Once a week for a year?
Transport advocate lays down challenge to Tauranga, Western Bay residents
Share a ride to work, bike, scooter or take the bus once a week for a year. That’s the challenge transport advocate and former councillor Heidi Hughes wants to issue cardependent Tauranga and Western Bay residents.
The fledgling project has been dubbed the Carless Wednesday Challenge and she is seeking nearly $1 million in public funding to get it off the ground.
Hughes pitched the idea to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council on Monday, alongside Downtown Tauranga spokeswoman Sally Cooke and Suzanne Mcqueen.
The challenge aims to help reduce car dependency in the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty by incentivising people to try other modes of transport to get to work or school once a week for a year.
That could mean carpooling, cycling or taking the bus to work or school.
“We will work with the 20 per cent — the ones who might and can, but haven’t, not the 80 per cent who can’t or won’t,” Hughes said.
She asked the council to put the challenge into the Regional Land Transport Plan.
“If we can do this . . . we might be able to get to a place where people can visualise why they might need more buses, why they might need more cycleways, and then help the rest of the transport teams to be able to do a better job in delivering those messages.” It could also free up car parks. Hughes said the operational cost for one year was $950,000.
She hoped Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency would fund half and the regional council a quarter, with the last quarter split between the Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty District councils.
Hughes said the money could develop an app where people find different modes of transport. It would tie in existing apps and programmes such as Love to Ride, bike route app Strava, Lime scooters and the regional council’s Transit app for buses.
Users would earn points and rewards for not using their cars, she said. Leaderboards would show the modes in use and create competition among schools, organisations and neighbourhoods.
Hughes said a 20 per cent reduction in single-occupancy vehicle use on Wednesdays would have a tangible effect on carbon reduction, health, the economy, equity, land use and network resilience.
“The reality is we’re looking at billions in infrastructure to get the same amount of mode shift in the next 20 years. We need to start working with what we have got now.”
Tuskany brand and marketing specialist and Downtown Tauranga spokeswoman Sally Cooke said part of the idea was to encourage mainstreets including Downtown Tauranga, Mount Mainstreet and Greerton Village to join in. “The city centre has lots of issues with parking. If the Carless Wednesdays initiative can contribute positively to that it would be groundbreaking with us in the city centre.”
Councillor David Love questioned the costs.
The city centre has lots of issues with parking. If the Carless Wednesdays initiative can contribute positively to that it would be groundbreaking with us in the city centre. Downtown Tauranga spokeswoman, Sally Cooke
“You’re virtually asking for a million dollars for the one year and you’re looking for us to give you a quarter of that. I can’t really see what you’re going to spend that on.”
Love asked what costs were projected if the project continued beyond the initial year and what the group expected the council to contribute.
Hughes said there was more information in the business case, which would be supplied to the council. Councillor Toi Kai Ra¯ kau Iti congratulated Hughes for her enthusiasm in trying to find solutions for reducing car dependency. “I am quite excited by the idea of the app around the collection of data to start to measure how these little changes can make a difference.
“If more of our citizenship was as engaged in finding solution pathways we’d be steps ahead.”
University of Waikato assistant vice-chancellor of sustainability, professor Lynda Johnston, told the Bay of Plenty Times the carless challenge was an “excellent” initiative.
“The relevance of cars in relation to changing climates is indisputable. All scientific evidence points out that cars cause greenhouse gas emissions.
“While most people are aware of this, they still use their cars on a daily basis. A change of culture is needed if we are to become serious about reducing our dependence on cars. [The challenge] is one way to do this.”
Johnston said staff and students were eager to try new initiatives that would help them reduce their carbon footprint.
“The one-day-a-week aspect of this challenge is doable and may allow all of us to see the potential in other forms of transport and working or studying at home for that day.”
Tauranga campus student adviser Ben Jones said similar challenges had shown success in overseas trials.
Jones, who sits on the council’s public transport community panel, said the community “urgently” needed to stop being so dependent on personal vehicles “when there are other transport options readily available like our bus service and cycle lanes”.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said the opt-in model was great for businesses but it would not be viable for staff where public transport wasn’t convenient and working from home was not an option.
“Businesses that support the idea would likely benefit from a good team-building exercise and demonstrating to staff that the business lives their values.”
A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency spokesperson said reducing travel by car and increasing walking, cycling and micro-mobility helped improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, increase daily physical activity and reduce carbon emissions.