Abbreviation | BikeAKL |
---|---|
Formation | 1998 |
Type | NGO |
Legal status | Incorporated Society & Registered Charity |
Purpose | Advocacy |
Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
Region served | Auckland |
Membership | Private persons |
Official language | English |
Chair | Karen Hormann |
Chief Biking Officer | Fiáin d'Leafy |
Website | https://www.bikeauckland.org.nz/ |
Bike Auckland (Bike AKL), formerly Cycle Action Auckland (CAA) is a pro-cycling advocacy group in Auckland, New Zealand. The predominantly volunteer group aims to improve infrastructure and conditions, as well as perceptions of cycling to encourage more "everyday people" to use bicycles, including for commuting and recreation. [1]
Affiliated with Cycling Action Network, the group focuses on Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. The group also more generally calls for increased funding for cycling infrastructure and safety measures. [2]
The first chair (up until 2008) was Bevan Woodward. [3] The chair from 2008 to 2021 was Barbara Cuthbert. [4] The chair from 2021 to 2023 was Tony Mitchell. [5] The current chair as of September 2024 is Karen Hormann. [6]
Campaigns and projects of Bike Auckland include working with Auckland Council to improve safety for cyclists and other users on Auckland's main roads, such as Tamaki Drive (one of the major cycling routes of Auckland, which also saw some high-profile accidents), [2] [7] [8] working with the NZ Transport Agency on improvements to the Northwestern Cycleway [9] [10] and other cycleway projects along motorways, such as the Waikaraka Cycleway sections around the new Manukau Harbour Bridge at Onehunga. [11]
In early 2010, the group also successfully helped convince North Shore City Council to retain the Lake Road cycle lanes after opponents had been campaigning for their removal, and had gotten over 2000 signatures against the lanes. An even larger counter-petition, as well as expert opinions on the efficacy of the lanes, were eventually successful in retaining them, and having cycling improvements included during further Lake Road upgrades. [12] [13]
During 2010–2011, Bike Auckland (then Cycle Action Auckland) submitted in the Board of Inquiry approvals process for the Waterview Connection motorway project as a submitter and participated in transport and open space discussions with expert witnesses. The Board praised Bike Auckland's 'detailed' and 'thoughtful' evidence and submission work. [14] The Board eventually decided to favour arguments in support of a cycleway as part of the Waterview project, and had $8 million set aside towards construction. [15]
Between 2012 and 2015, Bike Auckland advocated for the conversion of the old Nelson Street motorway off-ramp to a new walk and cycleway, which was opened in late 2015. [16]
Another long-term aim is to get a cycle route crossing the Auckland Harbour Bridge, achieving a connection between the North Shore and the Auckland CBD, which at the moment do not have any cycle route connections between them save for bike transport via ferries. [17] While there are close links, the GetAcross campaign is distinct from Bike Auckland.
The group conducts regular meetings with Auckland Transport to discuss cycling infrastructure, and supports a number of affiliated events and groups, such as with Frocks on Bikes, [18] Campaign for Better Transport and other sustainability initiatives. It also organises pro-cycling rallies such as the 'Bikes for Life' event and cycling culture events such as Biketober. [18]
In 2011, Cycle Action Auckland helped organise, together with Auckland Transport and NZ Transport Agency, the TelstraClear Challenge cycle race and community cycling festival, including rides over the Auckland Harbour Bridge and on the Northern Busway. [19] The event took place 11 December. [20]
Together with ARTA, Cycle Action produced a comprehensive set of cycling maps for the Auckland Region in the late 2000s. [21] They also cooperated with the Fullers ferry company to produce a similar map for Waiheke Island. [22]
The group won a Cycle Friendly Award in 2004 for its commuter challenge held earlier that year.
The Auckland Harbour Bridge is an eight-lane motorway bridge over the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. It joins St Marys Bay on the Auckland city side with Northcote on the North Shore side. It is part of State Highway 1 and the Auckland Northern Motorway. The bridge is operated by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA). It is the second-longest road bridge in New Zealand, and the longest in the North Island.
Māngere Bridge, officially also called the Manukau Harbour Crossing, is a dual motorway bridge over the Manukau Harbour in south-western Auckland, New Zealand, crossing between the suburb also known as Māngere Bridge and the suburb of Onehunga.
Waterview is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located along the western side of Auckland's isthmus. Its boundaries are Oakley Creek in the east, Heron Park in the south, the Waitematā Harbour in the west, and the Northwestern Motorway and the Oakley Creek inlet in the north.
The Onehunga Branch railway line is a section of the Onehunga Line in Auckland, New Zealand. It was constructed by the Auckland Provincial Government and opened from Penrose to Onehunga on 24 December 1873, and extended to Onehunga Wharf on 28 November 1878. It is 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) in length and is single-track only.
The Central Motorway Junction or CMJ, is the intersection of State Highways 1 and 16, just south of the central business district of Auckland. A multilevel structure, it has been described as a "fiendishly complicated, multi-layered puzzle of concrete, steel and asphalt". Carrying around 200,000 vehicles a day, it is one of the busiest stretches of road in New Zealand.
Transport in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, is defined by factors that include the shape of the Auckland isthmus, the suburban character of much of the urban area, a history of focusing investment on roading projects rather than public transport, and high car-ownership rates.
O Mahurangi Penlink, is a 7-kilometre-long (4.3-mile), two-lane future state highway. Construction began in late 2022 and is expected to conclude in late 2026. Once completed the new state highway will create a more direct and quicker route between the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and central Auckland in New Zealand.
The Auckland Northern Motorway in the Auckland Region of New Zealand links Central Auckland and Warkworth in the former Rodney District via the Hibiscus Coast and North Shore. It is part of State Highway 1.
The Historic Kopu Bridge is a single-lane swing bridge that spans the Waihou River, near its emergence into the Firth of Thames in the Thames-Coromandel District of New Zealand's North Island. The bridge was completed in 1928 and was part of State Highway 25. The swinging span in the middle of the bridge is 43 metres long and with an overall length of 463 metres, the bridge was the longest and oldest single lane bridge within the state highway network. It is also New Zealand's only remaining operational swing bridge.
The Waterview Connection is a motorway section through west/central Auckland, New Zealand. It connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mt Roskill to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier, and is a part of the Western Ring Route.
The Victoria Park Tunnel is a motorway tunnel completed in 2012 on New Zealand State Highway 1 in Auckland, New Zealand, taking northbound traffic off the Victoria Park Viaduct, which was converted to all southbound traffic. It lies mostly under Victoria Park.
The Second Harbour Crossing is the name given to the proposed second transport link across the Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand. Planners have also referred to new links across the harbour as the Additional Waitematā Harbour Crossing (AWHC) or the Waitematā Harbour Connections.
The Northwestern Cycleway, sometimes also referred to as the North West or Northwestern Cycle Route, is a 12 km mostly off-road cycle route in New Zealand that connects the Auckland CBD with the suburb of Westgate. For most of its length, it runs alongside the Northwestern Motorway.
The Western Ring Route is a motorway system being constructed in Auckland, New Zealand. It currently runs along the entire Southwestern Motorway, most of the Northwestern Motorway, the entire Upper Harbour Motorway, and the entire Upper Harbour Highway. When the Upper Harbour Highway is upgraded to motorway status, the route will surpass the Southern Motorway to become the longest motorway in New Zealand at 48 kilometres in length. It runs through Manukau, West Auckland, and the North Shore, bypassing the Auckland city centre and thus providing a second motorway route through the Auckland isthmus.
Cycling in New Zealand is the 5th most popular form of active recreation, but a very marginal commuting mode, with the share hovering around 1–3% in most major cities. This is due to a number of factors, principally safety fears.
The Waikaraka Cycleway is an off-road cycleway in the south of the Auckland isthmus, New Zealand, running from the suburb of Wesley along New Zealand State Highway 20 to Onehunga and then continuing along the shoreline of the Manukau Harbour beside mostly industrialised areas until it ends at Hugo Johnston Drive, in Southdown.
Cycling in Auckland is a mode of transport in Auckland, New Zealand. The dominance of the car in the city, the negative attitudes of car drivers and general changes in transport patterns have made it a very marginal transport mode in the early 21st century, with remaining cyclists often riding for leisure and sports purposes.
The Nelson Street Cycleway is a cycleway in Auckland, New Zealand. The most well-known section of the path is Te Ara I Whiti, translated as, and commonly known as Lightpath. The cycleway then continues on to the Nelson Street arterial road into the City Centre.
The Waterview Tunnel is a twin road tunnel in central Auckland, New Zealand. At 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) long, it is New Zealand's longest road tunnel. The tunnel, with three lanes of road vehicle traffic in each direction, connects State Highway 20 in the south at Mount Roskill to State Highway 16 in the west at Point Chevalier as part of the Waterview Connection. Its opening completed the Western Ring Route motorway system.