Wanting to encourage children to use their bikes, The Lightfoot Initiative and its newly-appointed ambassador, Scott Kennedy, have started a weekly bike bus.
Kennedy explains "it’s just like getting the school bus, but instead of being on the bus, you’re on your bike".
"There’ll be some professional cycling teachers to teach and help kids out, and parents will come along, and we’ll ride en masse every Wednesday morning from Arthurs Point to Queenstown Primary and St Joseph’s School."
The programme will run every Wednesday until winter, and follow the recently-opened Sutherland Track, a shared path that runs beside Gorge Rd from McChesney Bridge to a link with the Matakauri wetland trail.
After school, bike hire and tour company Around the Basin is bringing the bikes back to Arthurs Point, so kids don’t have to do the journey both ways.
Kennedy says "it’s perfect for the younger kids who might not be able to ride the whole way yet".
The Lightfoot Initiative — an active transport advocacy group — hopes the programme will encourage more people to cycle, and build the habit into young ones.
"We live in such a beautiful place, and traffic is getting bad.
"Getting around by bike is great, it’s good for your health, it’s good for the planet, it’s good for your mental health."
Kennedy says starting a bike bus in Arthurs Point first makes sense because of its proximity to primary schools and the new shared path, but he hopes to see it grow to other parts of the Whakatipu.
"Hopefully this is just the beginning."
