Ditch your cars and jump on a bike

Sick and tired of morning and afternoon traffic jams? The fluctuating price of petrol got your head in a spin? The daily battle of finding parking got you screaming madly like a crazy person?

Well there is a simple solution – get on your bike mate.


This month Trustpower won the Bikes in Business award at the New Zealand Transport Agency's Bike to the Future Awards. From left: Trustpower training and development specialist Glen Brown and business solutions specialist Dave Marris with Tauranga MP Simon Bridges. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Tauranga MP Simon Bridges would love to see more locals to get on their bikes and take up cycling as a way of commuting to and from work.

He says Tauranga's an easy city to navigate by bicycle and is urging more workers to take the opportunity to ditch their cars and get on their bikes.

'We are starting to notice more daylight hours and I would encourage people to take that time to utilise some of the city's urban cycleways as a means of getting to and from work.”

Simon's comments come after Trustpower won the Bikes in Business award at the New Zealand Transport Agency's Bike to the Future Awards earlier this month.

The organisation employs 520 people in its new central city location, with about 30 to 40 of those biking to work every day. To cater for their cycling employees, Truspower has purpose built facilities to store 56 bikes, with plenty of showers, lockers and towel-drying space.

In anticipation of their move from Te Maunga to the central city, staff were also given information about their transport options which included free bike safety gear and cycleway maps, explains Simon.

'Trustpower is a great example of a large employer, which is encouraging staff to get active and bike to and from work [and] a great example of a business taking the lead and promoting a healthy alternative to staff,” says Simon.

Trustpower Business Solutions Specialist Dave Maris says moving into the city was a big change for the company, so it was important to keep people well informed about their transport options.

There's greater awareness within the company of what people's options are for getting to work and how they might go about biking to work, he adds.

'People see the many benefits of biking – it's awesome for fitness, it can be quicker for some, depending on the time of the day and where people live, it's easier on the pocket, saving money on fuel and parking and it's kinder on the environment too.

'For those that took up the challenge, there has been an increase in general wellness for these people,” says Dave.

Simon thinks locals should take advantage of the Tauranga urban cycle network, which was made up of 10 commuter routes totalling 150km, and a wider network of recreational connections and routes.

'The aim of the cycling programme is to provide a safer and more connected cycle network for the people of Tauranga leading to improved transport choices and an increase in the number of cycle trips, especially to school and to work.”

The Urban Cycleways Fund will accelerate the programme over the next three years and focus on connecting the cycle network and completing the missing links, while also addressing safety issues, particularly at intersections.

It will also accelerate the Omokoroa to Tauranga cycle trail which is a priority for the region and will provide a facility that can be used for recreation, tourism and commuter cycling.

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6 comments

Bike Safety

Posted on 29-07-2016 12:45 | By sangrae

Well done guys, but with the local M.P. there I would have thought that you would all have been wearing flouro jackets in the interests of road safety?


Still not safe enough

Posted on 29-07-2016 12:50 | By Chris

I haven't ridden my bike to work since getting knocked off the last time. Sick of winding up hurt and in hospital because motorists don't look, and the safety factor just isn't worth it any more. I feel much safer on my motorbike, where I can stay within the traffic flow and assert myself my easily. I respect the message of the article though - way too many cars on the road, and it's not OK to moan about traffic when you yourself are contributing to it by driving a car.


I wish !!

Posted on 29-07-2016 13:07 | By xenasdad

It would be great if Simon would just get on his bike !!!!


@sangrae

Posted on 29-07-2016 13:37 | By Jimmy Ehu

In the interest of road safety, why would you even think about riding a bike today?


Hmmmm

Posted on 29-07-2016 14:31 | By How about this view!

There are enough morons on the roads around Tauranga currently, riding their bikes on major thoroughfares and driving their work utes at peak times. Could I suggest to those thinking of becoming donors and riding a bike, make a few trial runs and see if you can find quieter roads to use away from the mad motorists. It may take you a few minutes longer (Although it will likely still be quicker than in a car) but you will be a lot safer away from our ridiculous cycle-lanes that are rarely used properly and are probably the cause of some incidents. Particularly involving those kamikaze cyclists that believe that being inside of a painted white line on the road gives them magical powers and the general rules of the road don't apply to them any more.


Jump on a bike

Posted on 29-07-2016 18:27 | By nerak

is all very well, as long as you take your brain along for the ride. Last Saturday I had one of 3 lycra clad males pull out from cycle lane immediately in front of me, and only because I am always very wary of cyclists and was doing less than 50 k having just pulled away from traffic lights I did not hit him. He didnt even look over his shoulder before pulling into my path. What right did he have to do this? It is still extremely obvious there are many cyclists who think they own the road they cycle on. They do not, and need to understand they have to share it with other vehicles, if they wish to live long.


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