ARTA Annual Report 2009 - Auckland Transport

Cycle monitoring
Regional manual cycle monitoring has been carried out for the past three years, to give a ‘one-day snapshot’
of cycling in the region. The cycle monitoring is conducted for ARTA, the local councils and NZTA in March.
Results from the 2009 cycle survey are:
Year No. of Sites Monitored Count Annual Change (at 63 sites
in original survey)
2007 63 9,019 n/a
2008 69 9,274 +3%
2009 83 10,054 -2%
Cycling has steadily declined since the 1980s, but has remained constant over the past three years. For example,
16% of school students cycled to school in 1980, while only 2% have cycled in the years from 2007-2009.
Where infrastructure is of high quality, continuous and connected, substantial increases in cyclist movements
have been measured. The off-road Twin Streams Cycleway, the Upper Harbour Bridge, the North Western
Cycleway and the Takapuna to Devonport cycle lanes are good examples of such infrastructure. As more
of the Regional Cycle Network is completed, resulting in more continuous and connected routes, cycling
numbers should increase.
If the cycling projects in the 2009-2012 RLTP are completed, 306.2km (32.6%) of the regional cycle network
will have been constructed. The target set in the ARLTS is to complete 50% of the network by 2016. The
proposed network is 938km long and the cost is estimated at over $100 million. This work is the responsibility
of the NZ Transport Agency and local councils.
RESULT: In 2009, monitoring shows no overall change in numbers of cyclists over three years,
but significant increases at sites where the cycle routes are continuous and connected.
ARTA employees, left to right, Brian
Horspool, Paul Montague, Peter Bawden
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