group predicting their preferred solution will usher in a utopian future, …
Suburban Car Parking and the Bike
It seems to be the subject that you can’t get away from when talking about any development in town. The latest Metro Sports Facility plans pop up for example, and all I hear on social media is “where will we …
Cycling in Chch loves Guest Posts!
When I first got involved with Cycling in Christchurch back in 2012 (has it been that long?), I envisaged having a collection of different bloggers with different perspectives taking turns to contribute bits and pieces to the overall picture. …
Way out West – Are new developments cycle-friendly?
The growth in housing demand around Greater Christchurch has seen a lot of new subdivisions spring up, particularly on the periphery of the city. Areas that were farmland not too long ago are suddenly just another part of suburbia. We’ve …
Flashback: Portland Neighbourhood Greenways
A number of the recent proposed Major Cycleways are using “neighbourhood greenway” treatments, including Rapanui/Shag Rock, Papanui Parallel, and Uni-Cycle. Most people understand the concepts of separated cycleways and shared paths that are being used for many …
Cycling Road Rules getting a shake-up
Many of the current road transport regulations in place in New Zealand were drafted really only with motor vehicles in mind; trying to apply them to cycles as well doesn’t always make sense. New developments in cycling network design also …
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 …
New National Cycle Network Planning / Design Guidance
One of the important things announced at last week’s 2WALKand CYCLE Conference in Auckland was the public release of the NZ Transport Agency’s Cycling Network Guidance. This has been an exhaustive 18-month long project to develop and update national …
Who’s Who for Cycling in Christchurch?
In a relatively short period of time, it seems that a number of people and groups in Christchurch have sprung up to help encourage everyday cycling in some way. This was brought home to me a month or so back …
Cycling in the Cold
Some of you may be getting ready to brave the elements for the Winter Solstice Ride. Maybe at other times, it’s just about biking to work on a frosty Canterbury morning. Whatever the situation, if you spend long enough …
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 …
Where should we have lower speed limits?
The City Council is currently undertaking their (usually) biennial review of speed limits around the city and are seeking feedback on them. Most of the proposed changes are located around the periphery of the urban limits, where roads are gradually …
Ferry Road Streetscape Improvements at Woolston Village
The City Council is continuing to churn out new street reconstruction proposals around the city; this time it’s the turn of Woolston Village on Ferry Rd to get a makeover. As usual lately, that includes some improvements to the environment …
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 …
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 …