Why the war on cyclists can’t last

Before the election I hosted a meeting in Newtown of local candidates. They behaved well, as did the substantial crowd. During the meeting, I asked them to tell me the best and worst thing about Newtown. The answers to what was best varied, but the candidates on the Right seemed united on the – cycleways.

Really? I know some motorists dislike cycleways – although every time I’m on my bike I’m not driving my car so I’m freeing up the road for those who aren’t cycling.

However, although previous National governments haven’t been as pro-cycling as the Greens or Labour, they have seen the value in cycling.

Cycleways cut car congestion and pollution, they are relatively cheap to build compared to motorways, and although cyclists have accidents, cycling makes people healthier overall and puts less strain on the health system.

That’s why John Key, with support from the Greens, funded the National Cycleway Project. That’s why former National transport minister Simon Bridges, who now seems like a raving lefty in comparison to this lot, invested $300 million in urban cycleways.

One could argue that if every government department is having to cut 6% of its budget, then it’s fair enough that cyclists should suffer, too. After all, there were some proposals, such as a cycling-only harbour bridge, from the Labour government which even some cycling advocates regarded as exorbitant.

Yet in the recently announced draft land transport Government Policy Statement (GPS), the Government halved the cycling funding from $1 billion to $510 million.

Funding for public transport was cut by a third, and even though Transport Minister Simeon Brown promised before the election that cyclists and pedestrians would be catered for in the second Mt Victoria tunnel, he can now no longer confirm this.

Never mind. There are lots of new roads being built – using Transmission Gully-like Public-Private-Partnerships, so I would add about 50% to allow for budget overruns and litigation costs – so one would assume that cycleways would be part of that.

There are some good cycleways accompanying parts of the Kāpiti Expressway. Not any more. “The Government expects that (road) funding will not be used to make multimodal improvements, ie, cycleways and busways...” Damn.

The Minister of Transport even wrote to councils late last year to tell them to halt work on cycling and walking projects, as they were a waste of time and money. I’ll tell that to my doctor.

“My priority in transport is to build and maintain the roading network so that we can have a safe, efficient and productive transport network,” said Brown in December last year, “which helps Kiwis get where they need to go, quickly and safely”.

Brown has obviously never tried to go from Newtown to Kelburn at about 3pm on a weekday afternoon. I’ve done it twice in the last two weeks, once in a car and once on my bike. Even though there’s a steep hill with a bit of walking required, my journey is about 10 minutes quicker by bike, as with many journeys in the inner city. And I’m not very fit. An e-bike would make the difference even bigger.

This government policy isn’t about efficiency or speed, and certainly isn’t about improving health, reducing emissions or reducing congestion. It’s a war on cyclists, just like the war on gangs. What next? A ban on lycra?

It’s a war that people sitting in their cars on Cambridge Tce can applaud while listening to talkback and cursing how long they have to wait for the lights while cyclists whiz by. Cycle lanes don’t cause car congestion, but they highlight it. If they caused congestion there would be no problems on Kent Tce, which has no cycle lane, and yet congestion there is as bad as ever.

Even though cycling numbers are rising fast, they are still relatively small. Surely outside the bubble of young, Green Wellington cyclists, the Government will lose few votes for their war?

Iwould have possibly said yes 10 years ago, but that was before e-bikes. I have never been overtaken by so many elderly cyclists, not to mention parents with kids in tow, on e-bikes as in the last 12 months.

When I cycled on the West Coast recently, there were few stereotypical weatherbeaten young cycle-tourers from overseas. But there were many Kiwi couples in their 50s and older doing e-bike tours. These are not climate change activists or 20-something urbanists. They are wealthy boomers who are the natural constituency of the right-wing parties currently in government.

Some ute owners and cycle haters may be celebrating the current war on cycling, but when a well-paid person in their late 60s can e-bike in from Strathmore quicker than a motorist in their 20s, the war can’t last for long.

As more people realise the efficiency, economy and health benefits of cycling, like the war on drugs, the war on terror, and the war on gangs, the Government’s war on cycling will ultimately end in failure.