Where the money comes from
The Urban Cycleways Fund followed an inquiry into cyclist deaths on the roads.
Much of the cycleway construction under way around the country was triggered by the last government’s Urban Cycleways Fund (UCF), announced in 2014. It made $333 million available over three years – a third each from central government, the Land Transport Fund and local government. It was the first time there had been a serious national focus on cycling as a transport option for getting from A to B.
The new funding followed the 2013 coronial inquiry into 13 cyclist deaths on the roads. The following year, a Government-appointed Cycling Safety Panel strongly recommended improved infrastructure and reduced road speeds as key steps in making cycling a safer form of transport.
Associate Transport Minister Julie
Anne Genter says the UCF, the first round of which would have ended this year, will be extended, but she doesn’t expect the amount of money to increase because councils are already “at capacity” in terms of what they can design, consult on and build.
But she says there is much more that can be done in the meantime. She has asked officials to investigate a cycling programme oriented around schools. The government is drafting a revised policy statement on transport funding that will prioritise cycling, walking and public transport. And Genter wants New Zealand Transport Agency street-design guidelines, currently geared towards the movement of cars, to be revised in line with international best practice, by putting the focus on the movement of people, whether by foot, cycle, public transport or cars.
She says her vision is of “towns and cities where everyone feels safe to let their child cycle on their own to school or to their friend’s house, and that people who haven’t ridden bikes for years and would be too intimidated to ride in the traffic now are free and able to use a bike to get around”.
The number of users on new facilities such as Auckland’s bright-pink Lightpath and the downtown Quay St cycleway is well ahead of forecasts and shows the demand is there if safe infrastructure is provided.
Two-thirds of all car trips in New Zealand are under 6km, a distance easily done by bike. According to Auckland Transport (AT), the city evolved to become one of the most car-dependent in the world during the 20th century, and transport is the city’s largest contributor to greenhouse gases.