Rack and ride

Cyclists say bike racks on buses would help them avoid dangerous roads around the city and encourage more people to use environment-friendly transport. Over the past two years Cycle Action's members have increased from 150 to 1000, all keen to make Auckland a more cycle-friendly city. They are lobbying for bike racks on buses to combat the reasons people opt not to bike - darkness, distance, busy roads and safety. Pt Chevalier's Esther Menzi, 43, says: "When I first started cycling around Auckland, people looked at me as if I was from the moon." Mrs Menzi came to New Zealand nine years ago from cycle-friendly Switzerland, where she had no car and, where, if she didn't want to ride her bike, she could take it on a bus or train. "When I first started cycling around Auckland, people looked at me as if I was from the moon," she says. "It's great to see more people getting on bikes now." Mrs Menzi's husband rides his bike for errands and her son rides to school. But, despite the city's commitment to public transport development, the roads are still dangerous. Mrs Menzi can ride on cycle lanes to her job at Auckland Hospital, but has stopped cycling to Green Lane Hospital in the course of her work - the road is just too dangerous. Greenlane resident Richard McRobbie agrees. He has been knocked off his bike three times in the past year while riding around the suburb. Mrs Menzi says more people in her situation would bike if they knew they could hop on a bus for a busy, dangerous stretch. Many buses in Switzerland have bike racks and the system works well. Cycle Action Auckland's chairman, Bevan Woodward, says most people feel safe biking around their neighbourhoods but are reluctant to tackle busy roads. People who would benefit from hitching the bike to the front of a bus are those who face long distances from home to the office, those who have to work late and do not want to walk home from a bus stop, and those whose routes include dangerous roads. Bike racks would get more people cycling, which would improve their health, says Mr Woodward. Cycle Action Auckland hopes for council funding for 14 bike racks at a cost of $1000 each. One problem is that the council says racks would put the buses over the regulation length. If the proposal is accepted, the first racks could be on the busy Remuera Rider route.
By Jacqueline Smith