Congratulations to NZ Bus on its cycle friendly win
30 October 2014
Congratulations to NZ Bus on its cycle friendly win
A bus company winning a national cycle friendly award is an extremely positive sign for road safety and deserves celebrating, says Fran Wilde, Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council and the Regional Transport Committee.
NZ Bus last night was presented with the Cycle Friendly Business Commitment award for the Road User Workshop Programme at the national 2WalkandCycle conference in Nelson. The Road User Workshop gives bus drivers and cyclists a chance to swap vehicles, share each other’s perspectives and learn what they can do to make the roads safer for everyone.
“While NZ Bus pipped us at the post last night, we not only congratulate them but bask a little in the glow of their success. Funding and running these workshops is a key part of the work of the Regional Council’s road safety programme. After every workshop, we get very positive feedback from both cyclists and bus drivers who feel they gain an invaluable insight into each other’s experience that changes the way they behave on the road. Bus drivers get a keen sense of the vulnerability of riding a bike and cyclists feel what it’s like to simply try and drive such a huge vehicle let alone managing the challenges that cyclists pose by getting in certain positions on the road or in bus lanes.”
Fran Wilde says another of the region’s bus operators – Mana Newlands Coach Services – is now involved in these workshops and the feedback continues to be positive.
“In the four years before the Wellington region workshops began in 2010 there were 15 reported crashes between buses and cyclists resulting in injury. In the four years since the workshops began there have been six injury crashes reported in the region.”
“I really commend everyone involved with this programme – it’s a genuine gesture on the part of cyclists and bus companies to see how they can share the road better. And it’s paying off hugely.”
NZ Transport Agency Regional Director Auckland/Northland Ernst Zollner has congratulated the winners, and the finalists in the Cycle Friendly Awards at the 2WALKandCYCLE Conference in Nelson.
“It’s an exciting time for cycling in Wellington with a real groundswell of enthusiasm and commitment to encourage cycling as a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly way to get around.
“The winners, and the finalists too, are champions in more than one sense – they have actively championed smarter, safer cycling and it’s making a real difference for everyday Kiwis. We offer them our wholehearted congratulations, and we’re equally excited that the best is still to come.”
Background
The Road User
Workshop programme is developed and delivered by the Cycling
Advocates' network in cooperation with BikeNZ. It’s
currently funded by the Road Safety Trust and overseen by
NZTA. The Wellington workshops are funded and run by the
Greater Regional Council.
Almost 300 NZ Bus employees (drivers and management) have taken part in workshops in Wellington and Auckland. NZ Bus has also supported drivers who have participated in the workshops and then shown interest in cycling to work.
ENDS