Two steps forward, one step back
The ongoing challenge to gain (and retain) decent cycle infrastructure
It's been a challenging 12 months for those of us interested in seeing safer roads for cyclists (and pedestrians).
After several years of improvements around the country to make intersections safer, develop cycle infrastructure and reduce neighbourhood speed limits, last year's change in government led to an abrupt withdrawal of funding in favour of funding roads - and a determined effort to reinstate higher speed limits (despite all the evidence and arguments against doing so).
Under New Zealand’s transport system, local councils are responsible for the roads and transport infrastructure in their area (other than state highways) but central government contributes a significant share of the funding - provided local councils are delivering projects that are consistent with the government’s priorities. So a change of direction at the top has a big impact on what projects councils choose to deliver.
To their credit, some councils are deciding that projects that make walking and cycling safer are important and funding them anyway. But they have the unenviable task of having to decide what they must stop doing to make up for funding they were otherwise expecting to receive from central government.
It’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising given well-signalled transport policies at the last election. But recent developments make it feel like it's one setback after another.
Last month the New Zealand Transport Agency issued a warning that allowing bikes to be carried on the front of buses - which has been allowed for many years - could obscure a bus’s headlights and compromise safety. The initial response from the regional authorities (who are responsible for public transport) was to prohibit bikes being carried at night while they found a solution. A pain for some, yes, but given we’re heading into long summer days, not a major problem.
But then the bus operators decided that wasn't sufficient and so there is now a complete ban on bikes being carried on the front of buses - at any time of day or night. Regardless of light conditions. It makes no sense whatsoever.
I've never taken my bike on the bus (although I’ve been meaning to try it) but plenty of people do. And in Christchurch, some cyclists use it as part of their daily commute into the city from nearby Lyttelton because the road passes through a hill tunnel that cyclists are not allowed to use. (The only alternative is a long steep climb over the hill, which isn't really feasible for regular commuters.)
But wait, there's more. Just a few weeks ago, we learned that a section of one of the city's major cycleways was being forced to close due to safety concerns by Kiwirail (New Zealand’s government-owned rail company) - less than 12 months after the cycleway opened.
The cycleway runs alongside a railway. It does not cross it. There are barriers to slow people down as they approach a crossing for a road that does go over the railway line. And therein lies the problem. Apparently there is a one in 1003 year risk of someone coming to grief on this crossing. So Kiwirail wants the council to close the cycleway and spend $6.5 million on putting in extra safety measures.
Despite the fact that the cycleway doesn't cross the railway line. And that few people access the cycleway via the road that does cross it. And that there are similar crossings over railway lines all over the country. And that closing this particular section of cycleway will mean forcing cyclists to use busy arterial roads instead - greatly increasing the risks to their safety. Again, it makes no sense whatsoever.
Fortunately, the public outcry - and even the (not-so-cycle-friendly) Transport Minister described Kiwirail’s decision as illogical - led to Kiwirail backing down. For now. Kiwirail’s decision was simply to delay the cycleway closure rather than cancel it.
(As it happens, this particular cycleway is close to Lyttelton tunnel so, even if they could catch the bus, Lyttelton cycle commuters might well have been among those affected.)
I’ve posted before about the challenges of cycling in the city and the constant dangers cyclists face while going from A to B. Every ride requires us to be on high alert, watching carefully for any sign a driver is about to suddenly pull out, swerve or turn across our line of travel. I encounter at least one of these situations on nearly every ride, and it amazes me how often drivers don't even notice what they've done.
Then there are the few (thankfully only a few) who go out of their way to express their contempt for cyclists. These people can ruin your day.
My personal ‘favourites’ include the young blokes in a Ute who honked their horn right in my ear as they passed, and the (slightly older) man in a (flasher) Ute who passed dangerously close before blocking me from cycling up to a T-intersection and leaning over his wife to yell out the window that I should stick to the cycle lanes. Best of all though was the middle-aged woman who snarled at me from her car for having the temerity to slow her exit from a driveway while I waited patiently for the lights to change: “Next time I might just run into you, you f***ing c***”. Charming.
So, when there is safe cycle infrastructure that keeps me away from poor driving and people like this, I use it.
There's good reason to encourage more people to travel by bicycle - it's better for them, it's better for the environment and it's better for communities. More of us cycling means fewer cars on the road, and an easier and safer commute for everyone.
And there’s good reason to believe that making roads safer for cycling and providing dedicated cycle infrastructure is an effective way to make that happen. Some of us are confident cyclists and will cycle anyway. But there's many others who are concerned about safety and will only do it if there’s separate infrastructure in place.
Christchurch provides a good example. More people are choosing to travel to work by bikes than five years ago, and analysis of which parts of the city they're coming from suggests that the new major cycleways are a large part of it.1
Which brings me back to the title of this post. It's easy to feel disheartened by this government’s lack of support for cycling as a mode of transport. But huge gains have been made in recent years. It's two steps forward and one step back rather than the other way around. More people are cycling in many parts of the country and there's a lot more cycle infrastructure in place.
And cycle advocates are not taking current setbacks lying down. They continue to state their case clearly at every opportunity, and every now and then they get a win - even if it is just a temporary reprieve on closure of a major cycleway.