Research and publications

At the 2016 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Auckland from 6 to 8 July, John Lieswyn in a paper co-authored with Axel Wilke, presented on E-bikes: legislation, policy and design considerations of an empowering technology.

With improving batteries and economies of scale driving lower prices, electric bicycles (e-bikes) are becoming more popular worldwide. Specialty retailers are opening across New Zealand to cater for demand. This paper suggests aspects of cycleway design that should be updated to better accommodate e-bikes.

John Lieswyn presented his paper "CV Link: California's new paradigm in shared use pathways" at the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Auckland, 6 to 8 July.

The Coachella Valley (CV) Link is a proposed US $100+ million, 80 km trail along California's Whitewater River for Low Speed Electric Vehicles (LSEVs), bicyclists, and pedestrians. Construction begins in 2017, and when complete it will be the largest such facility in the United States. The project breaks new ground in scope, speed of implementation, and design characteristics.

At the 2016 2WalkandCYCLE Conference in Auckland, Glen Koorey and co-author Karyn Teather presented a paper which explores the different types of existing and potential cyclist in Christchurch. They looked at how cyclist numbers might increase with the introduction of new infrastructure that addresses their concerns.

There is growing national interest in New Zealand's urban environments in the use of other modes of transport that reduce dependency on single occupancy car use. If more can be learned about the types of potential users and the attractiveness of different facilities, it will be useful in planning future infrastructure.

With the current significant investment in cycling in New Zealand, many people hope that we can grow cycling usage levels to match those found in several parts of Europe. A lot of focus here is on physical treatments such as protected cycleways and 'Copenhagen lanes', but will that be enough to initiate significant travel behaviour change?

Glen Koorey presented a paper jointly authored with Axel Wilke at the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Auckland, held from 6 to 8 July, exploring these issues.

Glen Koorey presented at the IPENZ Transportation Group Conference in March 2016, with co-presenter John Lieswyn. Their paper was titled Making Space: Innovative Ways to Fit Multiple Modes within Narrow Cross Sections.

Increasingly in New Zealand, there is a desire to provide road space for a range of different road users, including cycles, buses, and light rail. For many typical NZ road corridors (e.g. a standard 20 m road reserve) it can seem difficult to achieve this. However, many overseas examples offer inspiration (sometimes unconventional) for ways forward.

Glen and John were awarded "highly commended practice paper" for their paper. They would be happy to apply their experience in this area to street reconfiguration examples in New Zealand.

ViaStrada and Abley Transportation Consultants were commissioned by the NZ Transport Agency to develop a national framework of guidance for planning and designing for cycling. The resulting framework, titled Cycling network guidance - planning and design (CNG) was officially launched in July 2016. It provides comprehensive guidance and / or links to appropriate sources.

At the IPENZ Transportation Group Conference in March 2016, Megan Fowler presented a paper on the CNG project, covering the various stages of project development, gaps identified in current guidance, development of the online framework and some of the interesting "quick wins" that have been addressed.

The Canterbury branch of the Transportation Group had a meeting where two presenters talked about e-bikes. John Lieswyn's presentation covered two aspects. Firstly, he talked about the CV Link project that he project managed in California, an 80 km pathway project that will cater for low-speed electric vehicles with a top speed of 40 km/h. Secondly, he discussed various legislative approaches around the world to e-bikes.

Glen Koorey presented at the 2016 TRB Annual Meeting in Washington DC about a research project investigating the relative effects on cycle count and crash numbers after installing a series of on-road painted cycle lanes. Twelve routes installed in Christchurch during the mid-2000s were analysed, together with some control routes that already had cycle lanes. Cycle count data along the routes were compared against cycle crash numbers before and after installation. The results found notable reductions in cycle crashes following installation, typically with a 23% average reduction in crash rates.

At the Bike Futures conference in Melbourne in October 2015, Axel Wilke presented on the development of New Zealand national cycling planning and design guidance. The deliverables from this project will be updated guidance, and a web-based reference framework that will point planners and designers to the guidance to be used. This framework is expected to go live in early 2016. More information on this project is available on the Transport Agency website. Axel's presentation is available for download from this page.

The purpose of this presentation is to highlight how professional training courses about planning and design for cycling contribute to a safe system for New Zealand. The presentation can be downloaded from our website.