The wunderkinds at Generation Zero put on a great event yesterday. Part celebration, part protest, the Bike to the Future event was attended by about 400 (500?) people, including young kids, oldies and a couple of dogs. Surprisingly the weather cooperated – making the attendance even more impressive.
The event is part of a bigger campaign for the provision of separated bike lanes along Karangahape Road. Of course re-allocating road space for spatially efficient modes makes a whole lot of sense for safety, convenience and economic reasons. Most importantly the event shows what Auckland will look like in the future; and if the smiles, good cheer and overflowing cafes were any indication the future can’t come soon enough.
Below is media from Tamara Josephine, @bythemotorway (more photos here: 1, 2, 3), and @wheeledped (website).
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Frak, I missed it. When’s the next one?
2nd of November. More details soon.
Yay! I missed the last too!.
Post up the info here on the blog so we dont miss out again. Thanks!
Next one will be even bigger I think, heaps of people I know, a bit sad they missed out….
It may have engendered more good will if they had not blithly riden through every red light on Ponsonby Road on the way through.
From where I was, that was a decision made to try and not block up Ponsonby Rd for longer than necessary. I’m not going to discuss the right vs wrong of it but I believe it was done with best intentions not as a ‘f you’ to the world.
I was at the front and we stopped religiously at all the motor vehicle signals. The decision was made to keep the pack moving but because there were so many it stretched beyond one phase. This almost certainly inconvenienced the few motorists around a lot less than staying spread out across the streets for longer… hey but maybe we should do it that way next time?
Completely agree. A decision needed to be made. Was it critical mass or critical manners? Clearly this is/was a critical mass type ride. As a protest, all that was needed was a police escort similar to pedestrian protests up Queen St. Hopefully the organisers got some contacts of people who have experience with protests and can help organise the next one and liaise with police. The other option of course is to simply not be above the law. Share the road, stop at reds, obey the road rules and keep left etc. The video footage of this ride looked unsafe and cringe-worthy. People don’t see intentions, only actions.
Important question: will Bike to the Future Part II feature hoverbikes?
Glad to hear there is another happening. I missed it too. Better yet, Can this be made a first Sunday of the month thing. It could be a cccc event…City centre cycling coffee crawl…