Our gift to you, some summer reading!
Big Street Bikers
We are rolling out an electric mobility network to create a happier, healthier Aotearoa.
Kia ora Biker whānau,
Summer is here and Christmas is so close we can smell it! As a gift to you we thought we’d send some handy articles to read for inspiration at your camping spot, bach or garden.?
Ngā mihi,
Big Street Bikers Team
What Auckland could look like as a City of the Future
There’s a race to be the world’s most sustainable city according to Tech Futures Lab founder, Frances Valintine. The futurist expects cities, including Auckland, to be more decentralised in the coming decades with each neighbourhood or suburb having more mixed use areas (combining?housing development with commercial?development, shops and hospitality etc.).
So what’s coming for Auckland’s notoriously slow transport? It might not be what you think. Auckland is currently undergoing one of the biggest urban retrofits of any city of its size in the world, says Kent Lundberg, Technical Director at transportation consultancy, MRCagney.
And don’t we love to see it, “E-bikes will change the way the city works once the infrastructure is in place”, says the urban planner. Other transport options will include a range of light vehicles like golf-cart type transport?(micro-cars) which can efficiently cover trips within 5 kilometres.?
The Big Switch Event
To mark this momentous year for Big Street Bikers, we held an event here in Tāmaki Makaurau to celebrate the ‘Big Switch’ to better urban living. The switch from congested, carbon filled, dangerous streets to safer, less polluted streets that allow people the choice to ride or walk. It’s the switch from streets made for cars, to streets made for people.
At the event we were super excited to announce the roll out of 100 Locky Docks thanks to our cornerstone partner Mercury. We were also honoured with our speakers; Transport Minister Hon. Michael Wood, Julia Jack CMO at?Mercury, and?Bikeep?CEO Kristjan Lind who came all the way from Estonia.?
Books we love - quick get someone to get you one of these for Christmas!
Like a modern-day Jane Jacobs, Janette Sadik-Khan transformed New York City's streets to make room for pedestrians, bikers, buses, and green spaces. Describing the battles she fought to enact change, Streetfight imparts wisdom and practical advice that other cities can follow to make their own streets safer and more vibrant.
Read this book just like former?Mayor Phil Goff. Happy City reveals how our cities can shape our thoughts as well as our behaviour. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting cities and our own lives for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city can save the world--and all of us can help build it.?
A great book by Dr. Andre Brett (maps by Sam van der Weerden) asking the question why and how our trains have disappeared. Going from a full train network in the 1930’s to only a few connections left in 2020.
P.S. Request any of these books from your local library!?
Recommended Digital Summer Reads
Why should you choose an eBike over an EV??A survey of 250,000 vehicle owners notes that roughly a third of pickup truck owners (our equivalent of utes) haul something in the back of their truck once a year or less. This longread article has some great arguments on why an eBike will enrich your life (rather than thinking you need a giant vehicle).?
How Auckland City Centre is reducing car parking?Malcolm McCracken (MRCagney) explains, “The city centre is the best area for car free or car lite living because access by public transport, walking and cycling is so good. Equally, high land prices and construction costs mean car parks are expensive. A single car park in the Pacifica tower sold for a record-breaking $288,000 in 2021”.
A single cruise ship burns 150 tonnes of fuel per day, equivalent to 1 million cars.?Are the benefits outweighing the impact they have on our environment? “If we are talking about trying to protect the most magical place in New Zealand then cruise ships are inconsistent with that protection, with that magic,” says Keith Turner, a former boss of Meridian Energy and chair of Milford Opportunities.
How to be an effective environmentalist - reducing your emissions can be done through your transport choices,?but food can make a big difference too. Some surprising insights; “Microwaves are the most efficient way to cook. Local food is often no better than food shipped from continents away. Organic food often has a higher carbon footprint. And packaging is a tiny fraction of a food’s environmental footprint, and often lengthens its shelf-life. This misfire doesn’t stop with food. A plastic bag seems a lot worse than a paper one. In fact, it’s the opposite.”
An interview with Peter Buttigieg (US Transport Minister/Secretary) on redesigning cities; ‘if you were starting from scratch, cars wouldn’t make sense’.
Probably the greatest transport mistake of the 20th century wasn’t beeching, it wasn’t even building lots of bypasses which were ultimately counterproductive,?the big mistake was taking tram systems?out of urban areas instead of refurbishing them,"
It’s hard to get a driver’s licence in the Netherlands - and that’s the reason Dutch roads are so safe.?“According to local driving schools, about 48 percent of test-takers in the Netherlands will fail either their written or on-road test in a given year. This journalist, who passed her U.S. exam with flying colours, failed three Dutch practice tests before she gave up.”
Newstalk ZB (Andrew Dickens).?“When there is a choice and I weigh up the pros and cons I will take the scooter or the bus or the train or the ferry. But only when it makes sense. Bit by bit it is making sense.”
Former CEO of VW says we have?too many SUVs and too much car ownership: “To improve life quality in cities, small EVs with batteries only big enough for city rides (micro-cars), can play a major role.”
This article advocates for converting redundant street parking into biodiverse green space to promote depaving, canopy cover, and ecological connectivity in cities.
Great to see you in here Kent Lundberg