PonsonbyRoadBike’Parking’ CorralTrial€¦ · Final& 14th!March!2014! Alison!Lee!Consulting!...

Final

14th March 2014

Alison Lee Consulting

Final

Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral Trial:

Post-‐Implementation Evaluation

Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral Trial: Post-‐Implementation Evaluation Final

2 Alison Lee Consulting

Contents 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 5

! Background: Benefits of Bike Parking ................................................................................. 6

2.1 Economic Benefits ....................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Social Benefits .............................................................................................................. 6

2.3 Environmental Benefits ............................................................................................... 7

2.4 Other Benefits .............................................................................................................. 7

3 Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral ................................................................................... 8

3.1 Project Background .................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Project Scope ............................................................................................................. 10

3.3 Project Purpose ......................................................................................................... 10

3.4 Project Timing ............................................................................................................ 11

4 Summary of Evaluation Method ...................................................................................... 11

4.1.1 Intercept Survey .................................................................................................. 11

4.1.2 Bike Parking Surveys, Ponsonby Road ................................................................. 11

4.1.3 Engaging Adjoining Businesses and Community ................................................. 12

5 Post-‐Implementation Findings ......................................................................................... 13

5.1 There are more bikes parked in the area since the infrastructure was installed ...... 13

5.2 Corral achieves strongest occupancies in morning ................................................... 14

5.3 The corral often generates more expenditure than a car park ................................. 15

5.3.1 Determining how much cyclists and car users spend ......................................... 15

5.3.2 Expenditure generation comparison ................................................................... 16

5.4 Business and Community views ................................................................................. 17

6 Pre-‐Implementation Findings ........................................................................................... 18

6.1 Walkers and bus users are more susceptible than average to bike use .................... 18

6.2 Car users are an important access mode to Ponsonby Road from ‘non-‐local’ areas 19

6.3 There is greatest scope to create a mode shift from car to bike within the 1011 postcode through improved infrastructure ........................................................................ 20

6.4 Businesses most benefitting from a bike corral are services and shopping .............. 21

7 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 22

8 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 23

8.1 Further monitoring of the Ponsonby Road bike corral .............................................. 24



8.2 Pre-‐conditions for future bike corrals ........................................................................ 24

8.2.1 Improved approach to site selection .................................................................. 24

8.3 Streamlined design .................................................................................................... 25

Appendix 1. Intercept Survey: Method .............................................................................. 26

Times/Days ...................................................................................................................... 26

Location ........................................................................................................................... 26

Random selection of respondents and survey blurb ....................................................... 26

Survey Questions ............................................................................................................. 27

Appendix 2. Bike Parking Counts: Method ......................................................................... 27

Scope and Timing ............................................................................................................ 27

Timing/Weather .............................................................................................................. 27

Method and Location ...................................................................................................... 28

Appendix 3. Survey of Adjoining Business: Method ........................................................... 28

Appendix 4. Assumptions (Intercept Survey Analysis) ....................................................... 30

Figure 1 Melbourne, Australia Case Study: Lygon Street bike parking corral .......................... 6 Figure 2 Subject Site ................................................................................................................. 8 Figure 3 Ponsonby Road, Bike Parking Corral: Design Concept ................................................ 8 Figure 4 Ponsonby Road, Bike Parking Corral: Perspective Impression ................................... 9 Figure 5 Installation of Ponsonby Road Bike Corral (September 2013) .................................... 9 Figure 6 Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral, Installed, (February 2014) ................................ 9 Figure 7 Auckland Transport Project timeline showing Evaluation ........................................ 11 Figure 8 Daily bike parking rate pre-‐and post-‐infrastructure installation (Weekday) ............ 13 Figure 9 Total bike counted per hour over the course of a day ............................................. 14 Figure 10 Bike Parking Corral Occupancy 11th to 17th February 2014 .................................. 14 Figure 11 Typical trip duration: Ponsonby Road .................................................................... 15 Figure 12 Projected typical expenditure per trip in Ponsonby Road ...................................... 15 Figure 13 Typical expenditure by mode (per minute) ............................................................ 16 Figure 14 Expenditure generated, per hour ........................................................................... 17 Figure 15 Willingness to cycle with improved infrastructure, by mode ................................. 19 Figure 16 Catchment for ‘local’ trips and ‘immediate surrounds’ trips .................................. 19 Figure 17 Trip origin (local/non-‐local), by mode .................................................................... 20 Figure 18 Local and Non-‐Local trips ........................................................................................ 20 Figure 19 Local and Non-‐Local Trips, by mode ....................................................................... 21 Figure 20 Postcode 1011, Willingness to cycle with improved infrastructure ....................... 21 Figure 21 Business more likely than average to be accessed by bike .................................... 22



Figure 22 Decision tree for future bike parking corral installation ......................................... 25 Figure 23 Location of intercept surveys ................................................................................. 26 Figure 24 Location for bike parking count .............................................................................. 28



1 Executive Summary The Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral was opened to the public as a trial in September 2013. This is first-‐of-‐its-‐kind infrastructure in Auckland-‐ involving the removal of a car parking space in one of Auckland’s thriving retail and commercial streets. This evaluation is to determine:

a) If the bike corral is worth keeping in Ponsonby Road; and b) If further projects are undertaken, under what pre-‐conditions this type of infrastructure

should be considered.

The evaluation of the Ponsonby Road bike parking corral has occurred in two phases-‐ a Pre-‐Implementation Phase (delivered to Auckland Transport in May 2013) and a Post-‐Implementation Phase (this report). The evaluation is based on 574 intercept surveys undertaken of visitors to Ponsonby Road, bike parking counts, car parking occupancy counts and conversations and surveying of businesses and the community.

This report outlines findings from both phases of the evaluation process. Findings relate to economic, social and environmental benefits, a summary of which is as follows:

• There are overall more people cycling to the area now than there were prior to the infrastructure being installed. In successive surveys in December 2013 and February 2014, bike occupancies in the bike corral and around were shown to be higher than prior to the infrastructure being installed (refer to Section 5.1).

• The bike parking corral has strong occupancies during the pre-‐work period-‐ peaking at 100% on the Friday morning surveyed, and strong use at the weekend ‘brunch time’ period also (refer to Section 5.1).

• Over time, there is a case for the bike parking corral to generate even more cycling trips from the immediate area, with 20% of people sampled from postcode 1011 reporting a willingness to switch to cycling for some trips (refer to Section 6.3).

• Expenditure generation estimates show that the bike parking corral frequently generates greater expenditure that it’s previous use as a car park. There is far greater scope for the bike parking corral to generate larger sums of expenditure at peak times (estimated up to $684 per hour) compared with a car parking space (where the ability to generate expenditure is generally about $70 per hour) – refer to Section 5.3.

• It is expected that as greater take-‐up of cycling occurs and the bike parking corral becomes more fully occupied the expenditure it is able to generate will more consistently exceed that which was generated by the use of the space for car parking.

• The community are generally behind the bike corral project (refer to Section 5.4), supporting the notion that Auckland Transport should be pursuing this type of infrastructure to inspire greater bike use.

Three recommendations have been put forward (refer to Section 8), relating to:

• An improved approach to site selection in future projects; • A streamlined approach to design and implementation of corrals in future projects; and • Ongoing monitoring of the Ponsonby Road bike parking corral.



! Background: Benefits of Bike Parking The economic, social and environmental benefits of public bike infrastructure, including parking, are well-‐understood. Various international studies have cited evidence leading to:

• Increased expenditure in shopping strips where bike parking has been installed (see Section 2.1);

• Social benefits including health benefits derived from increased bike use (see Section 2.2); and

• Increased active transport use resulting in environmental benefits through reduced car use (see Section 2.3).

These benefits are discussed in greater detail in the following sub-‐sections:

2.1 Economic Benefits A 2008 case study in Melbourne, Australia showed that the use of two car parking spaces for the installation of a bike parking corral would generate 3.6 times more expenditure in the surrounding shopping area, than if the space were used for car parking1. Post-‐implementation surveying showed that this estimate was slightly conservative.

The method detailed for this evaluation of the Ponsonby Road bike parking corral is based on that which was used for the Melbourne project (see Section 4).

Figure 1 Melbourne, Australia Case Study: Lygon Street bike parking corral

Source: Alison Lee, 2010

2.2 Social Benefits Insofar as cycle parking has the ability to generate bike use, there are quantifiable social benefits to increasing bike parking. Copenhagen researcher found that every mile cycled provides the equivalent of US$ 0.41 in social benefits to the community. Meanwhile every

1 Lee, Alison and March, Alan (2010) 'Recognising the economic role of bikes: sharing parking in Lygon Street, Carlton', Australian Planner, 47: 2, 85 — 93



mile driven exacts about US$0.24 in costs on society2. Some specific social benefits include health benefits, a field which has historically been well researched. For example, residents of more multi-‐modal communities exercise more and are less likely to be overweight than residents of automobile-‐oriented communities3. This in turn can have economic benefits, as commuters who walk or bicycle tend to be more productive and take fewer sick days4.

2.3 Environmental Benefits The links between latent demand and the provision of car parking have been proven. In his study of the effects of free parking and commuter mode choice Hess showed that where commuters can park cars free at work they are more likely to drive5. Inversely, people going to workplaces provided bike parking were more likely to cycle6. There is no conclusive research available which shows that bike parking corrals in shopping strips are likely to increase bike use, however, it is likely that the research undertaken into commuters/ workplaces has applicability to public bike parking corrals. Further, US research into other bike infrastructure shows that adding a new mile (1.6 km) of bikeway per square mile (1.6 km2) increased the share of workers commuting by bicycle by one percentage point7.

2.4 Other Benefits In their 2013 report, Evaluating Non-‐Motorized Transportation Benefits and Costs, The Victorian Transport Policy Institute (Canada) cited the following other benefits of active transport (walking and cycling)8:

• Social Equity Benefits • Physical Fitness and Health • Avoided Chauffeuring/Congestion Reduction • Barrier Effect (physical barrier to traffic) • Parking Cost Savings • Traffic Safety Impacts • Energy /Pollution Reduction • Economic Development

2 Schmitt, A. (2011). The Social Benefits of Cycling Identified, Enumerated and Imitated. Street Blog Network, Friday, July 1, 2011 , USA 3 Frank, L. (2004), Obesity Relationships with Community Design, Physical Activity and Time Spent in Cars. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (www.ajpm-‐online.net), Vol. 27, No. 2, June, pp. 87-‐97. 4 Queensland Transport (1999), Integrated Cycle Strategy for South East Queensland. Queensland Transport and Main Roads (www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/driver.nsf/index/cyc_economic_benefits), Australia 5 Hess, D, (2001) The effects of free parking on commuter mode choice: Evidence from Travel Diary Data, The Ralph and Goldy Lewis Centre for Regional Policy Studies, UCLA, California, United States 6 Jaffe, E. (2012). The Hidden Factor in Bike Commuting: Showers, The Atlantic Cities, Jul 20, 2012 Washington, United Stated 7 Gardner, G. (2010). Power to the Pedals. World Watch Magazine, July/August 2010, Volume 23, No. 4, Washington, United States 8 Litman, T. (2013) Evaluating Non-‐Motorized Transportation Benefits and Costs, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, (http://www.vtpi.org/nmt-‐tdm.pdf), Canada



3 Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral The Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral is located on the west side of Ponsonby Road near the corner of Tole Street. Figure 2 shows the location of the bike parking corral.

Figure 2 Subject Site

The installation of the bike parking corral necessitated the removal of one on-‐street car parking space. Figure 3 and 4 show the concept design of the bike parking corral. The corral can accommodate up to 10 bikes. Auckland Transport has developed the corral design concept arriving at a bespoke solution, which fits in with the urban design pallet already used in Ponsonby Road. This design was installed and ready for use in September 2013 (Figure 5 and Figure 6).

Figure 3 Ponsonby Road, Bike Parking Corral: Design Concept



Figure 4 Ponsonby Road, Bike Parking Corral: Perspective Impression

Source: Auckland Transport and GHD, 2013

Figure 5 Installation of Ponsonby Road Bike Corral (September 2013)

Source: Auckland Transport, 2013

Figure 6 Ponsonby Road Bike Parking Corral, Installed, (February 2014)

Source: Aleph and Auckland Transport, February 2014



3.1 Project Background The idea for a bike parking corral was instigated by Local Board Member Pippa Coom. In early 2012 Auckland Transport undertook some engagement with the business community via the Ponsonby Business Association (PBA). The idea for a bike parking corral received a degree of support however it is understood that some time has passed and changes have occurred in the structure of the PBA in the interim. This evaluation can be used to engage with the local business community on the anticipated and actual benefits of the bike parking corral in the local context.

3.2 Project Scope As the site sits within a thriving business/shopping precinct it is important that public space be used in a manner that benefits the local community, including retailers who are likely to be interested with the use of public space (car parking space) to generate footfall and expenditure in Ponsonby Road. The evaluation of the bike parking corral takes into account economic, social and environmental benefits. The exact measures used in the evaluation are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Scope of benefits measured

Benefits Measure Economic Benefits of bike parking to businesses (by business type) Social Role of car parking and bike parking in shopping areas Environmental Ability for bike parking to generate bike use (estimate) Economic Expenditure generated by Ponsonby Road bike parking corral Environmental Ability for bike parking to generate bike use Economic/Social Perceptions of adjoining businesses and community feedback

3.3 Project Purpose As this is a first-‐of-‐its-‐kind project in Auckland it is important that the project is properly evaluated to understand:

c) If the bike corral is worth keeping in Ponsonby Road; and d) If further projects are undertaken, under what pre-‐conditions this type of infrastructure

should be considered.



3.4 Project Timing Figure 7 shows the overall project timeline and highlights where this evaluation project (shown in blue) fits within the broader schedule including infrastructure installation.

Figure 7 Auckland Transport Project timeline showing Evaluation

Key:

CT= Community Transport

I&D/AC= Infrastructure and Design, Auckland Council

AL= Alison Lee

4 Summary of Evaluation Method The project method has been structured around a Pre-‐Implementation Phase and Post-‐Implementation Phase. A detailed account of the surveying methods used in this evaluation is provided in the Appendices.

4.1.1 Intercept Survey An intercept survey was undertaken over three days (generally from mid-‐morning to early afternoon), in Ponsonby Road in April 2013. The purpose of the survey was to gauge visitor travel, trip purpose and expenditure behaviours as well as opinions of future bike use. Further details of the survey method are provided in Appendix 1. A total of 579 surveys were completed, each taking approximately 2 minutes to complete. Information gained from these intercept surveys forms the bulk of findings in this report.

4.1.2 Bike Parking Surveys, Ponsonby Road A survey of bikes parked in the bike parking corral and informally (against poles and other street furniture) was undertaken in Ponsonby Road in an area 100m surrounding the site (50m in either direction on both sides of the street) three times over the course of the project, as follows:

• April 2013: Tuesday 23rd April 2013, prior to the infrastructure being installed.



• December 2013: Tuesday 10th December 2013 and Saturday 21st December 2013, after the infrastructure was installed; and

• February 2014: A more extensive surveying was undertaken over a week from Tuesday 11th February to Monday 17th February 2014.

The first two bike parking surveys counted bikes hourly from 9am-‐5pm the February survey was more extensive, being undertaken every 30 minutes from 7am-‐6pm. The February 2014 survey also included the duration bikes were parked and the number of different bikes parked throughout the week (each bike being individually identifiable).

This series of surveys were used to gauge whether there were more trips undertaken by bike after the infrastructure was installed three months and five months after the infrastructure was installed. Further detail on the method of the bike parking survey is shown in the Appendices 2.

4.1.3 Engaging Adjoining Businesses and Community There are six businesses immediately adjacent to the bike parking corral with which Auckland Transport directly engaged both before and after the bike parking corral was installed. The businesses surveyed are detailed in Table 2.

Table 2 Adjacent businesses that responded to survey

Business Name Address Business Type

Household Linens 264 Ponsonby Rd Home wares

Allpress Coffee 266 Ponsonby Rd Cafe

Bambina 268 Ponsonby Rd Cafe

Everyday Needs 270 Ponsonby Rd Home wares

Landreth & Co 272 Ponsonby Rd Cafe

Superette 292 Ponsonby Rd Clothing

Prior to the infrastructure being installed Auckland Transport advised businesses of the upcoming changes. After the infrastructure was installed survey feedback was sought from those working in these key adjoining business. Details of the survey are given in Appendix 3.

After the infrastructure was installed Auckland Transport was contacted a number of times by members of the community to provide feedback. This has also been included in the evaluation.



5 Post-‐Implementation Findings This section of the report summarises the key findings from the post-‐implementation analysis, including the following:

• Ability for the bike parking corral to generate bike use (Section 5.1); • Peak periods of occupancy (Section 5.2); • Expenditure generated by Ponsonby Road bike parking corral (Section 5.3); and • Perceptions of adjoining businesses and the community (Section 5.4).

5.1 There are more bikes parked in the area since the infrastructure was installed

Three ‘rounds’ of counts took place to quantify the number of bikes parked at and around the subject site. The first count took place prior to the infrastructure being installed (on a Tuesday) and included bikes parked in the general vicinity of where the bike parking corral would ultimately be installed (50 meters in both directions up Ponsonby Road). The second count took place over two days (a Tuesday and a Saturday) after the infrastructure was installed. The third count took place over the course of a entire week. For consistency, Figure 8 compares the bike counts on only the Tuesday in each of the three rounds. In each of the post-‐infrastructure counts there have been more bikes parked in the area.

Figure 8 Daily bike parking rate pre-‐and post-‐infrastructure installation (Weekday)

Source: Alison Lee, 2013, analysis of bike parking counts completed for this project April 2013 and Feb 2014.

Note: Bikes were not counted at 8am and 6pm in April and December 2013

There are overall more people cycling to the area now than there were prior to the infrastructure being installed. There has been a 150% increase in bikes parked in the area when comparing midweek data from before and after the corral was installed (Figure 9).

Whilst this trend of increasing bike use is heartening it will need to be seen whether this continues over a longer period of time and with monitoring of a greater number of days to conclusively determine whether the infrastructure is responsible for generating the increase in cycling.

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Figure 9 shows the total number of bikes counted per hour parked at and around the site on a Tuesday.

Figure 9 Total bike counted per hour over the course of a day

Source: Alison Lee, 2013, analysis of bike parking counts completed for this project April 2013 and February 2014.

5.2 Corral achieves strongest occupancies in morning The bike parking corral experienced a number of peaks in occupancy throughout the course of the week it was most recently surveyed (in February 2014). Most notably:

• Pre-‐work/study peaks of use, particularly on Wednesday and Friday (80-‐100% occupancy); and

• Friday to Sunday morning having quite strong use (2 or 3 bikes using the corral at any one time) possibly reflecting a ‘brunch’ market at adjoining cafes.

It should be noted that at the time the bike parking corral was at 100% capacity on Friday morning, there were also three ‘informally’ parked bikes in the vicinity. Surveyors noted there were a number of high school aged kids riding and attending Bambina Café.

Figure 10 Bike Parking Corral Occupancy 11th to 17th February 2014

Source: Bike corral occupancy is based on data collected by Aleph for Auckland Transport, February 2014.

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The strong peaks experienced at morning times at the bike parking corral may well reflect the busy times at the adjoining cafes. It is likely that as more people get familiar with the bike parking corrals there will be more demand around the pre-‐work/study and brunch times. In surveying undertaken during the pre-‐implementation phase of this project, 20% of respondents surveyed for this study reported they would consider riding to Ponsonby Road if there were better bike parking.

In considering future locations for bike parking corrals consideration should be given to locating in areas with a greater variety of uses adjoining to ensure ‘peaks’ are not only experienced at one time of the day. For example, locating next to a café, library and supermarket may well see a peaks in the morning (café), midday (library) and late afternoon/evening (supermarket).

5.3 The corral often generates more expenditure than a car park In the pre-‐implementation stage of this project a ‘per minute rate’ of expenditure generation was derived for people arriving by bike and car. The following sub-‐section outlines this process:

5.3.1 Determining how much cyclists and car users spend People arriving by car generally have a longer trip duration in Ponsonby Road than those arriving by bike. Figure 11 shows the typical trip duration by people arriving by car is three times that of those arriving by bike (60 minutes compared with 20 minutes).

Figure 11 Typical trip duration: Ponsonby Road

Source: Alison Lee, 2013, analysis of intercept surveys completed for this project April 2013.

Figure 12 shows the projected typical expenditure per trip by people arriving by car compared to cyclists. Expenditure per trip is significantly higher for car drivers ($71.07) than cyclists ($22.86).

Figure 12 Projected typical expenditure per trip in Ponsonby Road




Understanding the trip duration (Figure 11) is important when comparing the expenditure of people arriving by car compared with bike (Figure 12) – as the benefits of a trip in which more money is spent in the street can be overstated compared to a short trip in which less money is spent, if it takes a long time to generate the higher expenditure. To remove the trip duration variable a per minute (or per hour) expenditure can be calculated for each of the modes. A ‘time based’ measure of expenditure is more valid in this analysis than a ‘per trip’ based measure as Auckland Transport is concerned with the management of public space at a point in time. Figure 13 gives a per minute expenditure for a cyclist compared with one car (with an average occupancy of 1.39 people9). It is shown that on a per minute basis cars and bikes generate about the same expenditure in Ponsonby Road ($1.14 per minute for a bike and $1.18 for a car).

Figure 13 Typical expenditure by mode (per minute)


5.3.2 Expenditure generation comparison The typical expenditure per minute for bike riders and car users has been used with car parking and bike corral occupancy data to determine the expenditure generated by the use of the space for car parking and the bike parking corral.

Figure 14 shows the expenditure generated by the space if it were used for the one car parking spaces that originally occupied it, compared with its use as a bike parking corral. It shows that:

• The bike parking corral sometimes generates no expenditure (when it is empty), compared with when it was used as a car parking space; and

• There is far greater scope for the bike parking corral to generate larger sums of expenditure (estimated up to $684 per hour) compared with a car parking space (where the ability to generate expenditure is generally about $70 per hour).

9 Note: Expenditure per car has been used throughout as it is estimated that there are 1.39 people per car arriving in Ponsonby Road (see Appendix 3 for details).



Figure 14 Expenditure generated, per hour

Note 1: Car Occupancy is based on data collected by Auckland Transport on Wednesday 10th and Saturday 13th April 2013. It is presumed that Wednesday occupancy data is typical of a weekday and has been replicated on other weekdays and Saturday data is typical of all weekend days and has been replicated on Sunday also.

Note 2: Bike corral occupancy is based on data collected by Aleph for Auckland Transport, February 2014. It does not include ‘informally’ parked bikes in the vicinity of the corral.

5.4 Business and Community views In May 2013 Auckland Transport distributed a flyer to local residents to provide information regarding the upcoming bike corral installation, its location and design. This prompted two individual responses from the local residents. None of these responses were opposed to the infrastructure but did have specific questions or concerns relating design. Specifically, access and egress from a nearby property and lack of a cover on the infrastructure. These issues were addressed with the individuals concerned.

In addition, several matters were raised by organisations:

• A member of the Ponsonby Business Association expressed strong support for the project.

• Household Linens have concerns regarding the visibility of their shop (via phone on 27th May 2013) and also approached surveyor conducting post-‐implementation bike counts to advise that cyclists still lean bikes against their window rather than use the infrastructure.

• Cycle Action Auckland and the Waitemata Local Board have made specific suggestions regarding the design of the bike corral.

In December 2013 Auckland Transport conducted a survey with the six businesses adjacent to the bike corral. Overall the bike parking corral was perceived favourably by most businesses with four out of six businesses stating that:

• They prefer the bike corral to a car park; • The bike parking corral looks good; and • They would recommend this type of infrastructure to other businesses.

The bike parking corral frequently generates more expenditure than

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Despite most businesses viewing the bike corral favourably, the vast majority businesses felt ambivalent towards the bike corral’s ability to impact positively on their business. This is unsurprising given the current low occupancy of the corral. However, none of the businesses contacted felt that the bike corral was bad for business.

Specific issues raised by businesses could be categorised as “thing that could be improved”, “positive impacts” and “negative impacts”, as follows:

Positive Impacts:

• Cyclists who stop at café use racks (Allpress Coffee); • Good idea to promote cycling (Everyday Needs and Landreth & Co);

Negative Impacts:

• Shoppers comment on lack of car parking (Household Linens); • Loss of handy delivery van park (Household Linens); • Cycling trip not appropriate for this type of business (Household Linens); • Customers comments that unable to park and grab coffee (Bambina); and • Corral not being used enough (Bambina and Landreth & Co).

Things that could be improved:

• Slope of ground means that bikes slide off racks (Allpress Coffee); • Takes up a lot of space (Everyday Needs); • Prefer a more minimalist style (Everyday Needs); • Corral should be in location in Tole St (Bambina); and • Needs cycle lanes to support parking (Landreth & Co).

6 Pre-‐Implementation Findings The Pre-‐Implementation Evaluation report (13th May 2013) contained a number of additional findings. This section of the report will summarise these findings. These findings related to:

• Analysis of the types of businesses which derive the most benefit from bike parking infrastructure; and

• Analysis of the role of bike parking in Ponsonby Road (as measured by cycling and parking catchment areas).

These key findings are reported in the following sub-‐sections:

6.1 Walkers and bus users are more susceptible than average to bike use Interestingly, there are nuances in the willingness to ride a bike by users of different transport modes. Figure 15 shows that of the three main modes used to get to Ponsonby



Road, walkers and bus users were more likely to state that they would be willing to consider riding a bike with improved bike parking (23% and 25% respectively). Car users were much less likely than average to be susceptible to bike use (just 11%).

Figure 15 Willingness to cycle with improved infrastructure, by mode


6.2 Car users are an important access mode to Ponsonby Road from ‘non-‐local’ areas

Differences in reported willingness to cycle to Ponsonby Road are a result of car drivers being more likely to come from a greater distance, and a subsequent reduction in the practicality of cycling. Analysis of ‘local’ compared with ‘non-‐local’ trips shows there is a significant modal difference. ‘Local’ trips are categorised as from postcodes 1010, 1011 and 1021, -‐ Auckland City, St Mary’s Bay, Ponsonby, Freemans Bay, Herne Bay and Grey Lynn (shown in

Figure 16). A further sub-‐category of ‘local’ is an area labelled ‘immediate surrounds’ that is only the 1011 postcode (Ponsonby, Freemans Bay and Herne Bay). The ‘immediate surrounds’ area is used for analysis in Section 6.3).

Figure 16 Catchment for ‘local’ trips and ‘immediate surrounds’ trips

‘Local’ trips are much more likely to be by walking and cycling, whereas non-‐local trips were much more likely to be by car and bus. Figure 13 shows that people were more likely to use



walking and cycling from the local area than average, and people were more likely to be driving and catching the bus from a non-‐local area than average. Specifically:

• 91% of walking trips to Ponsonby Road are from a local catchment; • 79% of cycling trips to Ponsonby Road are from a local catchment; • 66% of car trips to Ponsonby Road are from a local catchment; and • All (100%) of bus trips to Ponsonby Road are non-‐local catchment.

This analysis is relevant as it shows that car and bus will remain an important access mode for people visiting from longer (non-‐local) distances.

Figure 17 Trip origin (local/non-‐local), by mode


6.3 There is greatest scope to create a mode shift from car to bike within the 1011 postcode through improved infrastructure

Local trips make up a significant majority of people visiting Ponsonby Road. Figure 18 shows that the local catchment is extremely important for visitation to Ponsonby Road, making up 62% of visitation.

Figure 18 Local and Non-‐Local trips


Figure 16 shows that of these local trips, the majority of local trips to Ponsonby Road were by foot (71%). When looking at the modes requiring a form of parking (cars and bikes)-‐ 15% of trips were by car and 7% were by bike. The relatively modest number of trips to Ponsonby Road by car is encouraging, as it is by far the least efficient mode of transport for which to cater-‐ especially when considering the high land cost of providing for cars (roads



and car parking) compared to walking (footpaths) and cycling (cycle lanes and bike parking). It is recognised that for many, using a car is a necessity, without which the trip may not be possible or practicable. This may include people with a disability, people carrying heavy shopping, people with young children, the elderly or people undertaking linked trips (multiple destinations).

Figure 19 Local and Non-‐Local Trips, by mode


Notwithstanding this, there is scope to create a mode shift from car to cycling by focussing on a small catchment around the subject site. Looking only at car users from the immediate surrounds (characterised by the 1011 postcode catchment of Ponsonby, Freemans Bay and Herne Bay), Figure 17 shows that 38% of respondents said that they would consider cycling if improved bike parking were offered. This is a far greater percentage than reported in Figure 10, where 20% of all respondents reported a willingness to consider cycling under the same conditions.

Figure 20 Postcode 1011, Willingness to cycle with improved infrastructure


6.4 Businesses most benefitting from a bike corral are services and shopping

As discussed in Section 5.1 the bike corral currently has low occupancy rates. It is presumed over a longer period of time these rates are likely to increase as more people become aware



of the infrastructure and change their travel behaviour. Even with a modest occupancy of 20% (2 bikes parked in the corral) the infrastructure is likely to generate greater expenditure in Ponsonby Road than it’s former use as a car park. However, there are differences in the degree to which each business type may benefit from this increased expenditure generation. Firstly, it is likely that all businesses types will benefit to some degree by the increased efficiency of accommodating trips to Ponsonby Road. Figure 18 shows there are greater than average use of bikes to access of ‘service’ and ‘shopping’ than other business types. ‘Services’ are categorised as medical appointments, banking, post office and suchlike. ‘Shopping’ includes all retail with the exception of grocery retailing, which has different transport access patterns due to the requirement for carrying larger loads.

Figure 21 Business more likely than average to be accessed by bike


7 Conclusions There are more bikes parked in the area since the bike corral was installed (refer Section 5.1). Whilst there are times throughout the week when the bike corral has low occupancy it is heartening to see 100% occupancy was achieved at one time during the survey week in February 2014 and strong occupancy at other times (refer Section 5.2). The strong occupancy achieved at times during the mornings and particularly pre-‐work/study weekday peaks and ‘brunch time’ weekend peaks are likely a result of the bike corral’s location primarily adjacent to cafes. The expenditure generated in Ponsonby Road by the bike parking corral at times dwarfs that which the previous car parking space was able to generate (refer Section 5.3). The challenge going forward will be to ensure the peak periods spread to times of the day where currently there is low occupancy. It is likely that infrastructure will become more fully used as people become more aware of it and organise themselves to cycle for more trips to the site. This will take time. Auckland is also experiencing growth in cycling every year and so it makes sense for Auckland Transport to be proactively providing infrastructure in a location which is likely to see growth in the future.

Table 3 summarises the key findings from the both pre-‐ and post-‐implementation phases.



Table 3 Key Findings: Pre-‐Implementation

Benefits Findings Economic Measure: Expenditure generated by Ponsonby Road bike parking

corral: • The bike parking corral frequently exceeds the expenditure that the

space previously generated when used as a car park; • There is far greater scope for the bike parking corral to generate

larger sums of expenditure (estimated up to $684 per hour) compared with a car parking space (where the ability to generate expenditure is generally about $70 per hour);

Measure: Benefits of bike parking to businesses (by business type): • All businesses types are likely to benefit from greater efficiency in

the use of public space, however ‘services’ and ‘shopping’ are likely to see greater than average expenditure benefits. At the point at which the bike parking corral has a median occupancy of at least 2 bikes parked in it throughout the day this benefit will be realised.

Social Measure: Role of car parking and bike parking in shopping areas: • The car will remain an important access mode for those

unwilling/unable to cycle and for those accessing Ponsonby Road from a larger catchment, however Auckland Transport has a role in actively providing for cyclists, including to encourage additional take up of cycling.

Environmental Measure: Ability for bike parking to generate bike use: • There are overall more people cycling to the area now than there

were prior to the infrastructure being installed. Surveying three months and five months after the infrastructure was installed showed additional bikes parked in each successive survey period.

• There is a particularly strong case for the bike parking corral to generate additional cycling trips within the immediate (postcode 1011) area with people from this postcode reporting a greater willingness to switch to cycling.

Economic/Social Measure: Perceptions of adjoining businesses and the community Overall the bike parking corral was perceived favourably by most businesses with four out of six businesses stating that:

• They prefer the bike corral to a car park; • The bike parking corral looks good; and • They would recommend this type of infrastructure to other

businesses.

8 Recommendations The purpose of this evaluation has been to determine if the bike corral is worth keeping in Ponsonby Road and if further projects are undertaken, under what pre-‐conditions this type of infrastructure should be considered. The following sub-‐sections address these matters.



8.1 Further monitoring of the Ponsonby Road bike corral The Ponsonby Road bike corral has been an important first foray into this type of infrastructure. That the infrastructure has been installed with largely positive community views and without any of the adjoining businesses openly opposed to its construction is no small feat. The investment made by Auckland Transport in the infrastructure and staff resources justify the continuation of the infrastructure. After a start that has seen a reasonable level of use, it is likely that with time, greater community awareness and the city-‐wide increase in bike use currently being experienced in Auckland, there will be greater occupancy of the infrastructure.

The evaluation of the Ponsonby Road bike parking corral has taken place five months after its installation. It is recommended that the bike corral be monitored over a longer period of time (end of 2014) to determine whether occupancy has increased and to better understand trends regarding the infrastructures ability to influence mode choice.

8.2 Pre-‐conditions for future bike corrals The Ponsonby Road bike corral is first of its kind infrastructure for Auckland and as such improvements can be made to the implementation process and the infrastructure design. The following sub-‐sections discuss two important changes that should be considered for the next generation of bike parking infrastructure.

8.2.1 Improved approach to site selection Cyclists generally want to park their bike within a very short walk of their destination. Therefore, a site even 50 meters outside a key cycling destination may be too far away. As noted previously whilst the bike corral achieves some strong occupancies throughout the course of the week it’s full potential is not yet fully realised. This is likely to change with time however it is recommended in the future a more strategic approach siting of the infrastructure be considered. Most notably choosing a location that will achieve a higher occupancy right from Day 1 of the infrastructure being opened.

Further to this, in choosing future locations for bike parking corrals consideration should be given to locating in areas with a greater variety of uses adjoining to ensure ‘peaks’ are not only experienced at one time of the day. For example, locating next to a café, library and supermarket may well see a peaks in the morning (café), midday (library) and late afternoon/evening (supermarket).

Figure 22 shows a decision tree for future bike corral installation. The first decision for any future bike parking consideration should be: ‘Is there evidence of demand for significant bike parking in this location?’. This can be determined by:

• Seeking input from a reference group to devise potential list of sites which have a lot of bikes parked (potentially include Auckland Transport staff, Cycle Action Auckland, Generation Zero, relevant Local Boards, Business Associations and the community);

• Determine a list of top locations to further investigate with this reference group;



• Undertake bike counts at these top sites (on a weekday and/or Saturday) to determine level of demand; and

• Proceed with site/s with highest demand.

Figure 22 Decision tree for future bike parking corral installation

Source: Alison Lee Consulting, 2014

8.3 Streamlined design As discussed in Section 3 the Ponsonby Road bike parking corral is a bespoke design that fits in with the urban design pallet currently used in Ponsonby Road. This resulted in a high quality finish, albeit a costly and time consuming process. Internationally, many cities implementing this type of infrastructure offer a couple of design options that they can roll out on a variety of sites. This results in a more expedient roll-‐out of infrastructure, less cost and greater predictability and uniformity. It is recommended that should Auckland Transport wish to implement a number of these projects that this approach be taken.

-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐END-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐

Is there evidence of demand for significant bike parking in this locason?

Yes

Is there space on the footpath to accomodate bike parking?

Yes

Do Not Proceed-‐ invessgate

footpath bike parking soluson instead

No Proceed To Trial

No Do Not Proceed



Appendix 1. Intercept Survey: Method

Times/Days The intercept survey was undertaken over three days (generally from mid-‐morning to early afternoon), as follows:

-‐ Sunday 14th April 2013; -‐ Tuesday 23rd April 2013; and -‐ Saturday 28th April 2013.

579 surveys were completed, each taking approximately 2 minutes to complete.

Days when the weather was fine (no rain) were only used.

Location The intercept survey was undertaken in the area immediately surrounding the subject site in Ponsonby Road and when too few people were present in the area survey administer moved to a secondary location to the south of the site. Figure 23 shows the location in which intercept surveys were taken.

Figure 23 Location of intercept surveys

Random selection of respondents and survey blurb Each person walking past the survey points at the designated times was asked to take the survey, with the exception of the survey administer being occupied. As such the people taking the survey will be randomly selected. When intercepting people the following blurb was used:

“Hi. I’m undertaking a survey on behalf of Auckland Transport. Do you have 2 minutes to answer some questions?”

…at which point the surveyor will commence questions (see following section).



Survey Questions The survey administer will ask the following questions:

1. What is your residential postcode? 2. How did you get here today? (Choose main mode)

a. Bike b. Drove/Passenger in Car c. Walked d. Bus e. Other

3. What is your main activity whilst here? (Choose one) a. Restaurant/Café b. Grocery Shopping c. Other Shopping (Clothes, Books, etc.) d. Services (medical appointment, post office, bank, etc.) e. Working f. In transit through strip (including to catch public transport or walking for

exercise) g. Exercise class (including yoga, gym, personal training) h. Other

4. How long have you been here today in Ponsonby Road? (hh:mm) 5. What is the total amount of time you anticipate being here today? (hh:mm) 6. How much money have you spent today in Ponsonby Road? 7. (If answered b, c, d or e in Question 2) If there was better bike parking in Ponsonby

Road would you have considered riding a bike here today? (Yes/No) 8. (If answered b, c, d or e in Question 2) If there was better bike parking AND better

bike lanes to get here would you have considered riding a bike here today? (Yes/No)

Appendix 2. Bike Parking Counts: Method

Scope and Timing There are three bike counts to be done, as follows:

No. Count Type Phase Day/Date 1. Bike Parking Count, Ponsonby Road Pre-‐Implementation Tues 23rd April 2. Bike Parking Count, Ponsonby Road Post-‐Implementation Tues 10th Dec 3. Bike Parking Count, Ponsonby Road Corral Post -‐Implementation Sat 21st Dec

Timing/Weather The counts should only be done if the weather is fine (no rain, low wind). If the weather is not fine then an alternative day will be proposed.



Method and Location Counting in Ponsonby Road (Counts 1 and 2):

A survey (count) of bikes parked informally (against poles and other street furniture) has been undertaken in Ponsonby Road in an area approximately 100m surrounding the site. This occurred every 1 hour between the hours of 9am and 6pm on a Tuesday. Figure 24 shows the area where bikes were counted. The counts were recorded on a series of maps.

The ‘counter’ walked/viewed the area shown in Figure 24 and record the location (and no. of bikes).

Figure 24 Location for bike parking count

Counting in Corral (Count 3):

As per the bike counts in Ponsonby Road – counts will occur in the bike corral every hour from the hours of 9am to 6pm on a Saturday. The counts will be recorded in a table (rather than a map).

Appendix 3. Survey of Adjoining Business: Method The following survey questions were put the adjoining businesses to the bike corral:

1. Do you prefer the bike parking corral to the car park that was there? 2. How do you rate the look/design of the bike parking corral? (1=Good, 2=Indifferent,

3=Poor) 3. (If answering 3 in Question 1) What could be improved? 4. How does the bike parking corral impact your business? (1=Better for business,

2=Indifferent, 3=Worse for business) 5. Would you recommend this type of infrastructure to other similar business owners?

Table 1 summarises survey responses to Questions 1, 2, 4 and 5.

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