Podcasts about cycleways

In this special crossover episode of Season of Stuck, Deanna deBara sits down with Amelia Hruby, host of the Off the Grid podcast, to explore the many ways social media can keep us stuck—and, more importantly, how we can change the way we think about and relate to social media (and get unstuck in the process). If you feel stuck on social media—in your business, your life, or both—this conversation is a must-listen.Tune in to learn about:How social media gets us hookedHow to distinguish between genuine connection and the "cotton candy" version that social media providesPractical strategies for breaking the social media habit cycleWays entrepreneurs can build successful, resilient businesses—no social media requiredThoughts from the episode:"Social media…plays to some of our deepest desires as humans…[it] creates the illusion of being connected with other people." "These apps and these algorithms are designed to keep you stuck—to keep your eyes on the platform. But again, once you understand that, that's when you can start seeing real change." About the guest: Amelia Hruby is the host of the Off the Grid podcast, a show dedicated to helping business owners change their relationship with social media (or leave it entirely!) without sacrificing their growth and success. Through her work, she offers creative marketing alternatives and support for those looking to escape the social media treadmill—while maintaining thriving businesses and authentic connections with their customers.Connect with Amelia:On the web:Offthegrid.funListen to the Off the Grid podcast:Apple PodcastsSpotify**Are you a business owner that wants to get off social media once and for all? Make sure to download Amelia's free Leaving Social Media Toolkit!**Stay connected with Season of Stuck:Want more insights on how to make your journey from stuck to unstuck? Make sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts; you can catch new episodes every Tuesday.Want to make sure you never miss an episode? Visit seasonofstuck.com to get episodes delivered to your inbox. To get involved with the show, fill out our listener survey or send us a message.And for even more stuck-related content, make sure to follow us on Instagram @seasonofstuck.****DISCLAIMER**** Season of Stuck is for general information only and should not be considered health, financial, or any other type of professional advice. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on Season of Stuck is not an endorsement. We do not verify the accuracy of the information that guests present. Adult language may be present. Our producer and host disclaim any liability arising out of your reliance on Season of Stuck. Please note that we may receive a commission should you choose to purchase any product or service using our website link to the products, services, and links featured on Season of Stuck and/or in related properties (including seasonofstuck.com and email communications).

Wellington City Council removed car parks near the botanical Gardens to create more space for cycleways, now they might be bringing them back. The council says residents were complaining after being unable to find parks to visit the gardens. Wellington City Councillor Diane Calvert talks to Ryan Bridge. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New cycle trails open around the country in time for summer. We take a tour with New Zealand Cycle Trails general manager Janet Purdey.

What's the thing you hear people say time-and-time again about the way we seemed to just get on with the job of building infrastructure back in, say, the 1970s? What's the most common thing you hear people say about that? They say “our forebears had the foresight”. And that's what I hope Christchurch city councillors have when they decide whether or not to press-on with the controversial Wings to Wheels cycleway on Harewood Rd. Because,believe it or not, it's back on the table after costs have skyrocketed and the government money that was originally going to be coming to help pay for it has been pulled. The overall gist is that if the council wants to go further with this particular cycleway project, it's going to have to come up with about an extra $10 million over and above what's already been spent and what's left in the budget. So far, the council has spent $6.2 million on the project without any shovels hitting the ground and it's only got $18.5 million left in the budget. And there's a gap of about $10 million. Nevertheless, I hope our councillors have this “foresight” that people like to credit past leaders with. And I hope they have the fortitude to say, ‘you know what, this is going to cost a truckload more money than we thought we'd have to spend and it's a truckload more money than we want to spend - but we're going to do it, for the generations to come'. That's what I hope they do. You might remember that it was back in 2019 when the council came up with the plan for the 4.5 kilometre cycleway on Harewood Rd. The cost back then was expected to be $19 million, with half of the money coming from the Government, through NZTA. Naturally, costs went up. Initially, they went up to $22.7 million and now it's expected to cost $28.5 million all up. So the council has just put out a range of options to be considered, which range from pressing-on and spending millions more than they expected to putting the thing on hold indefinitely. And, in the middle of those two extremes, there are other options. Such as building a shorter cycleway - which would still cost about $20 million. The council is also suggesting that, instead of going for what we like to call the “over-engineered” options, it could just paint lines on the road and put in traffic lights at three intersections. But that option would still cost $10.5 million, anyway. So why would you bother with that half-hearted measure? I've often said ‘what's wrong with a few white lines?'. But if you're going to spend $10 million, you may as well spend $28 million. There are some other cheaper alternatives too. I see councillor Victoria Henstock is saying that she's pleased to see there are several options on the table, because she's been opposed to the Harewood rd cycleway from the get-go. But this is where she's wrong. She's saying today: “This is a sensible approach. We cannot keep pouring money into projects that we cannot afford and are not wanted by the local community, as they keep telling me.” And that's the problem right there. When you get politicians who are only interested in what the people in the here-and-now think. And, in particular, the people in the here-and-now who complain. Because, of course, Councillor Henstock is going to hear from people who are anti the cycleway. She's not going to hear from the people who, in 10 years time, are going to think this cycleway is absolutely brilliant. The people who, in 10 years time, will be saying ‘wasn't it great that our city leaders had the foresight to bite the bullet; they had the fortitude to spend the extra money, and make sure we can ride our bikes safely”. That's what I hope people will be able to say. And that's why, instead of tinkering around the edges and coming up with some sort of half-hearted alternatives that will still cost a lot of money, I hope the council doesn't give in. And I hope it presses-on, as planned. And certainlydoesn't pull the plug altogether.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Small business owners in the CBD are furious that figures used to justify cyclelanes in the city have been grossly overstated. Business owners in Oxford StreetPaddington conducted their own survey of bike usage and found there figureswere around 10 per cent of those stated by Sydney City Council. The surveyfound only 300 cyclists use the shopping strip in a 24-hour period, far less thanthe 2701 cyclists quoted daily by the Council. In addition to Oxford Street theexisting cycleways in Castlereagh and Liverpool Streets amongst others arebeing extended. Castlereagh Street, already one of our narrowest roads andheavily congested at peak hours now reduced to one through lane with a bus laneon the left and a bike lane on the right. Council now spending a staggering $17million a year on cycle infrastructure. I'm David BerthonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

OPINION Yesterday on her show, Heather Du Plessis Allan revealed that transport and local government minister Simeon brown has a new name. He's now being called 'Golden Balls' by his caucus. It's a reference to David Beckham, a name he got for always delivering and because everything he touched turned to gold. There's clearly a lot of faith in Simeon Brown. Well, yesterday he was definitely spreading gold; $33 billion worth in his transport plan for 2024 to 2027. There's actually not much new in this plan. For Wellington, the roads in the plan have previously been announced. This just tells us what's being funded and gives us some timeframes. And what's been funded for Wellington is undoubtedly good. We still get the second Mt Victoria tunnel, and we get the Petone to Grenada link road.  And there's also good news in the pothole prevention fund which gets $5.5 billion over 3 years, and there's been a boost in funding for local council road maintenance budgets too.  But there's two big things that stuck out to me in the plan. Have a guess what they are. Cycleways and speed bumps. Brown announced yesterday the government is slashing the fund that helps local councils to build cycleways and walkways. And the cut is big; the fund has been halved from $910 million to $460 million. It's certainly welcome news to Wellington motorists like you and I. Brown said New Zealanders were sick and tired of seeing how much money is going into cycleways in recent years, and he's bang on. There's no better example than Wellington. Not only that, but he wants an end to the constant construction of speed bumps. They have, in his words, been "infesting our streets while potholes were not being filled".  And here comes another big cut; not a single cent from this $33 billion budget will be spent on speed bumps. If they want them built, councils will have to pay for it themselves.  Have you driven anywhere lately without going over a speed hump or getting bumped around by potholes?  Does Thorndon Quay ring a bell? This is a ballsy move from Simeon. A golden ballsy move. But I know damn well that people in the Wellington region will agree with reducing the spend on cycleways, walkways and speed humps that have been plaguing our city for so long.  I feel like it's one of the biggest gripes people in Wellington have.  If only I had a dollar for every text that comes in during the show moaning about cycleways or speed bumps, I'd be retiring tomorrow.  In fairness, walkways I agree with. You should be able to walk anywhere, anytime. But how much of that budget was being spent on walkways? The constant spend on cycleways and speed humps lately has driven me nuts. And from now on, Wellington City Council won't be able to just call on NZTA to pay for speed humps or cycleways. Let's just hope the council doesn't rack up more debt for ratepayers by paying for them fully themselves.  Surely they're not that dumb. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FIRST WITH YESTERDAY'S NEWS (highlights from Tuesday on Newstalk ZB) We Hate Them All Equally/The Problem with the Public Service Is it's Not Private/Flower Rage/Razor RageSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's Midweek Mediawatch, Hayden Donnell talks to Mark Leishman about some missing context in stories on local government spending and "nice to haves" - and he looks at some bad news for Netflix in a new report on Kiwis' media habits - and rare good news for local outlets.

A Wellington City councillor isn't a fan of her Council's competition - hoping to get inspiration on cycleways.   It's offered an $8500 prize pool for ideas on improvements.   Councillor Diane Calvert told Andrew Dickens it makes no sense.   “Well I think it is one of the many bonkers ideas that Wellington City Council has, and never really makes a difference to the city.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council has been found to be in the wrong in a battle involving a cycleway and parking space.  A group of businesses on Thorndon Quay opposed findings of a judicial review over the move to slash car parks near shops.  The court's ruled the council was not compliant with its legal obligations in deciding to cut back the number of carparks.  Thorndon retailer Paul Robinson told Mike Hosking he's hoping for an independent review of the decision-making process.  He says a petition calling for an economic assessment was declined.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington City Council has been found to be in the wrong in a battle involving a cycleway and parking space.  A group of businesses on Thorndon Quay opposed findings of a judicial review over the move to slash car parks near shops.  The court's ruled the council was not compliant with its legal obligations in deciding to cut back the number of carparks.  Thorndon retailer Paul Robinson told Mike Hosking he's hoping for an independent review of the decision-making process.  He says a petition calling for an economic assessment was declined.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're speaking to Former Prime Minister Helen Clark about her shock over the lack of movement on a global plan for a possible next pandemic. Plus a battle over the right figures to use when assessing the value of new cycleways. We check out the new Shōgun series on Disney Plus and the latest merchandising efforts from Former US President, Donald Trump. Kei te kōrero mātou ki te Pirimia o mua, a Helen Clark mō tōna tumeke i runga i te pōturi haere kia hanga he rautaki ā-ao hei whakarite mō ngā mate urutā e heke mai nei pea. Āpiti atu i tērā, he pakanga kei te haere e pā ana i ngā raraunga tika kia whai ai ngā uara o ngā ara paihikara hou. Ka tirohia e mātou te hōtaka hōu a Shōgun i runga i te Disney Plus; me te mahi hokohoko manatunga hou ā te Perehitini o Amerika o mua, a Donald Trump. Translated into Te Reo Māori using the power of Microsoft AI and Stuff's Kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell

For so many years, we have been outsourcing our health to "authorities" or "professionals," and as a result, we've lost touch with ourselves, our families, and nature. However, it is time for us to take it back. In this episode, a functional medicine nutritionist, fitness trainer, author, wife, and mother, Karin Reiter shares her journey of overcoming health challenges and regaining her wellness and how it became her passion. In 2011, Karin founded an educational platform, Nutritious N' Delicious. She has been a leader in the nutrition and wellness industry for the last 15 years, offering online workshops, educational resources, and in-person retreats.How to contact Karin:Website: Nutritious N' Delicious (sign up for monthly newsletters here)IG: https://www.instagram.com/karingojiberry/Resources discussed in this episode:What is functional medicine?What are autoimmune diseases?What is Naturopathy?What is functional dentistry?4 phases of menstrual cycleWays to connect with Masako:Let's meditate together on InsightTimer!Why not meditate? FB Groupwhynotmeditate.podcast IGmasakozawa_coaching IGWebsiteSupport the show

Seismic cracks and new earthquake-related infrastructure rules are causing havoc with Wellington City Council's budgets and long term planning.

How did a vision to make cities more liveable become twisted into a totalitarian dystopia?

Episode Highlights With AshleyHer experience as an amateur beekeeper and how she got into itHow being around bees can help with parasympatheticUnderstanding the importance of rest and the actual definitionHow rest can help us do hard things and improve other areas of lifeRecovering from her trauma as part of her healing journey Simple practices to learn rest and connect to the bodyHow nature helps with rest and the stress response cycleWays to break the stress response cycle and downshift into restWhat a body budget is and how that can help us restResources We MentionPermission to Rest: Revolutionary Practices for Healing, Empowerment, and Collective Care by Ashley NeeseEidon MineralsUpgraded FormulasThe Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer

Intuition can be defined as "the ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning." That sounds great, but how can we access our intuition more? In this episode, a funder of Flow Mamas, Monica de Vitry, shares how to follow our intuition and bring more ease and flow into all aspects of our lives, including entrepreneurship.About Monica:Monica's IGWebsite: flowmamas.comResources discussed in this episode:What is Tarot?How to develop your intuitionBrain waves & meditationHow to live by the moon cycleWays to connect with Masako:Let's meditate together on InsightTimer!Why not meditate? FB Groupwhynotmeditate.podcast IGmasakozawa_coaching IGWebsiteSupport the show

Broadcaster Mark Sainsbury and former Wellington Mayor Justin Lester join Nick Mills on Friday Faceoff. This week they discuss the current polls ahead of the 2023 election, National refusing to release its tax plan numbers, city councillor Diane Calvert drawing attention to the council's books, and how Cuba Street can be improved.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Friday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) There Have Been Worse/Infrastructure Is Boring/Being Fined for Being Mean/Mark the Week/Get On Ya BikeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An interview looking at an interesting person, group, or service in the Manawatū, produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.

A small holiday town is at war with its council over parking spaces. Tasman District Council is proposing a shared cycle-path in Pohara, at the expense of some parking outside local businesses. Of the 520 people who live in the area, 373 have signed a petition in protest. Pohara General Store co-owner, David Hix says it'll halve parking outside his business. "It's not that we don't want a cycleway, we definitely are not against a cycleway. We just want it in the appropriate place, so that it would be an asset to the community rather than impeding all of the parking." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Critics call them "gold-plated cycleways", but as The Detail finds out, there's more to these infrastructure projects than meets the eye.

I have a very smart girlfriend who is an extremely active citizen in her local community, and her city in general actually. She is a go-getter who stays informed, keeps up with local and national politics, and donates a lot of her time and energy to helping the community. She was an early adopter to the e-scooter, uses the city's cycle ways, and is all for saving the planet and getting cars off the road. But, and here's the big but, she raised a very valid point the other day regarding said cycleways. Guess who is not using them? The cyclists. She and her husband were walking along Auckland's Tamaki Drive waterfront, the very same Tamaki Drive that had years of disruption as extremely expensive extremely wide cycleways were installed. And what she witnessed, was cyclist after cyclist after cyclist riding on the footpath, not the cycleways. Within a five minute timeframe she noted no fewer than 10 cyclists barrelling past them on the footpath. Worse yet, they got abused for being in the cyclists' way. She and her husband were on the footpath, walking, where pedestrians are supposed to walk. They were abused by cyclists trying to ride along the footpath, instead of the cycleway. Now whenever you criticise cyclist behaviour you get accused of being anti-bikes so I want to stress she is anything but. She said she was on the side of cyclists when they got their gold plated cycleway paid for by 99 percent of ratepayers who don't cycle it. She was happy for them. Right up until she got abused by them as they nearly ran her over, because they wanted the footpath all to themselves too. And this is where cyclists, some cyclists, not all, do themselves a huge disservice and lose people's support. There were more cyclists on the pavement than on the cycleway. The cycleway was empty. My friend's point was: why should hardworking ratepayers fund expensive and expansive cycleways if cyclists won't even use them? She has appealed to Auckland Council and Mayor Wayne Brown to start fining cyclists who use footpaths when a cycleway is available. She said until cyclists embrace them, the vast majority of ratepayers who do not use them should not fund another metre of new cycleway. She said money raised from fining footpath clogging cyclists could be used to fund the new cycleways instead. She makes sense I reckon, it's hard to argue with. They have expensive lanes laid out especially for them, so why aren't they using them? Even cyclists agreed with her. Some saying if there's no cycle way available they'll ride on the road before they even consider hopping on the footpath. One cyclist pointed out that cyclists who ride in packs on busy roads also give cyclists a bad name, and those who think it's their right to abuse pedestrians on the footpath are equally loathed. Someone wrote to me the other day and said in Wellington, it's the cycle lanes that are creating so many choke points that traffic across the city has been reduced to a crawl. Frustrating when the traffic's crawling past empty cycleways. It's the same in Auckland. And I'm just not sure if those who designed the cycleways and decided they should have all that space on the road, actually thought through the winter months and how the half the year the weather precludes cyclists from even riding their bikes anyway. So bang for buck, are they all really worth it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Council advocates are warning public transport and cycleways can't come at the expense of New Zealand's roading network. Newstalk ZB has obtained exclusive Infometrics analysis revealing the share of transport funding going towards roads hit a decade-low of 70 percent in 2021. It comes as the distance travelled on roads jumped from 43 billion kilometres in 2017, to 49 billion four years later. Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby, who commissioned the analysis, says we can't let assets get to breaking point. He says there are challenges with our roads, including wild weather and post-Covid capacity - but we shouldn't let critical routes deteriorate. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Councils around the country are eyeing up cycleways and bus routes as Government funding for environmentally friendly transport projects is handed out.  The $350 million, first promised in this year's Budget, has been divvied up between 46 local councils to tick off their to-do list. The councils are yet to find out how big their slice of the fund will be.    Reporter Kate Green has more.  

Today on The Huddle: David Farrar from Kiwiblog and Cuira pollster and Ali Jones from Red PR joined in on a discussion about the following topics- and more! National has recently suggested military bootcamps to cut down on our youth crime problem- is this more trouble than it's worth?  Phil Twyford's hired a mediator to sort out Christchurch council not passing the housing intensification regulations, how necessary is this move? Wellington Council is ripping up a $900k cycleway after four years for drainage repairs following safety concerns. Is a four year lifespan for a cycleway good news? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gazley Motors managing director Myles Gazley joins Nick Mills on Wellington Mornings to explain his alternative option to the proposed Newtown cyleway plan.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have I got my hands on something good for you. Now, you know how we're constantly told by the authorities that there's all this public support for cycleways? And you sit there thinking, well, nobody I know likes the cycleways, so what's going? Where can this possibly go? What?Well, here's the answer: Looks like they're fudging the numbers. There isn't majority support for cycleways at all. Today, the Ratepayers Alliance has released a public survey conducted by Auckland Transport that I think might be the first real insight that we've had into what Aucklander's  actually think about cycleways. And let's have a little guessing game on this one, right?The majority of Aucklander's want Auckland council to stop investing in cycleways immediately. So guess what proportion of Aucklander's actually support the funding of cycleways in the city in the short term? 40%, no, 30%, no, 20%, no, not even 15%, 12%. 12% support the funding of cycleways in the city in the short term. That's fewer than one in eight Aucklander's who want the council to put money into cycleways right now. Instead, what Aucklander's really want right now is to be able to get around the city faster. So they want faster, more frequent public transport (48%),  new roads to solve congestion (37%),  increase the capacity of existing roads (32%), build new public transport for growing suburbs (26%), build new roads to growing suburbs (26%).So the top five priorities for money right now in Auckland are public transport and roads to get us moving faster, not cycleways with only 12%. Now, the reason I'm bringing this to you is because I think the survey is really important for a number of reasons, and I do apologize if you're outside of Auckland, but I tell you what, I bet you it's exactly the same situation in whatever town or city you're in right now regarding cycleways. This is important because this survey undermines every single insistence from public officials and cycling advocates that there is majority support for cycleways in the short term. There isn't. And this survey has not yet been made public, even though it was done more than 18 months ago.And most importantly, the council is ignoring right now what people want. So, two months ago, the council voted to spend $2 billion on cycleways, which we don't want. And today, they just voted for that ridiculous climate change plan, which will require them to plow huge amounts of money into cycleways because they want to lift our biking from zero 4% to 17% of total trips in eight years. Now, I don't know why this document has only been released now and not beforehand, and I don't know why it took an official information request from the Ratepayers Alliance to get hold of it, but I can see it definitely undermines Auckland council's push for cycling. Because it shows just how many of us want them to stop the cycleways right away and it is just so frustrating when you see this to watch how they are ignoring what we actually want.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cycleways.A topic designed to get you hot under the collar.Today we hear about a report out of Christchurch reviewing the success of their cycleway programme to find no growth in cyclist numbers over the past 6 years.That's not what the Council wants to hear because the scheme to build 13 cycleways has a budget of $300 million and it's looking like $300 million that is improving little.Now there are people who believe that all cycleways are a waste of time and there are others that believe all cycleways are awesome. That's not reality.There are good cycleways and there are bad cycleways.Good cycleways are like the former railway line from Nelson City through to Richmond and Stoke. Fast, safe, flat and lined with camellias. If I lived in Stoke I'd use it every fine day rather than battling the Coast Road.Then there are bad cycleways like Island Bay. Cycleways that make a road more dangerous and weren't needed by cyclists in the first place but dreamt up by some planner because on paper it looked like a good idea. Almost all downhill cycleways are bad. Cyclists hate them. They're more dangerous than the road.But the bad cycleways are outnumbering the good cycleways and destroying the whole idea in some people's minds.This past weekend Andrew Barnes of Perpetual Guardian and 4-day week fame wrote a magnificent piece about cycleways in the Herald.He did a LGOIMA. That's an official information request for Local Government and he asked some questions of AT, the Auckland Transport authority.Got some juicy stuff.  Turns out the agency charged with increasing cycling and public transport has 150 fleet cars and has no clue how many of their own staff use Public Transport or bike. Staff have access to 3 e-bikes and 6 pedal bikes. Looks like the cycling revolution hasn't hit AT staff.But the worst admission was on the cost-benefit analysis where he found that half the returns on the planned $1.9 billion expenditure to be spent on cycleways comes from so-called health benefits. Which have been estimated. It's $900 million worth of guesses. And if you had the choice wouldn't you rather spend $900 million on actual doctors rather than cycleways?His analysis says AT planning starts with a conclusion and then works backwards and that's not good practice.Christchurch and Auckland Council seem to think all cycleways are awesome. They're not and it's only people who use them who can really tell you what they need.Councils need to consult.  They need to ask cyclists what they want.  Engineers who are cyclists need to design them. At the moment we're building too many that are destined to be white elephants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We probably shouldn't be surprised that the number of cyclists using Christchurch's cycleway network has flatlined since the Covid pandemic, but does it mean it's time for a bit of a re-think as to whether we need more of them? I think a re-think is definitely needed.Here's what's being spent: $301 million on 101-kilometres of cycleways. The Christchurch City Council's putting in $114 million, the Government's putting in $187 million.There are 13 cycleways all up. Four of them are completed, four are partially completed, one is being built, one is at the detailed design stage and there are three others. All of this is due for completion by 2028.Data gathered over the past six years using 32 high-tech sensors which count passing cyclists, has found that initial growth in cycleway usage hasn't continued.Here's an example of one, known as the Papanui Parallel, which runs from Northcote to Bealey Ave. It was the first major cycle route in Christchurch.In the 2018/2019 year, on average, 207 cyclists used it each day. The highest number of daily users since then has been 222, but in the 2021-2022 year that's dropped to 196, which is below what it was in 2018/2019.A lot of numbers are being thrown around and different bits of analysis are being bandied around but the overarching message is this: we are spending a truckload of money on cycleways but the number of people using them isn't increasing.The city council is putting it down to changing work habits since Covid, with more people working from home, which may be true.But, either way, it's time isn't it that we had a good hard look as to whether the development of more cycleways in Christchurch should continue at the rate it has.When you think about it, the “Build it and They Will Come” mentality which seems to go with cycleway development is the complete opposite of how Waka Kotahi decides whether it's going to spend money making roads safer.It waits until road deaths or injuries on a particular stretch of road have reached a certain number before it thinks it's worth spending money on improvements.With cycleways, though, we spend truckloads of money and then hope people are going to use them. And, as we're seeing in Christchurch, we're building them - but the people aren't coming.As I've said many times, I'm not against making it easier for people to get around using bikes. But I don't think the over-engineered cycleways being built here in Christchurch are what's actually needed.I ride a bike to work now and then and the main road I use doesn't have a cycleway. Not even a white line with green asphalt.And, for me, if the Council did go and build a flash cycleway on that road, it wouldn't make me any more inclined to get the bike out first thing in the morning. It just wouldn't.Chances are the 196 people who do use the Papanui Parallel each day, for example, would be cycling anyway.And, going on the numbers which came out over the weekend, there are plenty of other people just like me, because they're telling us that the cycleway network is doing nothing to get more people using bikes.City councillor Mike Davidson chairs the council's urban development and transport committee and he's a big fan of the cycleway network.Here's what he's been saying about growth in the number of users flatlining: “I have no doubt that the investment in cycleways will pay dividends in the future. It is important to create transport options that are safe.”Which is all well and good, but surely it raises the question whether the Christchurch City Council should be pressing on and not using these numbers as a bit of a wake-up call.I don't think it should press on blindly - because there's still $261 million to be spent. And I'm told about $100 million of that will be city council money.Now, later this week, the Council is going to decide whether it spends another $150...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is the ideological debate around cycleways.Whether or not they actually achieve anything. Whether they cut traffic. Whether it's real to expect large numbers of people in large cities to cycle everywhere. Whether the damage you do to the roading network and the resulting congestion is worth it all. Whether all the court cases that are fought over planning and execution make the battle worth it.Then you have the issue of incompetence and ineptitude that, even if cycleways did make sense, they have cocked it up anyway.Just this week, the Grey Lynn cycleway debacle, where it is accepted, by even the cyclists who love these things, that it doesn't work, isn't used, and cost too much.And now we have Waka Kotahi, the Ministry with more spin doctors than anyone, adding to a fiscal mess they don't know how to get out of.The Petone cycleway cost has tripled to $63 million. There is the $1 million clerical error. Between now and 2024 there is an overspend of $670 million. That triggers a breach of approval issue which means delays, stalling, and panic. It's very Christchurch stadium.That $670 million by the way doesn't include a couple of projects in Auckland that also include cost overruns.This, by the way, comes to public attention thanks to the Official Information Act.  If you read the whole thing, the Petone mess is comical as well as depressing.The lack of investigation, the work that was done and redone, the consenting, and the miscalculation, you couldn't have cocked it up more if you set out to cock it up in right royal style.It's what you get when you combine public service ineptitude and the ideology that you are right and everyone else doesn't know what they are talking about.Cycleways don't work in big cities. Certainly not as a mean of mass commuting.Recreationally through parks? Sure. The countryside like Central Otago for tourists? Fantastic.But through butchered streets of downtown New Zealand with parks destroyed, businesses affected, budgets blown, and lane after lane of no use because people don't cycle like they do in Amsterdam? No.When you're blowing out by hundreds of millions, when the lanes you have built don't work and aren't used, when the whole idea is so clearly a bust, who's got the gonads to call it for what it is and accept the idea is fatally flawed?We are spending money we don't have on stuff that's wasting everyone's time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you hate cycleways, you're probably going to hate them a whole lot more when I finish telling you about the latest instalment in this.Turns out cycleways are getting really expensive. The country's cycleway building programme is blowing out big time.Waka Kotahi has set aside $618 million to spend on cycleways over the next three years, but the budget has blown out already to $670 million, which is an overspend of 10 percent.Why? In some cases, because of dumb mistakes.The Petone cycleway seems to be a case of dumb and dumber where mistakes like an administration error of $1 million and forgetting to talk to KiwiRail to plan the route has made it quadruple in price. It should've cost $17 million, now it's $65 million.That works out at $21.7 million per km. That is miles too expensive.That is not the first time this has happened, but all of these cycleways are too expensive per kilometre.The cycleway in Grey Lynn cost $10 million and barely anyone uses it.Auckland Transport is going to spend $144 million on 18km of cycleways - $8 million per kilometre.Christchurch Council is going to spend more than $300 million on 13 cycleways - $3 million per kilometre.It does not have to be that expensive. There is a cycleway on Auckland's Viaduct that only costs $500,000 per kilometre.Frankly, the people at Waka Kotahi need to stop overengineering their cycleways. It doesn't have to be miles away from cars with planter boxes lining the sides and a beautiful pink or green hue.Doesn't always have to be the case that they have to rip up all of the carparks and rebuild the entire road.Sometimes what they should do is just paint a white line down the edge of the road and call that a cycleway.It's not crazy to have a single white line separating cycles from cars. Most of our roads have a line separating cars from cars and it works.We are overdoing it on the cycleways, which means we have fewer of them for the cyclists to use, so cyclists are annoyed, and they take too long so the cyclists are annoyed, and the businesses are annoyed and they cost too much and the motorists are annoyed, so all of us are annoyed.Keep it simple, keep it cheap, keep all of us happy.

The country's cycleway building programme faces a tough choice - to defer, delay or blowout on projects. Documents released under the OIA show it's not just pandemic pressures but basic mistakes driving up costs. Such as at the beleaguered Petone to Melling cycleway in Lower Hutt that has ballooned to more than 20 million dollars per kilometre due to planners forgetting things, little investigation and a million dollar 'clerical error'. Phil Pennington is looking into this.

It's expected that next week the government is going to unveil plans for a congestion charge in the country's largest city, Auckland. Jesse speaks to Matt Lowrie, the editor of transport and urban design blog, Greater Auckland.

Protecting cyclists from traffic on a small stretch of Palmerston North highway has been criticised by some motorists. And, after a trial that's lasted more than a year, the future of the cycleway is about to be decided. Our Manawatū reporter Jimmy Ellingham has more.

Former Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast and current Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy discuss the 226-million dollar plan to install a 147-kilometre long cycle network through Wellington's streets.We looked into the latest issues around the National Party, whether it's OK to ask childcare centres if staff are vaccinated, and the panel's Te Reo was put to the test for Maori Language Week.LISTEN ABOVE

This week we're joined by Claire O'Connor, The Workers' Party rep for Dublin-Central and Conor McCabe, writer and researcher to discuss; The Workers Party Union recognition and collective bargaining Hospitality - underpaid and undervalued Vilified teachers Soc Dems heave Zappone drama & cabinet leaks Homelessness on the rise again Review bombing Bolsoaro conspiracies Cycleways blocked Rebecca Vardy and axe-throwing...

Recorded at Mercure Resort Fernhill at Queenstown Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Event.0 - My Intro of Rod Drury.1:35 - Speech starts, When he first came to Queenstown when Xero started - Did you buy shares?2:46 - Retired 3 years ago, what does life look like?3:14 - Covid - More than 2 weeks in one place.3:35 - Where's the best place to live?4:30 - Biking Skyline the first time (like snowboarding)5.25 - Queenstown feels like home. Meeting locals (last 18 months to 2 years)6:30 - True Crossroads - Place to do meetings. Business meeting on a bike. Great base8:00 - Location not as important (jump on zoom)9:00 - Queenstown can be a globally connected place.10:00 - Diversify away from tourism (Tech industry)10:50 - Bring forward Fibre, Cell phone coverage, Rollout 5G12:00 - Innovation Centre, High Speed Electric Car Charges throughout NZ (Every hour and a half)13:33 - If all Campervans were electric. (Know where the tourists are)14:30 - Digital Film Studio Project + Gaming Industry. $12 million for screens, Courses (Amazon, Disney, NZTE)18:45 - 50 Visas - pick specialty areas, tech cluster. Machine learning AI, Gaming, Filming (Google Microsoft - people kicked out of US could come). Affordable housing.22:30 - Transport pod discussion- Tech to solve transport issue. Pods go down cycle ways. Its been installed in Munich. How it could work in Queenstown. Airport into town. Use for individuals and stock26:30 - Mountain bike community. Bike towns Derby in Tasmania and other places. Ski strong actors, Biking is Grass roots. Make Queenstown Whistler of Southern Hemisphere.28:30 - World class trails -build it, maintenance, planting trees, funding31:15 - Friends of Lake Hayes - Cleaning the Lake. 1.6 million funding there to assist the cleanup.34:20 - Air Ambulance at Queenstown Airport.35:30 - Get you and your staff out on the Trails. Business Sponsor a trail, maintenance.37:00 - Question time -37.05 - How do you decide what to dedicate your time to? . Many big chunks of projects is preferred. 5-10 year period of working out systems.39:30 - Leadership should be urgent. recapping44:20 - My question - Retirement - Important things that Queenstown needs to change. Infrastructure. Affordable housing. Pick zones. The Covid Effect.46:25 - Will be speaking at Wakatipu House School.49:45 - Streaming Services - Series been shot here.50:55 - International School in Queenstown no-brainer.52:15 - Government biased against Queenstown. Need to keep landing projects in Queenstown. Traffic, school dropoffs, Cycleways. Top tech people in the world are all here.54.15 - 3 takeways - Everybody is faking it. Clear Vision, Knew Xero would be successful, Capital to execute strategy (raise enough), working on the business so hire to have people working in the business. Hire great people, build the machine.57.15 - Diversify the economy, need to collaborate. Networking, paying it forward X 10. Add value59:00 - Which tech company to invest in now (Story about investing in Elon Musk's stock, not a great investor) Get upset to think about it.1:00.00 - Join the Mountain Bike Club.

The big budget for a new non-car harbour bridge in Auckland sparked a big 'bike-lash' in the media last week - and how we build and use our roads has become a huge wedge issue all around the country. Mediawatch asks a journalist dedicated to covering transport: do the deep divisions and inflamed opinions make it hard to report all this effectively?

The big budget for a new non-car harbour bridge in Auckland sparked a big 'bike-lash' in the media last week - and how we build and use our roads has become a huge wedge issue all around the country. Mediawatch asks a journalist dedicated to covering transport: do the deep divisions and inflamed opinions make it hard to report all this effectively?

How we get around our cities has suddenly flared up in our news. Even media colleagues are calling each other haters and zealots, and calling each other out for fake news. But is this just background noise or does it have a real impact?

How we get around our cities has suddenly flared up in our news. Even media colleagues are calling each other haters and zealots, and calling each other out for fake news. But is this just background noise or does it have a real impact?

The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast Episode 195 Cycle advocates should ask for trees not just cycleways Thursday 26th July 2018 HOST: Carlton Reid. GUEST: Jon Little, principal of transport consultancy Bespoke. SPONSOR: Jenson USA • The Latest Gear. The Best Prices. All In One Place. TOPICS: Jon Little is one of the team behind the £28m Mini-Holland project in Waltham Forest, London. http://workwithbespoke.co.uk FOR SHOW NOTES GO TO www.the-spokesmen.com

Radio hosts know cyclists and cycle paths are a red rag to their frequently car-bound listeners. Mediawatch looks at how one broadcaster responded to research showing most Aucklanders support cycling while another station asked the audience if bikers should be banned from the roads.

Radio hosts know cyclists and cycle paths are a red rag to their frequently car-bound listeners. Mediawatch looks at how one broadcaster responded to research showing most Aucklanders support cycling while another station asked the audience if bikers should be banned from the roads.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) This Could Be a Movement/You Can Only Help People Who Want to Be Helped/Ritchies to the Rescue/Fossicking Through Diaries/School Ain't for Everyone

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) This Could Be a Movement/You Can Only Help People Who Want to Be Helped/Ritchies to the Rescue/Fossicking Through Diaries/School Ain't for Everyone

Spokesmen 152: It's just Vitamin V, no need to get cocky HOST: Carlton Reid PANELISTS: Jim Moss Donna Tocci *That* BBC video interview with the US professor and his adorable kids. Strong winds force cancellation of Cape Town Cycle Tour in South Africa disappointing 35,000 would-be participants. SPONSOR: Jenson USA TOPICS Team Sky riders trialled Viagra for, er, “performance benefits”. Lance admits he was a “duck” (but with an "i"). Team Sky's Exploding Shimano wheels @ 60kph in the Tirreno-Adriatico. Cycleways cause pollution, says MP who drives a dirty old muscle-car. NZ gov't campaign to get more people on bikes. Boston Transportation Department Offers Free Cycling Clinics for Women this Summer The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommerical-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Monique Devereux visits some of the regions developing cycleways amid new funding from the national cycleway project.