Last Wednesday, I had the fun of giving a presentation on “Cycleways and Safety” to a Nerd Nite Selwyn gathering out in Lincoln. It covered a lot of bases in a short time and elicited lots of good questions too. …
Tag: Media
Flashback Friday: Solutions to traffic queues
I’ve had two occasions recently where I had to bike to locations across town right at the peak start and end of the day when commuters are trying to get to or from work, mostly in their cars. Often I …
Flashback Friday: What price for a cycleway?
Most of the Major Cycle Routes that are being developed around Chch follow either existing streets or through parks and other reserve areas. But nearly 7 years ago, one new route was created through the purchase of a couple of …
Flashback Friday: Do cycleways = extravagance?
Christchurch City Council is starting conversations about their updated Long Term Plan, and already there have been some rumblings about possible financial struggles. Predictably, cycleways are one of the possible candidates for the chopping block, although I’d be …
Cycling is on the Up in Chch – and even the World is recognising it…
Last week, the Chch City Council released the latest cycle count stats showing that cycling numbers in the city are continuing to climb, up 6% from the same time last year and 30-40% up since 5+ years ago. As the …
Hey world, have you heard of Christchurch?!
We all love a bit of healthy rivalry, whether it’s which is the bigger “second city” in NZ or even which is the “shittest town in NZ”. Bike-friendliness is another metric by which many people seek to answer “where …
Flashback Friday: How to Deal with Cycling on Social Media
Another day, another news item somewhere about how cycleways are the cancer of the world… Actually, lately I seem to have been more stuck on dealing with the chatter around stories on speed limits, stadium costs, and bus lanes – …
Flashback Friday: Perceived Danger or Actual Danger?
Just the other day I saw another comment on social media by a Chch local stating how cycling in the city is very scary and puts them off. It’s a common enough reaction I see (even more so after the …
Flashback Friday: Cycling wishes for Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that Santa has got you something suitably bike-friendly… Speaking of what we want, I thought you might like to muse on this Christmas wishlist (originally posted in Dec 2017) and think about what we …
Flashback Friday: Cargo Bike Power
As the “normalisation” of biking happens around Christchurch, we are seeing a lot more practical utility bikes being ridden in favour of the traditional sporting and mountain bike models that were the standard in the past. Another creeping trend is …
Flashback Friday: Christchurch’s Riskiest Intersections for Cycling?
Before the cycleway programme started getting rolled out in Chch, the local media didn’t really help things by regularly coming up with various “cycle safety” angles for news items. This article, originally from Apr 2013, is a case in …
Flashback Friday: More Cycling in the News
The image of cycling in Christchurch (and New Zealand in general) has slowly changed over the years, from the perception of some strange “hobby” that a few enthusiasts do, to a more everyday activity undertaken by a wide range of …
Flashback Friday: The Cycleway Tax that isn’t
When we think of the hundreds of millions that Christchurch (and NZ in general) is now spending on cycleways, it takes a bit to remember that not that long ago the prospect of finding even $70 million for local cycleways …
Flashback Friday: Are you a Cyclist or a Person?
It wasn’t that many years ago that we still generally saw the term “cyclist” everywhere in public conversations about biking, leading to all the various negative connotations that can conjure. While it’s still not perfect (mainstream media: I’m looking at …
Flashback Friday: Cycling in the News
Here at Cycling in Christchurch we like to keep you up to date on the latest topical happenings cycle-wise around our city (please let us know if you have some interesting gossip we have missed!). Sometimes we do that by …
Do cycleways = extravagance?
There’s a worrying trend starting to appear in conversations around Christchurch. Any time that a city agency (City Council, Otakaro, ECan, you name it) is seen to be doing something new, problematic or contentious, social comment seems to very quickly …
2017 in Review: Bikeways, Biketober, Bikelash…
Another year over; time to reflect on what has happened cycling-wise over the past 12 months in Christchurch, since our last review. And what a crazy, wild ride it has been…
We’ll start with the good stuff. And for …
Cycling wishes for Christmas
Dear Santa,
I hope you and Mrs Claus are well. I have been a good boy this year, riding my bike lots and only bothering a few people on social media. Here’s what I would like for Christmas:
- I would
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 price for a cycleway?
One of the more contentious issues recently regarding Christchurch’s Major Cycleways revolved around the proposal to purchase two properties in Somerfield to create a new link between Roker and Barrington Streets as part of the Quarryman’s Trail cycleway. This option …