The Star: June 17, 2021

• By Matt Slaughter
AN ECONOMIST and author
who specialises in policy
effectiveness says strategies
encouraging Christchurch
residents to get out of cars and
onto bikes and buses have not
worked.
But the city council says the
number of people cycling is
increasing and Environment
Canterbury says it is working to
address challenges facing public
transport and its popularity.
Dr Greg Clydesdale, an author
and former Lincoln University
economist, believes in spite of
urban planners attempting to
combat climate
change
with more
bike lanes and
buses, “they
have failed
significantly.”
Greg
Clydesdale ​
In his
submission
to the city
council’s Long Term Plan, which
has been up for consultation and
will be finalised next month,
Clydesdale said oil consumption
in Canterbury and Westland
increased from 1.672MT [metric
tonnes] per person in 2013, to
1.675MT in 2019.
He said figures show car
ownership in Canterbury has
also increased from 0.485 cars
per person in 2013 to 0.706 cars
per person in 2019.
As a result, Clydesdale
believes this means transport’s
contribution to climate change
has worsened under the city
council’s policies.
Said Clydesdale: “Our council
has spent millions on cycleways
and discouraging cars from
entering the CBD, and there is no
evidence of any benefit for climate
change. In fact, the evidence
suggests they have made it worse.
“By making it harder for cars
to travel and park in the city,
planners thought they were
encouraging car drivers to
switch to bus/bike.
“In reality, they were making it
harder for businesses to relocate
to town. This, in turn, made
buses less competitive with cars,
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Thursday June 17 2021 The Star
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TRANSPORT: A former university lecturer says the city council and Environment Canterbury’s efforts to get people using
bikes and buses are not working.
PHOTOS: GEOFF SLOAN
as bus passengers now had to
take two or three buses to get to
where they want (more travelling
and wait time).”
He said bus numbers in
Canterbury have dropped from
17 million pre-earthquake to
between 11 and 12 million now.
“The council put bicycles
first. Businesses and rebuilding
the city came second. The
result is wide, empty footpaths,
insufficient businesses in the
CBD, few pedestrians and empty
bike racks. And, under the
council’s policies, our carbon
footprint has increased,” said
Clydesdale.
Said a city council
spokesperson: “The council
For example, a count of cyclists
last year showed a 20 per cent
increase on the count the year
before. That count follows a
pattern of yearly growth and
we expect these numbers will
continue to go up as the cycleway
network is built.
“Environment Canterbury
has reported that bus use
dropped significantly after
the earthquakes and has not
returned to the levels we would
like to see. As a council we are
working with ECan to finalise
the Public Transport Futures
Business Case. This will outline
what improvements to the public
transport system would leverage
the greatest benefits.”
years with public transport
partners, including Christchurch
City Council and Waka Kotahi
NZ Transport Agency, is
around understanding the
challenges facing public
transport - the two biggest being
urban form and the resulting
uncompetitive nature of public
transport in our distributed
urban environment.
“PT [Public Transport] Futures
is intended to improve service
levels to make public transport
more attractive, invest in service
enhancements and invest in
priority measures.”
It comes as last week The Star
reported average temperatures
in Canterbury could rise by 1.5
has seen a consistent increase An ECan spokeswoman deg C by 2040 and 3.5 deg C by
in cycling numbers since we
Heat
said: “The work we
Pump
have been 2090 if climate
Spec
change is not
started building the cycleways. undertaking over the last few responded to.
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