Cycling in New Zealand is the 5th most popular form of active recreation (9% cycled in the last week), but a very marginal commuting mode, with the share hovering around 1–3% in most major cities. This is due to a number of factors, principally safety fears.
History
The bicycle reached New Zealand in the 1860s in the form of the velocipede, also known as the 'boneshaker'. As bicycle design improved, and production became mass-market, cycling became a popular mode of transport in many parts of New Zealand for half a century. Cycling was a popular form of transportation in New Zealand by the 20th century. Christchurch claimed its title as the cycling capital of New Zealand in the early 20th century, with its flat physical geography the bicycle was a form of everyday transport earning it the name of "Cyclopolis". In 1924, it was estimated that 40,000 of Christchurch's approximately 80,000 people were cycling and by the late 1930s it was estimated that Christchurch was home to 20% of New Zealand's 250,000 bicycles.
In the 1950s and 60s, government transport funding and policies favouring motor vehicles as the transport of the future, along with the increasing affordability of automobiles, spurred a rise in motor vehicles. New Zealand soon had, and still has, one of the highest rates of car dependence in the world.
As well as abandoning bicycles (and public transport) in favour of cars, the remaining cyclists were increasingly forced off the streets by the rising danger of motor traffic, relegating bicycles to recreational and sports use. The oil shocks of the 1970s triggered the first of several bicycle resurgences, and new sports bicycles became popular: first, road racing bikes, then BMXs and eventually mountain bikes. By 1990, a survey showed cycling to be the second most popular participation sport in New Zealand. Since then, cycle sales have remained high, averaging over 150,000 per annum. However, their everyday uses, such as for commuting or shopping, is still rare.
In 1994, New Zealand introduced mandatory bicycle helmet wearing, a change which some parts of academia and cycling advocacy credit with further reducing the incidence and attractiveness of cycling.
Safety In the mid-2000s, Auckland Regional Transport Authority reported that "over half of Aucklanders believe it is usually unsafe, or always unsafe, to cycle".Bean, C. E., Kearns, R. & Collins, D., 2008, Exploring Social Mobilities: Narratives of Walking and Driving in Auckland, New Zealand, Urban Studies 45(13), pp.2829–2848. A 2019 study found that only 28% of beginner cyclists are willing to ride on roads with no cycle provision. This high perceived risk to bicycle users in New Zealand's largest city is due to a number of factors. Motorists tend to exhibit hostile attitudes towards bicycle riders. Bicycles are classed as 'vehicles', a transport class legally obliged to use the road, forcing bicycle users to mingle with heavy and fast-moving motor vehicles; only postal workers are legally permitted to ride on footpaths.Rules for cycling in the Road Code Accessed 20 December 2009 Bicycle infrastructure and the standards underpinning bicycle infrastructure planning are poor and bicycles receive relatively very low levels of funding by both central and local government. Press release on funding levels
Cycling and national and local government Since the 1990s, many local Councils have developed cycling (or walking & cycling) strategies to plan for the provision of cycle-friendly environments and the promotion of cycling for transport and recreation. The Government, in its 2002 NZ Transport Strategy (and 2008 revision), officially acknowledged the role that cycling can play in helping to achieve a number of strategic transport outcomes, and in 2005 the first national Walking and Cycling Strategy "Getting There: On Foot, By Cycle" was released. However, from 2008 the new National-led Government set aside this strategy and restricted funding for cycling facilities, citing the need for motorway investment instead.Delivering the roads of national significance, NZTA, Aug 2012 The one significant investment from 2010 was the "Model Walking and Cycling Communities" programme, which saw $7 million invested over 2 years in the two chosen communities, Hastings and New Plymouth, as demonstration projects of what could be achieved with concentrated focus – a further $15 million was then earmarked to these towns for 2012–15.Encouraging walking and cycling, NZTA, Aug 2012
Following a spate of cycle crashes in late 2010, a national coronial inquiry considered the issue of cycle safety. After hearing submissions from a wide range of parties, Coroner Matenga recommended in 2013 that an expert panel, led by the NZ Transport Agency, be put together to recommend to central and local government how to prevent further cycling deaths and improve safety. A Cycle Safety Panel of ten specialists was convened in 2014 and spent the year gathering evidence and then making a wide-ranging series of recommendations. A key recommendation was that a significant injection in cycleway infrastructure funding was required by Government. As a result, a $100 million Urban Cycleways Fund was announced by the Government and, in conjunction with existing local and national transport funding, this led to a record $330 million cycleways programme over 2015–18.
Cycling is increasingly becoming a touristic and (at least local) economic factor in the 2010s. In addition to successful cycle touring schemes (like those gathered under the New Zealand Cycle Trail umbrella) credited with revitalising local back country areas, are experiences like those reported from Rotorua, where the mountain biking business within the Whakarewarewa timber plantation forest is several times that earned annually from the timber plantation itself.
As a mode of transportation, cycling has fallen from its historic peaks. The modal share of cycling for transportation has stayed similar since the 1970s. In 1976 the figure stood at 3%. In 1986 this had increased to 5%, in Christchurch, Hastings and Whanganui 10% of people biked to work while due to its difficult geography in Wellington this figure was only 1.4%. Between 2003 and 2014, cycling made up between 2–3% of all nationwide journeys. Different metropolitan regions had different shares. Cycling in Auckland only made up 1% of journeys between 2003 and 2014. In Hamilton this varied from 2–5%. In Tauranga this varied from 0–2%. In Wellington (including Kapiti) this varied from 1–3%, in Tauranga this varied from 1–4%. Christchurch had the highest share with cycling making up between 5–9% of journeys between 2003 and 2014.
The New Zealand Transport Strategy 2008 set a target to increase walking, cycling and other active modes to 30% of trips in urban areas by 2040. However, a decade later there were still only 2% of travel to work trips cycled and 5.2% made on foot.
Tactical urbanism Waka Kotahi ran an Innovating Streets for People scheme between 2019 and 2021 to improve safety, using an adaptable approach, known as tactical urbanism. 32 councils had 78 projects for walking, cycling and reducing vehicle speeds and traffic. Take up of the scheme was variable. Research found some councils were hesitant about Innovating Streets projects because of risk avoidance, business and resident opposition, regulatory requirements, reluctance to take on new schemes, lack of capacity and cost. For example, Wellington approved a network of cycleways for $226 m, Auckland a $3 m Regional Streets for People programme and Waipā, a biking and micro mobility plan, but Tauranga's Innovating Streets Project did not proceed.
Wellington has seen the greatest application of tactical urbanism. Its expensive and over-engineered Island Bay cycleway had ended at the edge of the suburb and been delayed by controversy and court cases. It was being built as part of a 2015 cycling master plan. Councillor Tamatha Paul won an amendment to Wellington's 2021 long-term plan to complete the master plan network for $226m. In 2021 Wellington had of cycleways, mostly along coastlines. Tactical urbanism was used to reduce build time from 3 to 10 years, to an average of 18 months per cycleway, using teams to do design and public engagement at the same time. Problematic areas used cheap, adaptable solutions and elsewhere more permanent concrete dividers and tree planters were put in. For example, speed bumps made it easier for fire trucks to pull out of a fire station, a loading zone provided for a car dealer and protective barriers outside a bus depot were removed to ease turning for buses. Cycleways serving Newtown, the Botanical Gardens, Aro Valley and Ngaio were built in 2023. Another 6, at various stages, will bring will bring the cycle network to , with a plan for by 2030. The first two bike lanes cost $750,000 a kilometre, well below the $1.6m national average. They were also completed in less than half the typical time. However, there are still problems. Foodstuffs threatened legal action to stop a cycleway going past their Thorndon store. Routes for Kilbirnie, Thorndon, Berhampore, Karori, Wadestown and Brooklyn were planned, but the 10-year cycle budget was cut in 2023 from $191m to $110m.
Funding has been a wider problem. For example, in 2021 Waikato Regional Council explained the small spend on walking/cycling (3%) in its region, saying that, although Government, "elevated climate change as a national strategic priority, the Government has not provided the funding to achieve the transformational change necessary to meet its climate change targets and expectations. . . Waka Kotahi stating that 90% of anticipated revenue is committed to a significant programme of work already underway . . . There is therefore, extremely limited funding for new projects . . . to support mode shift and climate change transport activities, like cycling, walking and public transport initiatives."
Infrastructure
In recent decades a number of cycleways have been established through New Zealand, most of them rail trails.
The Otago Central Rail Trail is a walking, cycling or horse riding track in the South Island. It runs in an arc between Middlemarch and Clyde, along the route of the former Otago Central Railway. The Hawke's Bay Trails, which are in turn part of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail project, are made up of three distinct sections – the Landscapes Ride, the Water Ride and the Wineries Ride – and form a 'Great Ride' of more than . The Timber Trail is an long adventure trail opened in 2013 traversing ancient podocarp forests and utilising some of the engineering remnants of the Ellis and Burnand bush tramway from the early 1900s. Located in the Pureora Forest park, it is the most centrally located forest conservation area in the North Island. Mountains to Sea – Ngā Ara Tūhono is one of the 22 Great Rides that make up the Nga Haerenga – NZ Cycle Trail network. Comprising 242 kilometres of connected cycle trails (plus an exciting river jetboat trip), and taking riders from Turoa on Mt Ruapehu navigating the Whanganui River to the Tasman Sea at North Mole. Including Ohakune Old Coach Road, Mangapurua (Bridge to Nowhere), Kaiwhakauka, Fishers Track, Whanganui River Road and Whanganui Urban routes. The Little River Rail Trail is a cycling and walking track established near Little River on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island. The first section opened in May 2006. The route of the defunct Dun Mountain Railway is regularly used for cycling. The Rimutaka Incline, replaced by the Rimutaka Tunnel in 1955, has now been established as a cycling route. Pipiwharauroa Way near Raglan. Christchurch, which has historically had one of the highest rates of cycling in the country (currently 7% commuters), has over 200 kilometres of cycle lanes, pathways, and other cycling facilities, including the Railway Cycleway and Hagley Park.