From Kathryn King, Walking, Cycling and Road Safety Manager for Auckland Transport
The number of people cycling to the central city for work or study has doubled in the last three years and King says AT's goal is to increase another 30 per cent by 2018 (this would lift the number from 2400 to over 3100).
Over 320 km of cycle paths now exist in Auckland with a further 40km to be completed by 2018, giving access to central Auckland from inner suburbs to the east and west. Access from the North Shore will also be possible once the proposed Skypath on the Auckland Harbour Bridge - recently approved by the Environment Court - is built. This will create a 1 km cycle and walking path across the water from Westhaven Marina to Northcote Point.
King, who has spent the last eight years in a similar role at the Kensington and Chelsea Council in central London, says many employers in London pay staff an allowance equivalent to around 30c per km for cycling to work while tax breaks are available for people to buy bikes.
This trend is occurring in many parts of the world. ScienceAlert, a leading international scientific publisher, says there are more than 1.2 billion vehicles on the world's roads and "it is safe to say we have way too many cars contributing unsustainable levels of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere."
To combat these problems, national and municipal leaders are targeting cycling as one part of the solution.
Auckland, like many cities around the world, is designed for the car. Weather, safety, pollution - even driver animosity to cyclists are all reasons people give for using four wheels instead of two.
King says offering incentives for cycling would help: "But we also need to use the road space we have more efficiently and, just like we have created bus lanes, in the future we need to look at providing safe, well -protected cycle lanes.
"Every week there are 800 extra cars on Auckland's roads; every year 40,000 people move here so we have to do something," she says. "Our long term goal by 2040 is to keep the number of cars coming to the city at the same level it is now (it is over 100,000) but to have additional growth taken up by people switching to walking, cycling and public transport."
The number of people cycling to the central city for work or study has doubled in the last three years and King says AT's goal is to increase another 30 per cent by 2018 (this would lift the number from 2400 to over 3100).
Over 320 km of cycle paths now exist in Auckland with a further 40km to be completed by 2018, giving access to central Auckland from inner suburbs to the east and west. Access from the North Shore will also be possible once the proposed Skypath on the Auckland Harbour Bridge - recently approved by the Environment Court - is built. This will create a 1 km cycle and walking path across the water from Westhaven Marina to Northcote Point.
King, who has spent the last eight years in a similar role at the Kensington and Chelsea Council in central London, says many employers in London pay staff an allowance equivalent to around 30c per km for cycling to work while tax breaks are available for people to buy bikes.
This trend is occurring in many parts of the world. ScienceAlert, a leading international scientific publisher, says there are more than 1.2 billion vehicles on the world's roads and "it is safe to say we have way too many cars contributing unsustainable levels of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere."
To combat these problems, national and municipal leaders are targeting cycling as one part of the solution.
Auckland, like many cities around the world, is designed for the car. Weather, safety, pollution - even driver animosity to cyclists are all reasons people give for using four wheels instead of two.
King says offering incentives for cycling would help: "But we also need to use the road space we have more efficiently and, just like we have created bus lanes, in the future we need to look at providing safe, well -protected cycle lanes.
"Every week there are 800 extra cars on Auckland's roads; every year 40,000 people move here so we have to do something," she says. "Our long term goal by 2040 is to keep the number of cars coming to the city at the same level it is now (it is over 100,000) but to have additional growth taken up by people switching to walking, cycling and public transport."