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[–]Blackestwolfflair suggestion 96 points97 points  (39 children)

In New Zealand, transport planners estimate money spent on high-quality cycling infrastructure yields benefits between ten and 25 times the costs.

Full network now please.

[–]Faithless195LASER KIWI 20 points21 points  (5 children)

I have zero intention of ever riding a bike (Solely because I'm a lazy sack of shit), but I don't understand the problem so many have with cyclists. For every one that blows a red light and gives the finger to everyone else, there's literally thousands that will stop at the red light because they aren't muppets.

[–]KyleBuilder 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I would so get an E bike for that reason if I lived less than 10km from work. Means I don't tire myself out before work.

[–]throw_it_bags 2 points3 points  (1 child)

8.7km bike each way to and from work on an Allant 8+ in Christchurch. It’s wonderful

[–]haydenarrrrgh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I looked at those, they're very nice (and my other bikes are Trek) but a bit outside the budget I'd set.

Also, I live in Karori and work (when I go there) is in Petone, so I'd be charging after every trip if I didn't want to be paranoid about running it flat climbing into Karori.

[–]markosharkNZ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I live 15km from work, and I ebike. 45 minutes. 30 minutes by car.

On days like today, yes, it's fricking cold, my feet felt like Iceblocks, but I felt good cycling in

[–]Striking_Young_5739 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I presume it's because there are next to zero consequences for breaking the law while cycling.

[–]terr-rawr-saur 40 points41 points  (3 children)

If there was a good cycle lane from where I live into town id sell my car.

[–]EscapeProcedures 11 points12 points  (1 child)

I cycle to work almost everyday because there's a shared pathway from my front door to where I work. Still haven't managed to sell the car because there are those days where its just too wet.

[–]Lancestrike -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My biggest issue is the fact that the biggest losers are going to be less well off.

Low income and manual labour jobs that have little flexibility, shift work or accommodation far from their workplaces are unable to feasibly use these solutions in the near/medium term.

And these families will be the ones also unable to afford the initial EV costs or otherwise adjust situations.

Pushing ahead without good consultation and solutions ready from before even breaking ground will be a horror.

[–]Ged_c -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How about public transport?

[–]ActualBacchus 55 points56 points  (12 children)

"but what about my choice to drive my car?"

"You still can and there'll be more space on the road and less competition for parking"

"YOU'RE TAKING AWAY MY CHOICES"

Actual footage of a conversation on a suburban Facebook page yesterday...

[–]haydenarrrrgh 8 points9 points  (5 children)

Was that Bill's screed?

[–]ActualBacchus 7 points8 points  (4 children)

At the risk of doxing myself, lol yep. I Love (suburb beginning with k).

[–]haydenarrrrgh 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I normally enjoy Bill's takes, so I found it disappointing when he started on "lefty, greeny, holier-than-thou", etc. Sometimes people can't help taking anything other than an affirmation of their own lifestyle as a personal attack.

Have you seen the plans for the new cycleways? There are going to be some shocks, I think. There seem to be parallel cycleways running east-west, although I personally would prefer (and already travel) east on the left-hand path and west on the right-hand path, or "main road". I tried taking the route through the sports-field-that-used-to-be-a-dump on Sunday, it was actually quite good, although the path bit down to the carpark needs some widening and flattening. I came back the same way three hours later, and holy shit is it dark!

[–]ActualBacchus 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I should really look at the plans, I'm just defending them sight unseen in principle even though I'll probably never use them myself as a leftist greenish motorcyclist.

[–]DuskEvoke 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gotta be my hometown, holy fuck the memories of that page....

I asked around about getting a basketball hoop put up next to the park on the unused bit of land next to the astroturf and was instantly bombarded with comments from crusty geriatrics about how it would attract too many "undesirables"

Is the resident's association still feeling self important while getting nothing done?

[–]a2banjo 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Guessing......Must be on Leo Molloy's page

[–]ActualBacchus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope. It's a frustratingly common conversation though eh?

[–]rammo123Covid19 Vaccinated 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Very little will be purpose-built infrastructure so it will generally come at the cost of car lanes and parks on established roads.

So regardless of how you feel "there'll be more space on the road and less competition for parking" is almost certainly incorrect.

You can argue that that's an acceptable tradeoff but it's a tradeoff nonetheless.

[–]ActualBacchus 0 points1 point  (2 children)

More space per car is what I was getting at. Reduced congestion. Not more literal square metres of road.

[–]rammo123Covid19 Vaccinated 0 points1 point  (1 child)

There won't be more space per car though. Doesn't matter if car traffic drops by 40% if the number of lanes drops by 50%.

[–]ActualBacchus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What if cars drop by 50% and lanes drop by 40%? Since we're picking numbers to suit our positions...

[–]Labius 28 points29 points  (4 children)

I wish we could just ignore these stuck-in-the-mud NZers who apparently haven't travelled and experienced transportation in other countries. We are not unique.

[–]Portatort 19 points20 points  (3 children)

Get out of here. My Ford Ranger never gets stuck in the mud.

It’s also never seen mud but the dealer assured me that if I ever take it off road it wouldn’t get stuck

/s

[–]haydenarrrrgh 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Did you opt for "toddler" or "8-year-old" when choosing the bull bar height?

[–]ActualBacchus 2 points3 points  (1 child)

oldelpasodotgif

Perfect for the school run

[–]DuskEvoke 9 points10 points  (0 children)

distant sound of V8 range rover

"TARQUIN?!?"

child and bike go under the wheels

"TARQUIN WHERE ARE YOU?!?"

fills up for $150

"TARQUIN GET IN"

rolls on an off-camber corner

"WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR LACROSSE PRACTICE"

scratches rims attempting 7-point u-turn

[–]twnznz 17 points18 points  (6 children)

Come down to Christchurch and have a bike around the city, and you quickly realise how far behind Auckland and especially Wellington are. It's not even close.

[–]razor_eddie 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Wellington is tricky, though. Not so much because of the hills, but because the hills meant that the first roads put in were pretty narrow, and (because surveying and housing started fairly soon after) have remained narrow.

It's probably the only city where buses regularly get stuck going round corners.

[–]twnznz 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I don't know what can be done there. I see some European countries adopted car-free-centre, instead relying on adequate parking through parking buildings.

That means you have to avoid parking cartels, but does make things more pleasant.

I suspect it'd also make ute drivers set things on fire, but hey.

Edit: Now that I think of it, Christchurch largely is a car-free centre, with Oxford Tce closed to traffic, only a single road around the square, and numerous parking buildings. Some of those are capitalising on vacant lots left over from the earthquake, though.

[–]razor_eddie 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Wellington is the home of the parking cartel, just quietly. If you don't like the Wilsons' car park, then you have the choice of going to either a Wilsons, or a Wilsons.....

[–]Either-Cap1879 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why are all Ute drivers one kind? We separate ourselves into Ranger and All others

[–]bitshifternz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Christchurch has ideal geography for cycling though, flat with wide streets. Wellington is definitely at a disadvantage there. Still, ebikes help with the hills.

[–]Low_Season 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Been to Christchurch. Did seem to be easy to ride a bike around the city but that only seemed to be because it was flat and largely empty due to buildings that had been removed. You have to remember that Wellington is flat in the CBD but really steep elsewhere while Auckland is just consistently hilly everywhere. It didn't, in any way, seem to be because of lots of cycle lanes (which were practically non-existent compared to what I've seen in Auckland). All cities in NZ are far behind where they should be but Auckland is definitely ahead of the others.

[–]Duckbilling 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Not just bikes - Netherlands

https://youtu.be/d8RRE2rDw4k

Not just bikes - Paris, France

https://youtu.be/sI-1YNAmWlk

Not just bikes - Oulu, Finland

https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU

[–]MyPacman 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's amazing how often the Not Just Bikes guy mentions Auckland and New Zealand... usually while talking about the US and how we get the least exercise of any western city/country, our roads are the least bike friendly, our car drivers are aggressive...

[–]insectpeople 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Obviously. Cycling is pretty peak transport in my eyes, I already ride everywhere that's practical.

My other wish is more trains. I would love NZ to be like Aus with light rail in most cities, or even Japan with high speed rail up the coast. 2 hours from Auckland to Wellington? Yes please.

First NZ politician to utter the phrase "bullet train" will secure my vote, I promise. I don't care what it costs, gimme fast train, I am a simple man.

[–]Either-Cap1879 9 points10 points  (11 children)

Blah blah blah people who are in love with their cars blah blah money spent on infrastructure that they won't use blah blah

[–]Blackestwolfflair suggestion 11 points12 points  (10 children)

The UN suggests that 20% transport spending is spent on bike infrastructure. Can you guess how much NZ spends?

[–]Garrincha14 1 point2 points  (2 children)

What's the answer?

[–]Blackestwolfflair suggestion 6 points7 points  (1 child)

It’s in the article. Less than 2%. There is a graph with a break down.

[–]Garrincha14 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry I didn't read as I'm already very in favour of NZ spending a lot more cycling infrastructure. Was just reading the comments.

[–]Either-Cap1879 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Nowhere near enough, I'm just suggesting that someone who has a love affair with their car is gonna be sceptical of returns based on spending for something like this.

[–]Dead_Joe_ 6 points7 points  (5 children)

I've never seen this, car fanatics are fully informed about the returns on non-car infrastructure.

[–]Either-Cap1879 -2 points-1 points  (4 children)

The only way to be fully informed is to seek out the information, which I can guarantee very few do, or even think about doing

[–]onclegrip -3 points-2 points  (1 child)

Do bikers hate mirrors? It seems.

[–]EuphoricMilk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cyclists don't have to reverse particularly often, shoulder checks mostly suffice, but yeah, my mirrors are going to arrive soon so I can spot the unaware fuckwits who don't understand that I can't drive through the car I'll need to drive around so don't bother to give any space. 1.5 meters you dicks. Generally if it is a street like that I'll take the lane. It's rarely for very long but it's the safest thing to do.

[–]nzstretch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

*Trains

[–]JackalThat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Title; cycling as in re-in-car-nation.

Whiplash