Minister of Transport Annette King announced this week that the transport target is to increase the cycling and walking of all trips by 30% by 2040. This is welcomed by the Cycling Advocates Network (CAN), said the spokesperson Stephen McKernon and he also said that it will have to be worked on very soon so that the implementation is done on time. Cycling is a healthy, economical, responsible and safe mode of transport for a lot of people in the community.
According to McKernon, it has become very important to increase support for cycling and walking because of New Zealand’s climate change, health, urban design and transport problems. His suggestion for CAN is to set a target for 2017 in which 20% of the trips are done by cycling, the concept is positively conceived by the people and the cyclists get fully satisfied. He also said that intermediate targets should be set so that it will be easier to reach the ultimate one.
McKernon is also worried about the increase in luxury cars these days on the roads and because of the large number of cars the cyclists will face traffic difficulties. So according to him even if the fund for cycling is doubled it will have no effect if the government goes on spending on cars. If the National Transport Strategy is serious in achieving its target then it will have to increase the budget, make sure that the strategies are implemented properly and will have to integrate traffic reduction measures to support the cycling and walking.
According to the Ministry of Transport’s Household Travel Survey for 2003-2006, out of 1.3 million cyclists there are 750,000 who are regular and only a small portion cycle for transport. The proposed budget for walking and cycling in 10 years is $28 million, which seems even less that 1% of the total.
Via: Scoop
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