WCC would like to know if we should pay for motorbike parking

[rastuscat]

yet they spend 6m on IBay cycle lane which is hardly used.

Three people go into a cafe. A cyclist, a pedestrian and a motorist. At their table there are 15 biscuits. The motorist takes 13 biscuits, the cyclist and the pedestrian get one each. Then the motorist leans over and whispers to the pedestrian "Watch out, that cyclist will steal your biscuit."

For decades roads have been built for cars. Now that more effort is being made to balance our system, you'd think the sky was falling.

[Scuba_Steve]

Three people go into a cafe. A cyclist, a pedestrian and a motorist. At their table there are 15 biscuits. The motorist takes 13 biscuits, the cyclist and the pedestrian get one each. Then the motorist leans over and whispers to the pedestrian "Watch out, that cyclist will steal your biscuit."

For decades roads have been built for cars. Now that more effort is being made to balance our system, you'd think the sky was falling.

I'm sometimes all of them, but my problem isn't that we spend on paths even when they go unused; my problem with the whole thing is that the motorist pays for the roads, and the cycleway, and the rail system, and Auckland rail...
And yes I know the general "slush fund" pays some too, but when you take a 'user pays' system & use it to pay for another user, that's just taking the piss really.

[rastuscat]

I'm sometimes all of them, but my problem isn't that we spend on paths even when they go unused; my problem with the whole thing is that the motorist pays for the roads, and the cycleway, and the rail system, and Auckland rail...
And yes I know the general "slush fund" pays some too, but when you take a 'user pays' system & use it to pay for another user, that's just taking the piss really.

Tamaki Drive in Mechanics Bay used to be a road with a footpath. The footpath was fairly wide, and separated by a row of pohutukawa.

Cyclists found the increasing traffic dangerous. So the council painted a white line down the middle of the footpath, and called it a shared path. Thing is, any self respecting, confident cyclist kept using the road, as the shared path was used by scooters, peds, all sorts of users you had to slow down for.

The road stayed as it was. And traffic continued to intensify. Car drivers got pissy at the cyclists, who were supposed to use the shared path. And some serious and fatal cyclist crashes happened.

Now AT is going to really piss motorists off. They are going to take some lane space from the motorists, and put a separated cycle way along that piece of Tamaki Drive.

And all the groaning about cyclists not paying taxes surfaces yet again. Really? I dont pay tax? The funding model for roads manages to dips into everyone's pockets.

So, back to the biscuit analogy. Cars had 13.5 biscuits, and pedestrians had 1 Cyclists had maybe 0.5, which they had to squeeze off the cars.

The council took half the pedestrians 1.5 biscuits, and gave it to the cyclists. No chance of the cars giving up theirs. No chance.

But things, they are a changing. It's becoming recognised that cars are important, but they have significant societal cost. They aren't the only solution.

But decades of motorists getting pretty much all the biscuits has given motorists a sense of entitlenent.

And change is hard. Island Bay in Wellington. St Asaph St in Chch. The battle lines are drawn..

[HEsch]

Now AT is going to really piss motorists off. They are going to take some lane space from the motorists, and out a separated cycle way along that piece of Tamaki Drive.

They are going to do much, much more than that in the next few years.

[rastuscat]

I must stop posting from my phone. The typos are cringe worthy.

The biggest groans happen when car parks are removed to give space to cyclists and pedestrians.

Car parks are basically subsidized car-storage facilities. When people decry the loss of car parks, they are basically saying "I want the public to fund my car storage"

[nerrrd]

Cyclists found the increasing traffic dangerous. So the council painted a white line down the middle of the footpath, and called it a shared path. Thing is, any self respecting, confident cyclist kept using the road, as the shared path was used by scooters, peds, all sorts of users you had to slow down for.

Motorcyclists don't want to slow down for cars, cars don't want to slow down for cyclists, cyclists don't want to slow down for pedestrians, pedestrians don't want to slow down for...er...cafe seating I guess or any other obstacles.

The 'entitlement' is in no way limited to car drivers, it appears to be deeply ingrained in the local psyche regardless of your mode of transport.

[rastuscat]

They are going to do much, much more than that in the next few years.

Yes, the worm is turning.

One day we will reflect that it should have happened decades ago. Change is hard, very hard.

Often we hear that Amsterdam is the commuter cycling nirvana. If you look back at the history of how that came to be, it's a reflection of what is happening here now.

Amsterdam's cycling infrastructure was developed when the city began to choke with traffic congestion. The protests from motorists were massive. It took a generational change for today's system to become normalized and accepted.

We are in the very early stages of going through a generational change of thinking about transport.

[Jeeper]

I see a lot of "entitled" motorcycle riders on Northwestern motorway doing well above posted speed limit everyday. Often their attitude is as if the cars are in the way unnecessarily.

Same can be said for cyclists who don't follow cyclist traffic lights on cycle lanes down Nelson Street in town.

Entitled behavior is not limited to car users.

[rastuscat]

I see a lot of "entitled" motorcycle riders on Northwestern motorway doing well above posted speed limit everyday. Often their attitude is as if the cars are in the way unnecessarily.

Same can be said for cyclists who don't follow cyclist traffic lights on cycle lanes down Nelson Street in town.

Entitled behavior is not limited to car users.

Exactly.

The problem isn't car drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists or truck drivers. The problem is poor behaviour.

Some car drivers, truck drivers, cyclists and motorcyclists behave badly.

99% of cyclists give the rest a bad name. (Chuckle).

[Hawk]

Exactly.

The problem isn't car drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists or truck drivers. The problem is poor behaviour.

Some car drivers, truck drivers, cyclists and motorcyclists behave badly.

99% of cyclists give the rest a bad name. (Chuckle).

Those bloody biscuits not cleaning their crumbs up after the Car drivers etc have finished with them.

[Jeeper]

Those bloody biscuits not cleaning their crumbs up after the Car drivers etc have finished with them.

Bullbars come handy sometimes

[Scuba_Steve]

And change is hard. Island Bay in Wellington. St Asaph St in Chch. The battle lines are drawn..

I think Island Bay is stupid, but only cause the setup not the overall intention
Personally I'd be happy to see CBD's turned into 'shared spaces' the likes a Eurolands