Cycling in Auckland

[1] The first Auckland bicycle ride was undertaken on 23 August 1869, using a velocipede made to order by a local company, and ridden down Grey Street, then being one of the smoothest roads in the city.

[9] An Otago University study showed that fear of rude and actively hostile behaviour from drivers was the main reason New Zealanders were not using their cycles more.

[7] This, and to some degree the hillier nature of Auckland, have caused cycling to so far remain a marginal pursuit – only 1% of all morning peak trips were being made by bicycle in the late 2000s.

[12] While most cycling takes place on normal public roads, there are a small number of dedicated off-road facilities available in Auckland.

[26] As of April 2021, Onzo has not renewed its license with Auckland Transport and the Companies Office has attempted to remove the business from its register.

[27] One of the links most called-for by local cycling groups is a connection over the Waitematā Harbour between the Auckland city centre and the North Shore, where cyclists currently only have the option of a very distant detour, or of taking a ferry.

[28] Following years of campaigning a Harbour Bridge crossing, known as Skypath, was promised funding by the Labour Party in the lead-up to the 2017 general election.

[29] Once Labour was in government, the project was passed to the Waka Kotahi / NZ Transport Agency[30] which released a revised design in 2019.

Following the rally, Transport Minister Michael Wood released plans for a separate walking and cycling bridge across to the North Shore.

[40] Their campaign has attracted the support of a diverse array of organisations, calling for Waka Kotahi to liberate the lane now to give Aucklanders more affordable and sustainable transport options, and that it would be a key symbol of climate action.

Modern cycling in Auckland is represented by new separated bikeway infrastructure largely added in the 2010s such as the Lightpath / Nelson Street cycleway into the City Centre, which are credited with being part of the reason cycling counters have experienced large annual growth over the last years. [ 1 ]
Cycling in Auckland – some areas like the very busy Lake Road in North Shore City only received cycle lanes after significant local opposition, and the Council considered removing the lanes after installation. [ 2 ]
With many Aucklanders unwilling to ride on-road in hostile conditions, and with protected cycle lanes generally scarce to non-existent, another focus of cycleway construction in Auckland in recent years has been on shared paths and "Greenways" routes, away from streets.
Sports cyclists on Tamaki Drive, the busiest cycling route of the city (which carries a lot of commuting bicycle traffic as well and sees over 200,000 cycling trips a year) [ 13 ]