2,000 Cyclists Ride over Auckland Harbour Bridge

To be able to bike and walk the Auckland Harbour Bridge has been a dream for cyclists and pedestrains since it was built in 1959 but the only chance the cyclists get is on the few occasions that the NZTA closes a couple of lanes every few years to allow this to happen.

It is run by Bike the Bridge who do a magnificent job in organising and managing a major cycling event with crowds of up to 3,000. This year's Bike the Bridge was a great and happy occasion.The management had thought of everything from police, ambulance, fire brigades and portaloos and the Council made this a public event by providing transport and even 100 buses to protect the cyclists from the cars.The Bridge run was one way only and it took the 2,000 happy cyclists just an hour to cross and another to come back.

I am full of admiration for the management's attention to detail. It was excellent and a message to all other potential events organisers that this is how it is done. Bravo!

Contrast this model of management with that of the planned SkyPath. Although this is to be on a massive scale with eventually up to 20,000 on a summer Saturday no crowd management plan has been put in place. "The suburb will cope" is all that the Northcote Point Residents have been told. These crowds of pedestrains and cyclists will make little or no impact on the area. Two security officers with CCTV cameras based 1.2 K away across the harbour in Westhaven are all Northcote Point has been offered.

This film shows SkyPath and the public what SkyPath needs to know and do to manage the project successfully.

SkyPath requires 2000 cyclists an hour on Summer weekends to make it pay. Can the infrastructure cope? Bike the Bridge shows the impact of 2000 cyclists an hour.

These beautiful areas cannot take the onslaught of 14,347 every Summer Saturday even if they wanted to without a well thought out plan that ensures the safety and enjoyment of residents and visitors alike.

Although I am not part of the Northcote Points Residents Association, I am only interested in crowd management, that is why my company made this film. I have given NRA permission to use this video on their Give a Little Appeal in the interests of fair play. Bike the Bridge is a public event run on public roads and areas. It is open to all. I feel sure too that this organisation is interested in road safety for cyclists and pedestrains, who are not featured at all.

It is hoped that the SkyPath Trust will learn from the Bike the Bridge event and come up with a realistic management plan for Westhaven and Northcote Point. It is not this films intention to spoil the dream, far from it, it was wonderful, only to point out that the present dream falls short of the management and safety features of the above event which was exemplary and to encourage all those who will be responsible for crowd safety to avoid unnecessary risks.

OK! I am going to remove every comment that dismisses the serious content of this video because of the way I speak because I find it offensive. This is called indirect discrimination and is an offense under the Human Rights Commission. This type of discrimination is hurtful and offensive. I shall only accept comments that are constructive and helpful. I shall also remove comments
that say this video is hilarious because it isn't. Those are the rules from now on. You may thumbs down as much as you like and you can suggest answers to Northcote Points problems. Also this is not an NRA video. I do not belong to NRA!

[Pstaines]

Who knew the queen lived in Northcote....and was so bad at maths.

[ahamilton]

Where do we donate to oppose your campaign?

[goosoid]

Well done. You just took the prize for the most ridiculous piece of fear mongering I read this year. After SkyPath opens I hope you release a video apologising and admitting you were wrong. You don't own the area you live in. Stop being such an exclusive toff.

[granthenderson]

As with any major infrastructure project, there are pros and cons. Yes, it impacts a few - note that all objections in the media are from a small group of directly impacted Northcote Point residents. Fair enough, no one wants their quiet street to become a busier place to live, so their objections are to be expected. But we're talking about a long overdue connection to the city which is in step with the way we want our city to evolve - more accessible, more enjoyable to explore. A city where residents are less beholden to cars. The reality is that for Auckland to continue to evolve into a vibrant harbour city, walking, cycling and exploration features like this are essential - let's hope the greater good will prevail against the vocal few.

[bevanjenkins]

Janette, an event where 3, 000 people are corralled and released all at once is different to that same number coming in over he course of an hour. The buses lining the route are obviously not going to be part of a permanent route. Marshals again aren't needed for a permanent fixture. This protesting against the skypath is going to fail and will just end up costing a lot of money and time. Auckland needs and deserves a cycle path crossing of the harbour.

[TheStuartmitchell]

This is a ridiculous video, great that you are still enabling comments on it though.
If the path is going to be this popular we should have built it many years ago.

[graham]

Its a disgrace you are wasting tax payer money opposing a project like this. You should be ashamed of yourself. You have taken Nimbyism to a new level Janette

[mrphus]

This is nothing short of horribly misrepresentative, for two main reasons. Firstly, the Year 1 estimate is 781, 384 trips. That equates to around 2, 100 trips per day, or maybe 200 per daylight hour, rising to 1.2m by year 5, or circa 300 per daylight hour. That is not even close to the numbers you have posted above. In any event actual traffic levels will be tolled/controlled to ensure safety.

Secondly, comparing it to a major event like Bike the Bridge is terribly disingenuous. Most people will be travelling through and carrying on, or perhaps turning around at one end and coming back. There will not be PA / speaker systems playing loud music, and there will not be large static crowds.

Personally I think this would be a fantastic thing for Auckland - as a Shore resident, having the ability to cycle or run to work, which I cannot currently do, is hugely exciting. Yes, there might be a few more people on Northcote Point's streets, but so what? Start a business selling icecreams to them or something. Negative attitudes like this that impede something we can all enjoy hold this city back far too often.

[jessicarose]

First I laughed but then I got angry. My sister suffers from Multiple sclerosis (MS), it is a scary degenerative illness. Bike the Bridge is an event created to raise awareness and create support for people suffering from this illness. How dare those, horrible people at the NRA manipulate the massive societal good that this event provides to hundreds of sufferers, into a cheap and incorrect propaganda flick. I just can't believe how low some people can stoop.

[thekirstiejames]

That will mean a whole lot less CARS everywhere then!

[ColeBurmester]

There would probably be lots of room if we knocked down some of those houses in North Cote and Westhaven. I jest. However, on a serious note, there is no way that you can claim that this is representative of the proposed Skypath or claim it could result in a 'Pike River' type event. Unfortunately, this hurts your case rather than supports it and does nothing to facilitate productive communication between the applicants and opposition.

[donha]

Simple solution. Let the free market build it and charge a fee for crossing... will control volumes of traffic and user experience + fund more infrastructure if profitable. If it makes a loss then the government shouldnt be doing it anyway let alone taking taxes.

[julianwarren]

Sadly, Ms Miller is capitalising on what is a very excellent speaking voice which lends huge gravitas in for form of a BBC Horizon documentary. Unfortunately the event in question is the sole one in which riders can go over the bridge, so it attracted thousands who all set off simultaneously.

I for one thought the organisation was awful. The rows of buses were not needed and used up so much space that it was not possible to have bikes riding both ways even though there was plenty of room. As a result it was necessary to stop everybody at the southern end and then start them all off again at the same time. It was absurd. The efforts to make it safer in fact made it much more hazardous.

So, I'm sorry Ms Miller your wonderful presentational skills do nothing to change the fact that this event was not comparable and even this event was exceedingly poor in the was it was organised.

[lisaholt]

Finally another option for returning home after a night of heavy drinking with a bunch of my unruly mates . After 5 taxi refusals due to over intoxacated bunch of loud mouth muppets we could purchase a box of lion red for the long 3 am walk from the sinfull cbd to the lovely shores of north cote point . We wood have to make sure to leave a suitable trail of lion red bottles in the gutters and gardens ( some of witch may be broken due to possible disputes with other drunk broke drongos from other suburbs ) .Other benefits of this is the lack of soiling fee . taxis have a very unfair fee if one of the unruly mates happen to vomit or leave a stool sample in the taxi a $75-100 is charged . Vomit and urine possibly stool samples could be left in well located rose gardens and driveways around north cote area with no soiling fee. Far better option than stealing a small row boat and rowing across . Sorry may contain a number of spelling and grammar mistakes due to my nz west auckland schooling .

[amykasten]

You apparently took great care in making your video, with lots of facts and figures but...forget your "official figures." We came to Auckland on vacation from our home in Los Angeles (also unsafe for cyclists, also impossible to get cycle infrastructure built, but L.A. county contains over 10 million people) and you GREATLY overestimate how many souls reside in your lovely country! When you have an event, or an opening day, you of course to have everyone who could possibly be interested at the same place at the same time. If a permanent Skypath opens, those same people, who have jobs, cars (yes, cars!), and places to take their kids will not be using it every day. People who bike do not need loos, security, loud music, food and water. They pack a bottle, have a plan, and aren't taking a taxi from the other side. They aren't animals and typically ride quietly alone or in couples. Educate yourself, look up bike infrastructure in the Netherlands.Your country is evolving and in the words of Bob Dylan,
 "Your old road is rapidly agin’...Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand...For the times they are a-changin’".

[JanetteHeffernan]

OK! I am going to remove every comment that dismisses the serious content of this video because of the way I speak because I find it offensive. This is called indirect discrimination and is an offense under the Human Rights Commission. This type of discrimination is hurtful and unpleasant. I shall only accept comments that are constructive and helpful. I shall also remove comment that say this video is hilarious because it isn't. Those are the rules from now on. You may thumbs down as much as you like and you can suggest answers to Northcote Points problems. Also this is not an NRA video. I do not belong to NRA! Lastly the figures given in the video are accurate.

[JanetteHeffernan]

Sky Path was cancelled but its memory lingers on. The roadways and cycle track was not cancelled but installed by Downers at the cost of $24 million dollars. Virtually no cyclist uses it. It is badly designed, dangerous and hideous. Many trees were cut down to achieve it. What a waste of money. What Auckland needs is a tube system. Now that would be worth it.

[genegirl]

Where is your proof that 3000 cyclists are going to use the sky path on a daily basis at the same time? There will perhaps be a large number of people on opening day but that does not mean it will be the same everyday. With this logic you would think that every cycle way in the city would be overcrowded but they are not. Look at Mission Bay or the cycle way along the Western motorway, people get along there just fine. This really is scare mongering.

[jamespowers]

Deliberately disingenuos. I know bare faced lying is now a key part of political campaigning, but bear in mind what this makes you. If you oppose this, which you have every right to do, why not use facts and correctly compiled surveys rather than deliberate falsehoods?