Some good news yesterday that the Quay St cycleway counter has now passed 50,000 and it has done so in less than 3 months.

What’s more it was reader and friend of the blog, Lance Wiggs who saw it click over the 50k mark.

The waterfront cycle counter clicked over to 50,000 today less than three months after it was opened by Transport Minister Simon Bridges, Prime Minister John Key and Mayor Len Brown.

Lance Wiggs took the 50,000th cycle trip on the Quay St Cycleway at 9 this morning.

Mr Wiggs, who lives in the city centre, says the Quay St Cycleway has really improved safety for people cycling. “I used to cycle here mingling with pedestrians or you could choose to cycle on the road and share with the trucks. Now you get to cycle without any trucks or people around you.”

The two way, protected cycleway which is on the waterfront side of Quay St from Lower Hobson to Plumer St, has proved hugely popular. The 1km route is attracting a large number of commuters from the east and west as well as people cycling for recreation.

The popularity of this and other new cycleways like the pink Lightpath has a lot to do with people new to cycling says AT Cycling and Walking manager Kathryn King. “We know that people want cycleways that keep people on bikes protected from general traffic like this one on Quay St. What is really encouraging for us is to see all the people new to cycling who are choosing to travel into the city centre by bike.

“As the network becomes more connected we expect to see sharp increases in the number of people cycling into and around the city centre. With all the works going on in the city centre, cycling really is proving to be a great travel option.”

The new infrastructure is endorsed by Barbara Cuthbert, from Bike Auckland “We’re delighting in the new counting post on Quay St. Every person biking past is boosted with the knowledge they’re doing their bit to reduce congestion.”

The Quay St Cycleway, which has funding from the Government through the Urban Cycleways Programme, has averaged 570 cycle trips a day since it opened in early July.

With summer fast approaching I suspect it will take even less time to see another 50,000 trips clocked up on the cycleway.

And while on the topic, I can highly recommend the post on the same topic from our friends at Bike Auckland.

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12 comments

  1. It would be really interesting to do some manual sample counts of the eastern end of the path. I use it every day but rarely go past the counter because I come out of the ferry terminal and head east towards Beach Rd and Grafton Gully. I know plenty of others that do the same, and there must be a good few who come in from the east and go to the ferry or some other CBD destination to the east of the counter. I suspect the actual usage of the Quay St. cycleway is already very close to the 100K mark.

  2. Putting the counter there was part of a conspiracy by the left wing green cycle lobby. Having the counter in that location introduces doubt and allows them to claim that “real numbers” are higher. This is all in an attempt to justify the removal of even more road space from innocent cars, and further subjugate the masses’ right to enjoy the glorious freedom of driving.

  3. Yes, it is not the busiest location for cyclists, but it is prominent for pedestrians and drivers as well to see.
    I wonder how numbers will increase once the nelson section is completed.

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