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These are subjective impressions. My experience of cycling in SF includes working as a courier in the downtown area over 20 years ago, brief cycling visits since, and anecdotes from many cycling friends. read more
This courtesy of Atlantic Cities-
Post columnist Brad Plumer writes that surveys have concluded young people “prefer to live places where they can easily walk, bike, and take public transportation.” Also that with higher petrol prices, more stringent driver-license systems, communication being carried out more & more online, and younger people preferring to live in denser, more diverse neighbourhoods, the decline of car use -and corresponding increases in public and non-motorised transport- is set to continue.
Looked at this way, the plunge in driving is quite startling, and began back in June 2005.
Remarkably, presiding National Party transport minister Gerry Brownlee immediately insisted in a statement that congestion caused by excess car use and under-controlled urban sprawl is not to be questioned or challenged.
According to Radio NZ, ‘Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee, who hasn’t read the report, said a regional fuel tax, congestion charges and road tolls as they stand would never be agreed to. Mr Brownlee said New Zealanders ‘won’t be paying twice for roads’ when money has been generated through their excise duty or road user charges, while a congestion charge would not be appropriate on government-owned roads.’ Have motorists even paid once for these roads? Or does he expect the rest of us to support motorists’ expensive habits?
Fairfax Media reports, ‘A group of Auckland’s business and community leaders, convened by mayor Len Brown to give its view on funding projects to solve the city’s transport crisis, is today calling for public feedback on two funding options. Group chairman Stewart Milne says Auckland faces a $12 billion transport funding shortfall by 2041 if nothing is done. Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive Kim Campbell says the city will suffer if nothing happens: “Finally when the place comes to a grinding halt, that’s when people leave. We don’t think that’s a responsible view.”
“Our population is projected to grow by as much as 1 million, with around 60 per cent of that coming from our existing populace”, says Brown.
The public is being asked to submit feedback on the group’s proposals before it makes its recommendations to Auckland Council in July.’ (Scott Morgan, Stuff.co.nz, 2013- April 29th)
This the same day that John Key was wheeled out for a conference of petroleum industry representatives in Auckland to tout oil exploration by ‘large oil companies’ in off-shore claim areas. Hmmmm…
I’m not up to date with the issues but it certainly seems remarkable that funding challenges of up to $12 billion can be discussed by senior Government members without reference to the Unitary Plan, denser urban planning, and the concepts of reducing transport needs from unnecessary car trips.
And looking beyond this current spat, it looks like some of the problems arising from virulent car-dependent sprawl are coming home to roost.
In sharing the road with motorists, where is the risk to cyclists being created? From the motor vehicles, of course. So who should we educate and nag? Yes, well done. Those wielding over-powered heavy fast-moving metal objects.
If we’ve got funding for road safety measures, let’s improve driver standards by promotional campaigns, better driver training, lower speed limits, ongoing skills tests, higher enforcement before blaming the victims of poor driving.
Irish TV viewers may recently have spotted a new ad advising drivers on how to share the road with cyclists. Thumbs up to the Government’s Road Safety Authority for rolling this out. Not only is it well shot and scripted, but you have to approve of its messages. In fact, Dublin Cycling Campaign was involved in the background, and it’s a credit to the RSA that they took on board the well-known points from cycling advocacy we made.
Above is a screen-grab from the TV ad, and below it an image from the submission Will edited in early 2012. Let’s hope drivers around the country actually take notice and start giving cyclists the space we deserve. Click here to see this and other RSA ads.
The RSA also published a series of three ads aimed at cyclists last year. This time the RSA consulted us throughout scripting and filming. Though there was a list of niggles that advocates had with the final product -why hi-viz on every cyclist!?- the advice it gave, ‘you’ve as much right to your road space as any other road user, so ride with confidence and command your lane’ was a first in an Irish official context, and marked new ground for the promotion of cycling. Each of the three ads also took time to highlight some of the benefits of cycling, yet another piece of good news for us!
This series sadly wasn’t aired on TV, but you can view them here.
Kiwis Glimpse Contents of One-Percenters’ Shed-
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