International day of climate action

This Saturday October 24 is the international day of action on climate change.

Here are some events happening in Wellington, including a couple of riding options

Kim Hill interviews Phillip Darnton Sat 24th October about 2009 Cycling Conference

Cycling Conference 12 and 13 November in New Plymouth. For the Kim Hill interview. Ride from Wellington and show them your bike.

Topics:

Great Cycle Rides and Touring Routes

Cycling Promotion and Initiatives

Pedestrians and Cyclists

Physical Activity and Health

The Economic Case for Cycling

Marketing and Innovation in encouraging Cycling Inspiring Overseas Cycling Examples Planning and Design for Cycling

Overcoming Obstacles to Cycling

People who should go:

Central government politicians/policy-makers

Transport policy, planning and design professionals

Health sector agencies and community public health groups

Local/regional government staff and elected members

Tourism and economic development agencies

Community service organisations, charities and trusts Sport and recreation organisations Planners, engineers, researchers and other professionals in cycling-related sectors (e.g. education, police, urban design, environment, road safety)

Everyday (commuter), touring and recreational cyclists

Suppliers of cycling-related services and goods

Cycling advocates and other road-user group representatives

Car hits cyclist and drives away

Sadly another motor vehicle has killed another cyclist. The poor guy was out training for a charity ride. Fatal head injuries were the result.

Hydrator photo shoot

When passing the bike yesterday I noticed it now has a frame attachment for a front handle bar bag!! I need to have my camera on me constantly I think, to capture its ever-evolving state...

Could we have separate cycle lanes in Wellington?

A nice video of how to signal and take the lane to avoid getting smashed by car doors.

This is followed by a video of how councils could design streets better to separate cycle lanes from the moving motor vehicles.

NZ cyclepaths and NZ cycle lanes

Yet sharing the road doesn't seem to work in NZ. Cycle lanes should not be shared with buses or pedestrians or unseparated from major roads. The Wellington City Council doesn't get it .

Basically NZ cycling infrastructure doesn't exist. Let's look at the incidents that occur in 'cycle lanes' or because cyclists must ride as far to the left as possible.

All the pointless rage and stress being vented on the NZ Herald page in response to the serious injuries suffered by a group of cyclists hit by a car on Tamaki drive comes down to the fact that NZ has few safe dedicated cyclepaths.

Auckland Cycle Chic reported on Auckland cycle lanes in August:

So where exactly am I supposed to bicycle? The problem is that buses are the same width as the bus lanes with not a lot of room to spare - makes perfect sense, as they were built for buses. So to get past the buses, am I supposed to bicycle in the gutter? or perhaps somewhere between the four lanes of traffic? It obviously looks perfectly reasonable on paper [that cyclists share the bus lanes], but .... It's BLOODY SCARY (excuse my French) when they're moving! And sorry, but facilities like this won't get me off the pavement!!

[Adapted]

The incidents

Incident 1: How can the area 1m from a 100Km/hr road full of heavy traffic: state highway 1, ( actually the shoulder which is an area for motorists to use in emergencies) be considered a cycle lane?! What a joke.

Whenever I am on a major road in NZ with cars passing at speeds around 100 I feel completely vulnerable to say, a driver on a cellphone, a driver who's had a few beers, a driver who is talking to their kids etc.

What NZ needs is physically separate cyclepaths for bikes to encourage people to use the bicycles more often. Alex Unwin CEO of Bicycle NSW describes a proposed plan for "a coordinated trunk network of cycling routes to interconnect the City's villages [involving] separated bicycle roads within existing kerbs." Of course the idea that cycling is worthwhile and to be encouraged is important too. Changing attitudes in NZ is going to be a fundamental part of any cycling strategy.

Incident 2: Sharing a bus lane is not a solution for taking care of cylists. What should a cyclist do when a bus comes. Stupidity to the extreme.

Incident 3: Cyclists are obliged to ride at the edge of the road. This is not safe. Here we have the classic: door opens on stationary vehicle pushing cyclist into high speed traffic. Cyclist hit and killed by truck. Thanks a lot.