Research and publications

Glen Koorey presented at the 2015 IPENZ Transportation Conference about a study to determine the extent that traffic speed is affected by on-street parking. Ten local streets in Christchurch of various widths were chosen, and observed speeds were recorded at various parking demand levels. The results showed that vehicular speeds fell noticeably with an increase in parking levels. On average, there was approximately a 10km/h reduction in mean speeds between empty and full on-street parking levels, with an even bigger effect noted in 85th percentile speeds.

Glen Koorey presented a paper at the 2015 IPENZ Transportation Conference that investigated the effects of changing current NZ pedestrian give-way crossing legislation to match many other parts of the world. Analysis of NZ's pedestrian crash data found that, if NZ road rules did change, then crash patterns at unsignalised intersections may change to mirror those at signalised ones. A survey of road users' understanding/perception of current/potential road rules found that, on average, 78% of people are already willing to give way to pedestrians. VISSIM simulation modelling of predicted delays to pedestrians and motorists found generally no notable effect on total personal delay caused by possible rule changes. Overall, implementing a rule change in NZ appears to be possible.

More and more Separated Bicycle Facilities (SBFs) are proposed in New Zealand, but their integration into signalised intersections is not well supported by the existing legislation. From work undertaken by ViaStrada for various clients (NZTA offices in Auckland and Dunedin, and Christchurch City Council), it is clear that multiple changes to the Road User Rule (RUR) and Traffic Control Devices (TCD) Rules are required to address the issues. Axel Wilke gave a presentation to the 2014 Signals New Zealand User Group (SNUG) workshop in Christchurch. The presentation can be downloaded from our website.

Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) is working towards supporting its community road safety educator’s with a Junior Road Safety Track in Palmerston North where young children can learn the skills required to be both a safe cyclist and pedestrian.

ViaStrada has been engaged by PNCC to develop a concept design for the track that will provide a training facility where young children can experience realistic roadway features such as intersections, roundabouts and traffic signals in a safe learning environment under the supervision of trainers and caregivers.

This presentation was given by Jon Ashford (ViaStrada) and Sandi Morris (PNCC) at the 2014 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Nelson.

At the 2WALKandCYCLE conference in Nelson in October 2014, Axel Wilke presented a paper on Bicycle Network Planning: The Target Audience Approach.

The purpose of the paper was to inform about a new approach to bicycle network planning that is emerging in New Zealand. Fundamental to this is the cycling typology developed by Roger Geller. Case studies covered Christchurch and Dunedin.

Axel's paper and presentation are available for download from this page.

A cycle lane marking trial on Dunedin’s Cumberland Street (State Highway 1) was undertaken. Non-standard road markings for cycle lanes were tested for their effectiveness. The purpose of this trial was to establish to what extent changed road markings can influence the relative positioning of parked vehicles and cyclists in an adjacent cycle lane. It was acknowledged that many cyclists may not be aware that their actual greatest mid-block risk stems from opening car doors, and they may consider themselves to be more at risk from moving traffic. As such, we measured whether changing the marking style can change behaviour without having to explicitly educate cyclists where best to cycle and motorists where to park. The desired effect was an increased separation between cyclists and parked vehicles.

At the 2014 Velo-City cycling conference in Adelaide, Glen gave an invited presentation on the impacts of high-visibility clothing on cycling culture and safety. The presentation included analysis of the research for and against making hi-vis clothing mandatory when cycling, and also discussion about other socio-cultural aspects of such proposals.

Dunedin has one of the lowest cycling to work mode shares of NZ cities, but this will change due to the provision of a comprehensive network mainly targeting the Interested but Concerned, i.e. those people who currently don't ride a bike because they don't want to mix with traffic. 

This project will in years to come inspire other New Zealand communities to adopt this trendsetting planning approach. Axel Wilke gave this presentation in Adelaide at the Velo-city Global Conference in May 2014.

ViaStrada was commissioned by Austroads to undertake research into the effectiveness of on-road bicycle lanes at roundabouts in Australia and New Zealand. The resulting Austroads report documents the research undertaken.

Commuting trips by bicycle are generally short: the average one way commuter trip by bicycle in New Zealand is 4.1km long and takes 18.2 minutes. Delay at intersections increases travel time and can be frustrating, particularly in a road network where the primary intersection control is traffic signals.

This study set out to quantify the amount of delay experienced at traffic signals by a cyclist during peak hour traffic. A secondary objective was to determine the most suitable means of collecting the necessary cycle trip data.

The study was undertaken by Jon Ashford as a research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Transportation.