Safer bike paths for Capital Kids

Staff and families who come by bike have been loving the safety of the section past the hospital that has recently been completed, and are looking forward to seeing more of the planned bike network developed.  

Depending on the time of year a third of the children get to the centre by bike each day, so having more bike lanes separated from traffic is going to make a huge difference for their journey.  

Inspired by the families who bike, centre manager Megan White recently switched from driving to biking.    

She regularly used to get caught in traffic commuting by car from Lyall Bay, but found it stressful not knowing how long the trip would take. She is now loving being able to get to and from work more quickly.  

She leaves early, but congestion meant the trip by car usually took 20 minutes or longer, compared with a consistent 12 minutes on her new e-bike. 

“It’s cut my travel time. And it’s been great for my fitness levels and mental health too. I work some big hours, time’s pretty tight, so it has been a great way to regularly fit some exercise in. I’m finding I’m using my car way less at other times too – walking or biking to places like the supermarket instead of driving like I used to.  

“Rising fuel prices have hardly impacted me at all. I’ve only filled the car up a few times this year.” 

Megan started commuting by bike in January but without the bike lane the Council installed up Crawford Road a few years ago, she says she wouldn’t have even considered riding as she feels uneasy riding in traffic. She can’t wait for more bike lanes to be installed and is particularly keen to see a safe link into the city completed. 

“These planned new connections will make some of the trickier sections safer and easier for me and our families who bike. They come from many places including Brooklyn, Newtown, Melrose, Island Bay and the city centre." says Megan.

The environment was a big factor in Megan’s decision to try travelling another way. 

“The children are our future. We’re encouraging and educating whānau and tamariki to be kaitiaki of our planet, but we’ve also got to walk the talk," she adds.

“We’ve got other staff here who have tried my bike and are thinking about changing how they commute but we need our streets to be safer places, so more people have the choice.” 

The centre let us know they were keen to see more bike parking, so we are working with them to get some new racks in place. 

Adelaide Early Childhood Centre in nearby Colombo Street also has families and staff who come by bike, or walk and then head into the city by bus. 

Head teacher Emma Stanic says changes that improve public transport, bus journey times, or make biking safer will be a benefit to centre whānau both now and in the future. 

“Safer bike lanes and paths will be awesome and in time will hopefully mean more kids can bike to school.” 

Eye Doctor Jesse Galle has a child at Adelaide Early Childhood Centre and another at Mt Cook School. The family live in Newtown and regularly drop and pick up their children by bike as part of the commute to and from work.

They get around by cargo bike a lot of the time, including through winter, and often find it easier and more convenient than taking their car. Jesse says his family careful and conscious of the risks on busy roads 

“My wife has had some near misses with car doors being opened, and being squeezed between vans and parked cars, which is stressful and scary. We’re very much looking forward to further improvements on this route and development of more connections around the city separated from traffic. We support changes that will make the city a place where more people can get around in low carbon ways, drive less or choose to live without a car."