Cyclist skills training: newsletter

Issue 4 - September 2009

2009 trials

The 2009 trials are currently underway! Seven cyclist training organisations (CTOs) have agreed to participate in the trial:

• Christchurch City Council Cyclesafe
• North Shore City Council
• Tauranga City Council
• Hamilton City Council
• Greater Wellington Regional Council
• New Plymouth District Council
• Cycling Course (Nelson).

CTOs involved in the trial are required to undertake a number of monitoring and evaluation activities. The first of these is the progress report, which details CTOs’ progress towards adapting to the New Zealand guidelines and undertaking their trial. Progress reports for trial areas have mostly been completed.

The next stages for CTOs are to undertake the trial and then report back outcomes of the trial.

Instructor qualification development

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Skills Active NZ have started to develop a qualification framework for cycle skills instructors. The qualification framework is something that many cyclist instructors have expressed a strong desire for. The aim is to establish a nationally recognised qualification, training and QMS (Quality Management System) that will support cyclist skills training providers to deliver safe, effective programmes.

Cycle skills instructor preparation will focus on three areas of competency: managing safety, cycling proficiency, and teaching.

‘The quality of cyclist skills courses largely depends on the quality of the instructor who delivers the course,’ says Jason Morgan, Senior Policy Advisor at the NZTA. ‘We are fortunate that we already have some very high calibre instructors in New Zealand, but to make cycle skills courses available to every Kiwi, we need many more instructors. Current instructors see the qualification as an important step because it officially recognises them as skilled professionals, and it provides a career pathway because the qualification will be recognised in a number of other countries that deliver cyclist skills courses.’

A qualification development panel comprising New Zealand's leading experts in cyclist skills instruction and instructor training has been brought together to develop this standard.

The qualification project should be completed by mid 2010, with the qualification becoming available sometime thereafter.

For further information, contact Jason Morgan (jason.morgan@nzta.govt.nz) or Tracy-Lee Burkhart, Skills Active NZ Project Manager (tracy-lee@skillsactive.org.nz).

Updates from CTOs

Christchurch City Council Cyclesafe

Christchurch City Council Cyclesafe is now fully operating with the New Zealand cyclist skills guidelines and students who participate in the programme complete both levels 1 and 2.

The team has worked hard to adapt their programme and are now reaping the rewards, having not only met but exceeded their key performance indicators, and also receiving excellent feedback from teachers at participating schools.

Christchurch CycleSafe will continue to support the NZTA, the Cycle Training Advisory Group (CTAG) committee and other trial programmes throughout 2009/10.

North Shore City Council

North Shore City Council has teamed up with Big Foot Adventures to participate in the trial programme. They will be trialling levels 1 and 2 with two schools, each with 30 trainees. Trainees will be intermediate aged, and will be students who already cycle to school or cycle regularly.

The first trial has been confirmed with Takapuna Normal School, and will take place on 8, 9 and 11 September. The second trial is tentatively scheduled for 19–21 October with Albany Junior High School.

Hamilton City Council

Hamilton City Council (HCC) undertook their cyclist skills trial in early July with a group of 18 trainees from Pukete Primary School. HCC also teamed up with Big Foot Adventures, who came down to do a day of instructor training prior to the trial and also led the delivery of the cyclist skills training.

The trial was a success, with positive feedback received from both trainees and parents/caregivers through a trainee focus group and parent evaluation survey. One child commented that the best thing about the training was ‘I started riding again’. Results from the ‘hands up’ surveys before and after training showed that the number of trainees cycling to school increased from 8 out of 18, to 11 out of 18.

HCC is working towards providing cyclist skills training to more schools in the city from the fourth term of 2009.

New Plymouth District Council

New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) undertook a trial of level 1 with 65 trainees in years 5 and 6 in April this year. The demand to roll the programme out to more schools is there, with other schools having already shown interest in being involved.

NPDC is looking to team up with a local bike shop to provide a free bike check and service to all trainees.

They are currently delivering level 2 training to year 6 students.

Greater Wellington Regional Council

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) with Cog Cycling undertook their trial at the beginning of the year. They worked with two travel plan schools to deliver levels 1 and 2.

The trial was a success, with 77 trainees taking part in level 1 and 16 continuing on to level 2.

GWRC has been developing partnerships with Police Education Officers (PEOs) and exploring ways to find cyclist trainers to undertake level 2.

Tauranga City Council

Tauranga City Council is busy with their programme Kids Can Ride, which has been running in schools for the past three years. The programme is sought after by schools and supported by police, and recognised by the community as ‘best practice’.

As part of the trial, Karen Smith and Iris Thomas have assessed their current programme in relation to the New Zealand cyclist skills guidelines and are confident they are meeting the guidelines’ outcomes. Kids Can Ride has adapted the recommended guidelines as per the Christchurch model.

Level 1 and level 2 training is delivered over two years, consistent with the composite year 5 and year 6 class system in Tauranga. Iris and Karen believe that this approach is best practice for the Tauranga area, and that it also provides an excellent opportunity for students to refresh their knowledge by undertaking more training the following year.

Cycle course (Nelson)

Marianne Draijer has been busy trialling levels 1 and 2 of the guidelines. New content from the guidelines has been implemented into her adult and child programmes. Level 2 was introduced for the first time and received a positive response from both adults and children.

Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule 2009

From 1 November 2009, changes to the Road User Rule will come into force. Five of these changes relate directly to cyclists:

• the use of special vehicle lanes by vehicles not otherwise allowed on them
• allowing cyclists to make a hook turn
• exemptions from arm signalling for cyclists at roundabouts
• requirements for cycle lights (must be visible for 100m)
• priorities for use of shared paths by road users.

For further details on these changes, please visit Bikewise (external link).

Guidelines - version 3

Version 3 of the guidelines will be released in November 2009. They will be available on the NZTA's website.

Key changes include:

• update to the section on traffic management plans
• updates to monitoring and evaluation information
• changes in response to the Road User Amendment Rule 2009
• information on visibility and positioning
• some new diagrams.

Instructor online survey

Thanks very much to all of you who responded to the instructor survey. The total number of responses was 87. It is really positive to see cycle training activity across New Zealand. The results will help inform the accreditation process and a summary of results will be available later this year.

New Zealand cycling conference

The 7th New Zealand Cycling Conference is being held in New Plymouth on 12–13 November 2009.

Gerry Dance and Rachel Algar will be presenting a paper entitled: ‘Living life in the fast lane – creating a generation of confident and capable cyclists in New Zealand’, outlining the background to New Zealand cyclist skills training.

The Official Code for New Zealand Cyclists

This document will be published on the NZTA's website in November 2009.

The guide contains information about cycling (including rules and hazards), signs and equipment.

Presently, the guide is undergoing final reviews and graphics/photos are being obtained.

Bikewise month 2010 - key dates nationwide

• Bike Wise Month – 1–28 February
• Go by Bike Day – Wednesday 17 February
• Mayoral Challenge – any Saturday or Sunday during February

See www.bikewise.co.nz for more details.

Monitoring and evaluation framework

This has been updated and the framework and associated templates will be available on the NZTA website shortly.

For further information

Gerry Dance
Senior Policy Advisor (Walking & Cycling)
Land Transport New Zealand
04 894 6362
Gerry.Dance@nzta.govt.nz

Rachel Algar
NZ Cyclist Skills Training Project Manager
Opus International Consultants Ltd
07 834 1827
Rachel.Algar@opus.co.nz

Page updated: 26 March 2010