VANESSA LAURIE / Stuff
Federico Magrin is a dedicated commuter and a bicycle is his vehicle of choice.
Federico Magrin is a journalism student studying at the Stuff Newsroom in Taranaki.
Opinion: As a dedicated cyclist, I have cycled all over the world, but my cycling commute in New Plymouth was one of the most difficult.
That says something, because I drove through Italian summer rains, Dutch winter snow and the scorching hot hair dryer-like winds of suburban Melbourne.
So when I say New Plymouth was tough, it’s not the downpour and mighty southeast that worries me.
These are the narrow and inconsistent bike lanes. They make cycling as inviting as a swim at a crocodile-infested beach.
READ MORE:
* $ 12 million less, $ 90 million left – the cost of making NP cycle friendly
* Palmerston North to regain its name as a city of cyclists
Compulsory cycling use is not necessary, say South Canterbury cycling proponents
This was a surprise to me because I know New Plymouth has aspirations to be a city that is friendly to its cyclists.
It has spent money on its Let’s Go initiatives for that very purpose and the Coastal Walk is a real asset for hikers and cyclists.
well
Bicycle lanes in New Plymouth are not for the faint of heart.
And the New Plymouth District Council supports workplace cycling events such as Aotearoa Bike Challenge and Fresh Air Challenge.
But actually trying to commute as a cyclist in New Plymouth. Things are going downhill fast, and not in the right way to rest a bit.
According to Figure NZ, although Taranaki has added 20km of cycle paths over the past ten years, it still achieves one of the worst regions in Aotearoa New Zealand for cycle paths.
My commute along Tukapa St and Gill Street was, to put it nicely, bumpy, though I was lucky enough to have a sort of bike path that stretched through the entire trip.
Charlotte Curd / Stuff
It may be a bike lane, but that does not mean car drivers stay away from it.
I say kind of bike lane, because a poorly maintained, often interrupted tiny green lane that runs past cars, buses and trucks without any kind of barrier is not the kind of bike lane in which a person who values their safety does not want to to drive.
There is ample evidence that I am not the only one who thinks so. The number of fellow cyclists I see commuting to work was small.
VANESSA LAURIE / Stuff
New Plymouth has spent millions to make itself walk and bike friendly.
This is unfortunate because cities that cater to cyclists are great to live in and offer a tremendous sense of individual freedom and independence, especially if you drive past rows of cars jammed like sardines.
While living in the Netherlands, I experienced the beauty of a bicycle network that not only runs through cities like Amsterdam or Utrecht, but also connects different towns.
Bicycle paths were crowded with cyclists commuting to work and school, or delivering parcels at bicycle cost.
Even in Wellington, a city with the same topographical and meteorological challenges as New Plymouth, I was part of a larger community of cyclists during my bike rides to work and school.
For New Plymouth to reach that point, it would simply require improving the quality of bike lanes and building more bike lanes.
It must be separated from the traffic on the road by curbs, wickets or planted areas.
Yes, I know it’s going to cost millions. But there are also savings.
Commuters who cycle have lower rates of obesity and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease incidence and deaths.
It also helps limit emissions and get people into the fresh clean air.
So I know I will keep cycling in whatever city I live in, and if that city was New Plymouth, I would hope it would not continue to stay that hard.
Federico Magrin is a journalism student studying at the Stuff Newsroom in Taranaki.