Münster – Germany does Cycling too

While I was in the Netherlands I was based very close to the border with Germany. So it was an easy train ride to hop over one day and visit the German city of Münster, just 60km away. Why Münster? …

Reflections on a Month in the UK

My time in the UK during my sabbatical has now come to an end and I’ve moved on to the Netherlands (more on that in the future!). I’ve provided a few thoughts and photos on London and Bristol specifically …

Study Abroad – First Stop: London

Greetings from the UK! It’s been three days since I touched down in London for the start of a three month sabbatical (study leave) in Europe. As well as meeting up with various colleagues and working on a few papers …

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 …

Are you “Interested but Concerned”?

When trying to encourage more people to cycle, it’s helpful to “know your audience”. There’s an interesting theory that was developed in Portland, Oregon, to help understand who might want to cycle for transportation. Its intuitive logic has been so …

Starting with a Solid Base

For anyone who has spent the past 20-odd months living in Christchurch, the importance of a solid foundation is pretty obvious. Otherwise sturdy homes and other buildings were no match for ground conditions that turned into quicksand when the big …