A University of Otago academic is looking to an American city
with 500km of cycleways as a model for transport planning in
New Zealand.
Director of the injury prevention research unit Prof Hank
Weiss said Portland, Oregon, was "widely recognised" as a
world leader in urban cycling.
The city of 2.2 million people has just released its 20-year
plan for cycling and Prof Weiss said "what they did" and "how
they got there" would be the subject of a "webinar" or
internet seminar this morning.
The seminar would consist of Prof Weiss conducting an
internet interview with Portland Bureau of Transportation
project manager Ellen Vanderslice.
Prof Weiss said he had a professional interest in "active
transport" because of its health and sustainability benefits.
However, he noted serious bicycle injuries were increasing
among New Zealand adults and he considered there was a need
"to pull together planners, advocates and health people" to
deal with the issue.
He believed planning for cycle and walking needed to occur in
conjunction with other vehicle transport planning.
"They are all linked together and should be treated as
interrelated parts of the whole issue of moving people and
goods safely and sustainably - not one against the other."
Prof Weiss said Portland evolved as a "car-centric" city, but
began diversifying 15 years ago.
It was now one of the leading cycle-friendly cities in the
United States, with a large, interconnected bicycle network
supported by policies and programmes to encourage cycling.
Portland got more snow than Dunedin each year, had many hills
and many bodies of water.
Prof Weiss would like the Dunedin City Council to adopt a
Portland policy designed to "create conditions" that made
cycling more attractive than driving for trips of 5km or
less.
The "webinar" will be available at sustainablecities website.
- mark.price@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.