Bike Auckland received $27,258 to showcase inclusive cycling options for disabled and mobility- impaired people with a series of events, and to identify accessibility barriers on the bike path network in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
The project was in response to a challenge set by Hoe ki angitū, the NZTA Innovation Fund: to provide under-served communities with greater access to safer low-emission transport options.
The project sought to reduce three barriers for people with disabilities or mobility-impairments to cycle, first is the lack of awareness and visibility of non-standard (adaptive) bikes, second is the time and cost of travel to try adaptive bikes and third is the frequent inaccessibility of cycle paths.
Bike Auckland partnered with Grab Your Wheels Let’s Travel to deliver a TryaCycle event series and a bike path audit. The event series was held on Auckland’s waterfront in April 2023 and had a range of 'non-standard' accessible and adaptive bikes available to try. Eight cycle paths were audited. The cyclee paths were rated for accessibility and typical barriers were identified.
The key findings from the TryaCycle events were that most participants enjoyed the feeling of independence and joy of riding a bike, and many wanted to buy a bike or tricycle, but cost was identified as a significant barrier. Although a range of different bikes were available, it was difficult to find bikes for children, very tall or heavier people. The bike path audit identified inconsistency in cycleway design, with insufficient width, poor signage and wayfinding, and the poor accessibility of train stations as the main barriers. Some cycleways such as Te Ara ki uta ki Tai (Glen Innes to Ōrākei) rated highly, while others such as the Tāmaki Drive route scored poorly. The findings are recorded in the Report: Tāmaki Makarau Auckland’s Inclusive Cycling Report 2023.
The disabled community were involved in the strategy, design and delivery of the project to ensure it addressed genuine barriers. While the project did face some challenges, such as project delays, weather issues, data capture and bike availability, it also highlighted additional barriers faced by people with disabilities.
Given the overall success of the TryaCycle event series, Bike Auckland intend to host another series in the future and are exploring how to make them available on an ongoing basis. The path audit results provide valuable insight for transport agencies and transport professionals. Bike Auckland will continue to advocate for a more inclusive and accessible cycle network across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and will encourage others to undertake similar audits and to advocate for the barriers identified to be addressed in other parts of New Zealand.
View the full report here:
| Bike Auckland and Grab Your Wheels (n.d.). Reducing Barriers to Cycling for our Disabled and Mobility Impaired Community [PDF, 17 MB]. |
