By Duncan Laidlaw, Deputy Chair, Bike Auckland
Hang around the Lake Road painted cycleway at rush hour and it won’t be long before a hundred commuters have whizzed or ambled past, some calling out a cheery “Good morning!” as they pass. The same is true of the Orewa Path, which sees over 400 bikes pass per day at peak season. The Shore loves to cycle, whether it’s for reliable transport, an affordable A-to-B, for wellbeing, for the planet, or simply for the sheer joy of feeling the wind in your hair and the satisfaction of knowing your own muscles have gotten you there.
Happy commuters aren’t the only ones benefiting from bikes. Our kids love to cycle too. 86% of students in a recent study of Auckland primary school students rated walking, biking or wheeling as their favourite modes (cars were least preferred at 17%).
“My favourite way to get around my neighbourhood is biking (because it’s fun and it beats the traffic).”
Jayla, 9, Silverdale School
Bike to Sport programmes for weekend kids games in Devonport have been heavily subscribed too.
Why is it then, that if you look at a map of Auckland’s cycleways, you notice fewer cycleways on the Shore compared to other areas of Tāmaki Makaurau?
True, we can’t yet pedal ourselves all the way to city centre workplaces, but cycle routes connect well with the Northern Express. Auckland Transport are trialling a way to carry bikes on the Northern Express too.
There’s a plan underway to meet the needs of Shore communities. New cycleways are at various stages of design and planning, including key projects in Takapuna, along East Coast Road and along the Albany Highway. The last of these is of particular value in creating a connected cycling network, as it completes a missing gap between Upper Harbour Highway and the Northern Corridor cycleway, which in turn connects to Constellation Station and key public transport options.
(If you’re interested in hearing more about future cycleway plans, the Cycling and Micromobility Programme Business Case 2022 details Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s investment and prioritisation strategy.)
These projects have been through considerable community consultation, in fact, in many cases communities have fought hard to get them. Much work has already been done as they have been carefully planned and designed and are shovel-ready, or close to it.
You may feel even more is called for, and sooner, and I’d agree. But despite all the evidence, our Government feels the opposite, and has cut almost all funding for cycleways, leaving just a smidgen of cash to finish projects that it can’t get out of. None of that will be spent on the Shore.
It’s now up to Auckland to decide how to proceed with our underfunded and at-risk projects and future pipeline for active transport.
I call on our region’s decision makers to continue to support transport options for people living and working on the Shore. A third of us don’t or can’t drive. In contrast, 82% of us know how to ride a bike. And the majority have said, time and again, that they support new cycleways. Once told about how much road deaths and serious injuries reduce when safe cycleways are in place, Aucklanders’ support for cycleways is at almost nine in ten. Shore residents will lose trust in our representatives and Auckland Transport if these hard-fought projects are cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
More to the point, our kids expect to be able to get around without a car as grown-ups – 60% said they want to be able to travel to work without a car, 85% expect to visit friends and family without a car. You’d be forgiven for assuming that their needs are being taken into account as we plan the transport infrastructure that they will inherit.
Bikes are the sensible option, for our health, to reduce congestion, for our kids’ freedom and their safety on the roads. Give us the option to travel under our own steam.
