Dear Andre,

Thanks for your e-mail. I couldn't access the web page "will-you-make-a-submission"

This is my submission. It's rather long, but heck, this is an important matter, the planners need to get it right, and we should have done all this twenty years ago in any case. It is not my fault that planner in Wellington, and most Anglo-Saxon countries, are so woefully behind the state of play. If they have to wade through a rather long submission, it serves them right!!

Submission for Draught Cycling Policy and Wellington City Councils Transport Strategy.

Preamble.

My name is Dr John K Monro. I am 61 years old, married, a resident of Hataitai, a rate payer, I own a car, and I cycle daily to work in town, and at weekends for shopping or errands. I now have an intimate and personal knowledge of cycling in Wellington, and the problems associated with this. I am also concerned about the wider environmental and energy issue that are coming to a head in the early part of this twenty-first century - these are oil depletion, and global warming. These are momentous and revolutionary problems that direly threaten our present economic way of life and the health of the planet that sustains us. It is my belief that neither issue has yet been dealt with by any part of our society, other than by a few concerned individuals, with anything like the urgency or seriousness that is needed. There is still the widespread feeling, I am convinced, that global warming and oil depletion will be dealt with by a relatively modest tweaking of the present economic and social system, which will cause only minor inconvenience to the public at large, and a minor degree of effort from our political and economic institutions. This is not going to be true, and if we are to deal adequately and effectively with them, it will require an effort from us all of a similar degree as to the effort that our parents and grandparents put into the Allied effort in the Second World War. Cycling is the most efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport ever invented, and meeting the twin problems of global warming and oil depletion will involve us making it easier for people to cycle, to walk, and to take public transport, and at the same time restricting the use of private transport such that eventually the internal combustion engine car and bus will no longer be a part of our transport network. I would like to see this happen within the next twenty years.

In most countries cycling is just another mode of transport, indeed for many millions of people it is their only mode of transport other then their feet. In wealthier OECD nations cycling is only one of a choice of transport modes, including walking, cycling, buses, trains or the private car, scooters or motor-bikes. However it would be true that in the Anglo-Saxon nations particularly, cycling has generally been discarded as a mode of transport, except for a very small percentage, and is mostly reserved as a mode of recreation or sport. This is certainly true in New Zealand. Only 2% of people commute regularly by cycle in Wellington, and many of these would be people of a sporting bent who also cycle recreationally and competitively. Many other wealthy nations however have continued a strong tradition of cycling as a simple means of regular transport, for work, shopping and general mobility. These include Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, and Germany. Many cities in Europe have very high bicycle usage, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and in the UK, place like York or Cambridge. In most of Asia cycle usage in cities is widespread, including in Japan, another wealthy country.

We see the difference in attitude as compared with continental Europe by the apparel and type of cycles that people use. I don’t often see for instance another rider in Wellington riding anything other than a lightweight racing cycle or mountain bike, nor do they wear ordinary working clothing. Use of commuter-style cycles – with step-through frames, hub gears, mud-guards, hub brakes, dynamo lighting, and relaxed geometry – is very unusual in New Zealand, yet such cycles are standard in cycle-friendly countries. It is actually difficult or impossible to find commuter-style cycles, sometimes called utility cycles, in the cycle shops in Wellington, and their so-called commuter cycles are basically inadequately modified mountain or “cross” bikes. Indeed the other day, when I was enquiring about the matter, one cycle retailer in Wellington even pretended he didn’t know what a lady’s or step-through bike was, and when I explained what they were, just grumpily walked off muttering “we wouldn’t sell rubbish like that”. Avanti and Giant are two major brands available in New Zealand, and some commuter models are available if you order from the catalogue, but the choice is extremely restricted, and popular European models are not imported. A properly set up commuter or utility cycle is just as much a specialised machine, suited for its purpose, as any carbon-fibre racing cycle, or multiply-geared mountain bike, and just as capable of inducing pride of ownership. Modern hub gears of eight, nine, or fourteen speeds provide just as many gearing options for hilly Wellington as any derailleur, but with a lot more convenience and sturdiness. I believe that we will not see more widespread acceptance of cycling as a viable transport option for the majority of the public, until it is seen to be just as natural as getting into a car or bus or walking to the dairy; that cycling is not the preserve of a separate sub-species of humanity, Homo sapiens cyclens – aggressive, macho, lycra-clad and over-muscled specimens of humanity – or that it requires being bent double over uncomfortable and unsuitable cycles or having to wear futuristic, garish and expensive apparel.

I very much welcome your publication of this Draught Cycling Policy, it is to be commended that the council have taken on board the need to encourage cycling in the city.

Recommendations / Suggestions

That the Wellington City Council recognises the need to continuously and substantially reduce the amount of private vehicular traffic in the city.

This first principle is not stated in this Draught Cycling Policy, nor anywhere else in transport planning documents from the Council. The New Zealand Transport Agency has just published a document entitled “Managing Transport Challenges when Oil Prices Rise”, a summary of which was published in the Dominion Post, and which can be found (hidden in an internet basement) here: http://www.ltsa.govt.nz/research/reports/357.pdf. It urges a “paradigm” shift in transport planning, with direct restrictions on private vehicular traffic including such measures as narrowing road access, restricting parking and removing minimum parking requirements, addressing market distortions favouring motoring, and more general measures such as high density urban planning, public transport provision, including light rail, etc.

There is no single measure that would improve the experience of cycling more than reducing traffic volumes in the city. No single measure would improve too the experience of all users of the city. I am sure all the city planners have visited some of the historic cities in Europe, and see the utter transformation that car restrictions and pedestrianisation of city centres brings. There is much scope in Wellington for restricting car access, traffic calming measures, and creating pedestrian and cycle precincts and streets. There is presently a measly one third of a kilometre of pedestrianised street in Wellington, and about one third of this is possibly going to be lost by the proposed bus route along Manners Mall. There is an urgent need to identify roads that can be cleared of motorised transport, Lambton Quay and Courtney Place come immediately to mind. These would then serve nicely as part of a central spine for cycling in Wellington.

A cycle network plan

The appendix shows a (small scale) map of present and proposed cycle routes as part of a cycle network. A larger plan of the city area would have been useful. I welcome provision of a cycling network for the city. I would like to see in addition a schedule for examining this proposal and a timeframe for implementation, otherwise this proposal could languish for some time.

Provision of bicycle facilities at stations

This is a very important part of any policy promoting cycling. Wellington is fortunate that its topography has restricted development along well defined transport corridors. I don’t know if it has been measured but I would hazard a guess that 90% of the population of the Greater Wellington region would live within a 15 minute cycle journey to the nearest railway station, or bus terminus. I would strongly support robust policies and investment to accommodate cycles in secure, covered facilities at all stations and selected bus termini and important stops, and for the light rail along the Ngauranga to Airport corridor when the Council wake up to its importance and it is finally installed. For those that need to take their cycles with them, cycle facilities on trains should be provided. Alternatively there are many makes of folding cycle available which take up little room, the Brompton (from the UK) in particular folds to a package no larger than a medium suitcase, that could be allowed on board. There should be space between seats for it to pack neatly away, indeed buses should be able to accommodate it. Folding cycles are rarely seen in New Zealand.

Improving the experience of cycling to and from educational centres

This is a very important part of any programme to encourage all age groups to cycle. There must now be two generations of local people who really haven’t had much opportunity to cycle, and if we can ensure our children’s safety in travelling to school, and later university, this should lay the foundation of a cycling habit and skill to last a lifetime. I would commend the sorts of investigations and measures proposed in this Draught Policy document. It would be nice to see too all other major local councils involved in similar coordinated efforts, education about cycling, TV advertising and other measures could then become part of a national, and partly government funded, programme. In the UK, the organisation Sustrans has become very involved in promoting cycling both as a mean of local transport and as a fun and cheap leisure activity, perhaps the councils and national government could fund a similar organisation to help achieve higher levels of safe cycling here in New Zealand. I think your draft Cycling Policy should say something about this sort of coordinated approach. There is surely no need for each council to have to keep reinventing the (bicycle) wheel.

“Utility Cycling”

I regularly cycle to the supermarket, for take-aways or for entertainment. The lack of facilities for securing one’s cycle is obvious. I support action to improve such facilities and businesses should be required to contribute to cycle parking on or outside their premises. This would include shopping malls, entertainment centres, supermarkets, liquor outlets, major retailers, grocery chains, hardware stockists etc. If electric cycles become more popular, they are very valuable and could easily be vandalised or robbed of their batteries etc, so I support too the provision of secure cycle lockers.

Cycling and bus lanes.

There is a strong emphasis in your Cycling Policy that cycles would be able to use suitably wide bus lanes as major cycling routes through the city. Generally I support this concept. Overseas experience also tends to support this, and in many cases such a facility is preferable to dedicated cycle lanes, which have many compromises, such as sharing footpaths, obstructions, debris, difficult intersections, private drives, etc. The concept needs to be carefully managed, and there will have to be a minimum width for bus lanes to safely accommodate cyclists. Wellington’s narrow roads rather mitigate against this in places, on some streets perhaps cars could be excluded or the street made one-way. One could even make a case that 50 cc or electric mopeds and scooters should be allowed to use bus lanes, I believe this has been a matter of some debate in London. I could well understand that cyclists might feel intimidated by sharing road space with such large vehicles, but it is probably true that one can just as easily be killed by a car as by a bus, they are both many times more dangerous than a cycle. Parked cars and vans along such bus lanes though are a major worry, it forces cyclists out into the path of buses coming from behind. It will be important to look carefully at overseas experience and statistics when examining this proposal.

Cycles and pavements, and making some streets bicycle priority

Once detailed examination of many specific areas is undertaken, it is likely that cycling on bus lanes or installing dedicated cycle lanes will prove impossible. I would like to see the Cycling Policy recognise the likely need for cyclists to share pavements with pedestrians in certain areas. The pavements should be wide enough to accommodate this, some sort of cycle priority part could be recognised and a speed limit of say 10 kph for cycles enforced. I understand this is not uncommon overseas, for instance Kyoto in Japan. In other streets, cars and cycles can share, but the speed limit for cars should be 15 kph and cars should have to give way to cycles. Streets would be narrowed and car obstacles installed to keep traffic slow. Trees could be a nice feature. There are a large number of side streets in town where this would be a feasible option, one could think of Tory St for instance or some of the other side streets off Courtney Place and Lambton Quay. This would still allow car drivers access for parking or dropping passengers or picking up goods, or access for delivery drivers etc. but would make it much safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The whole street would need to be paved the same way, with no separate pavement, so that there is no obvious “route” for cars. Again, this has been done successfully in many different town and cities overseas, mainly in continental Europe.

Experience from overseas and the education of the motorist and cyclist

Whilst I have no quibbles that transport planners in Wellington should be the ones to be producing this draught Cycling Policy, I find is strange that there is in this document not one mention of overseas experience, as in the cycling friendly nations mentioned above. These nations have over the last forty years or so been putting in place many of the measures that we here in New Zealand are only just beginning to consider, and it will be years before many of them appear as completed projects. There is a great deal we can usefully learn from successful overseas experience and I would like this draft Cycling Policy to take heed of this. I think that this is a major omission of this document, as some sort of of comparison with overseas practice, and what has been found to work, and the sorts of investments required would be very useful, not just for people like me, who are already committed to advancing cycling in Wellington, and who actually do take life and limb in hand and cycle, and have done quite a bit of research, but also for the very vocal and powerful pro-motoring lobby, who have a very real need to be educated about all these matters, who don’t see the need to accommodate cyclists or the benefits of doing so, and actually resent such proposals.

For instance, traffic calming measures and reduced speed limits on motor vehicles are essential if we are to encourage cycling and make cycling as safe as possible. But the average motorist just doesn’t realise that reducing one’s speed from 50 kph to 30 kph can reduce fatal pedestrian and cycle accidents by nearly 80%. What the motorist sees as just another “nanny state” measure to restrict their freedoms is actually an extremely effective measure to reduce fatalities on the roads, including perhaps their own children’s lives when they’re walking or cycling to school.

So following on from these comments, I would like to see as part of the Cycling Policy, resources set aside for education of all road users, both in the local press and on TV, as to why the Council (or councils) should be setting aside resources for cyclists (and walkers and those using public transport), and why the Council is following best advised national practice in actually taking measures to restrict the amount of private vehicular traffic in the town. There is in Wellington a very unfortunate and intolerant attitude by far too many drivers against cyclists, and sometimes too the converse, recent correspondence in the Dominion Post illustrated this only too clearly. The behaviour of many cyclists at intersections and traffic lights often leaves much to be desired and is often frankly illegal. This perpetuates a “them and us” attitude and a strong feeling of mutual antipathy and distrust. Such attitudes are outmoded and dangerous and effort needs to go in to correcting them.

Transport priorities

I would have liked to have seen some mention in the draft Cycling Policy of priorities in transport planning. Much of what is suggested in this policy document is welcome, obviously, but will entail, eventually, some measure of expenditure to achieve. I would have like to have seen a commitment to a level of funding as some proportion of your total transport spending, so that these expenditures don’t get lost in the much vaster expenditures on private transport. For instance in the Council’s Draft Ngauranga to Airport Corridor plan, there is mention of a $6 million expenditure on a mere scoping study for a new Mt. Victoria tunnel, which is about 25 times the total annual expenditure on facilities for cycling throughout the city. These figures put in stark perspective the real priorities in transport planning in the Wellington City Council. In many cities in Holland, transport planners give equal weight to cycling needs as they do to cars. I would like to see some sort of similar commitment in Wellington to the needs of cyclist, and the needs of public transport should actually have higher commitment than those of car drivers.

Encourage cycle retailers to get involved in supporting commuter and utility cycling and investigation and encouragement of electrically assisted cycles

I attended the cyclist’s breakfast in the Town Hall square earlier this year. It was a very enjoyable experience. I don’t recall seeing any trade person at that event. Cycle shops should be encouraged to have examples of commuter cycles in stock, and not to be so dismissive of their virtues. Older people generally don’t like being bent double over handlebars and prefer a more upright seat, women especially. Whilst I have made some less than flattering comparisons with overseas experience as compared with Wellington, it is true that the Wellington topography, and quite often the severe winds, make cycling in the the more suburban areas quite an onerous undertaking as compared for instance with Amsterdam or Copenhagen. I would imagine that electrically assisted cycles would be quite a boon for cyclist that would otherwise face a stiff uphill challenge in returning home from work. Perhaps the Council could get involved with cycle retailers and importers to test various electric cycle models and see which were most able to cope with the more rugged Wellington terrain and atmospheric conditions. Electric cycles that best suited these conditions could get a Council stamp of approval.

Specific examples from my personal experience which illustrate the sort of detailed planning and expenditures that will be needed.

I cycle to work, from Waipapa Road, through the village and turn right to go into Mt. Victoria tunnel. The facilities for cyclists in Hataitai are poor. I am forced to ride on the centre line accompanying a queue of cars before crossing the road in front of approaching vehicular traffic travelling at 50 kph to find a small ramp to get up on the pavement before it enters the tunnel. This arrangement is poor and dangerous and there are obstructions in the form of signage. I cannot get on the pavement earlier because barriers are placed in the way to deliberately stop cyclists using the pavement on the village side. Often cars are parked in front of the ramp onto the pavement. The barrier needs to be removed and cyclists should be allowed to join the pavement at either pedestrian crossing in the village. If necessary there is room for the pavement to be widened to accommodate this, at the expense possibly of some car-parking.

The tunnel itself could do with some improvement, as the Council already acknowledge. At the western end of the tunnel, the cycling facility peters out and one has to navigate several quite busy intersections to get to Kent and Cambridge Terrace. I would like to see some thought put in to how best to provide for cyclists here.

Other issues with cycling to work include sharing the busy and sometimes dangerous Courtney Place. I would like to see Courtney Place closed to private vehicular traffic, dedicated bus lanes would take up much less room, and a cycling route would be feasible along the whole length of the Place. Other measures that you discuss in your draft Cycling Policy such as advanced stop boxes and priority lights would obviously also be appropriate along this route

My wife works at the Mary Potter Hospice. The obvious cycling route for her after descending to Hataitai Village, is down Moxham Av, turn right into Goa St and then left along Ruahine St. The only safe way to accomplish this is by cycling along the east pavement of Ruahine St, which is rather narrow, bumpy and inadequate. She then reaches the terrible junction at Wellington Road. She has to dismount, take her life in her hands and cross one constant stream of traffic to the relative safety of the centre island and then do the same again to reach the far side. There is no way that a cyclist can negotiate this right turn safely at the junction staying on the road. In fact there is no safe route for a cyclist at any point along Ruahine St or Wellington Road other than by using the pavement, nor any safe place to cross - even the traffic lights at the junction of Hamilton and Wellington roads are not very cycle friendly. She can then safely remount her cycle and use the pavement up the hill, and this saves having to negotiate the dangerous mini-roundabout at the junction with Crawford and Constable St. She then rides the pavement down the north side, taking care at the Alexandra Road exit, before turning right into Coromandel St and then on to the Mary Potter Hospice. Cycling down Constable St is only for the brave or foolhardy. The intersection at Wellington Road is a major source of strife for all road users. I don’t know quite how best this can be improved, but whatever improvements are made, cyclist’s needs also need to be taken seriously into account, roundabouts for instance are often quite perilous for cyclists, and at this junction the traffic is often moving quickly and is always very heavy. A cycle track on the park side of Ruahine St, accessed by the Ruahine St overbridge, and perhaps wending its way gently over the rise to the lower part of Alexandra Rd behind the squash club would be helpful. If it connected with a cycle path up Wellington Road, this would provide a useful alternative route into town through an upgraded Mt. Victoria Tunnel for cyclists from Kilbirnie, Rongotai, parts of Island Bay and Miramar, other than the busy and dangerous Adelaide Road, and the much longer, and often very windy route around Evans Bay.

I mention these simple examples to illustrate how even a short journey in Wellington, mine is about 3.6 kms and my wife’s 2.6 kms, contains numerous difficulties and avoidable dangers for the unprotected cyclist, and it is exactly these sorts of journeys that we should be taking on our cycles, and leaving our cars behind in our garages.

Summary

I would like to thank the Wellington City Council for putting together this Cycling Policy. Cycling is the most efficient form of transport ever invented, requiring less energy inputs than walking, and seventy times less energy input that a motor vehicle, even disregarding the energy inputs in making a car or cycle, and the health benefits of cycling. If we are to meet the challenges of this century, with global warming and oil depletion being the most important of these challenges, then a return to a larger part of the population cycling both for work and for errands, and for pleasure, will be an important part of our effort to meet these challenges. The Wellington City Council has made a promise to be carbon neutral, this cannot be done without encourage cycling, and public transport, and putting in place effective measures to produce dramatic reductions in private car transport. We are all in this together, car drivers, motor-cyclists, bus and train passengers, and walkers and cyclists. There is in New Zealand, and I write as a non-native, an unpleasantly vociferous pro-motoring lobby, and a very reactionary attitude to any proposals that might in any way restrict motorists rights; it will be vitally important that the Wellington City Council is prepared to meet this challenge head on. I would recommend that all councillors should be required to leave their cars at home for a month, and and instead to travel around the city on a cycle. (I suggest this only partly in jest, in Copenhagen almost all councillors travel by cycle). Much valuable perspective might be gained as to the needs of thy cyclist, but not only that, the needs of the city to free itself as much as possible from the overwhelming and intrusive presence of the private, internal combustion engine motor vehicle. It is only when you walk and cycle around the city that you can truly understand this intrusiveness and the urgent need to deal with this and not to continue to accommodate it. Our city won’t be able to stand it, nor will our economy and nor will our planet. I wish your draft Cycling Policy success, there is much in this policy to be recommended, but at issue is the resolve and means to accomplish it.

Thank you, that completes my submission. It is long, but I could also contend that transport and energy issues are going to define the first half of this new century, and it is vitally important to get things right, first time. If this submission helps in any way to achieve this, then its length is not an issue.

I would also be keen to give an oral submission at the appropriate time.

Dr John K Monro MBChB Glasgow 1970
67 Waipapa Road
Hataitai
Wellington
phone 04 386 2441
e-mail (suppressed)
Dated 6th September 2008