Some ideas for the auckland city council in regards to cycling..

I’ve been cycling in auckland for a while now, and I’ve had a few ideas..

1. We NEEED more cycleways.. the only way to get people out of cars and onto bikes.. Ak is a beautiful place to ride, but the roads are dangerous.. and not necessarily directionally condusive to riding. I ride from Manurewa, up Gt Sth Rd to the CBD (28km) – its ok in the morning but in the evening its downright terrifying. If I come back down Dominion rd and through Onehunga, Mangere, and the Airport, the view is nicer, but its 32km (if I ride down rosscommon rd, which is also hella scary). The majority of the ride is on wide roads or cycle paths and is less scary, but takes 15 mins longer (1hr 10 becomes 1 hr 25 – long time on a bike 2x a day)

2. Suggestion: put cycle ways along side of the motorways, especially SH20 (knocks 10km off the trip for me, and makes the CBD accessible from papakura by bike).

Even better.. put cycle commuter tracks along side of the railway lines going into town. In Auckland virtually all the train lines go direct to the CDB – in most places there is enough land around them to add the cycle ways…

3. If you motorcycle or pedal into town, and can prove it, you should be give a rebate on your Rates. You are saving congestion, traffic, parking, etc, and that should be rewarded. Imagine how many people would cycle into the CBD if they could do it for less than 25k each way (30-40 min ride), AND got money for doing it?

The map below shows my routes.. the RED is the train line, BLUE is GT STH RD, and GREEN is the manukau way.. as you can see, the train line is most efficient.