Subscribe to RSSRace To Find Fastest Way To The CBD
Caught in a jam
Which mode of transport will get Aucklanders to work the quickest?
On Wednesday morning, former All Black Bryan Williams, Samoan international Siasosi Vaili, and Auckland Maori representative Brad Tawhare, will set out to find the answer.
In the third year of the morning peak-hour race, cyclists, car drivers and bus users race from four directions of the city to the Auckland Viaduct.
The race starts at 7:15am from the four points: Birkenhead, Mt Roskill, New Lynn and Ellerslie. . A cyclist from the Mt Roskill starting point won last year’s race. Event sponsor Urgent Couriers will use its GPS tracking system to follow contenders on their journey and the public can watch the action live on the company’s site
The finish line is at the Eastern Viaduct, where the Auckland City Council is hosting the Go by Bike Breakfast for those cycling to work and participating in the BikeWise event.
15 Comments
Not exactly a fair comparison if each mode is starting from a different place. It should be each mode from each starting location. Also what about trains from New Lynn or Ellerslie?
What about a motorbike? I remember someone trying this in London a few years ago and the motorbike won hands down.
Charter train anyone?
William - why would we need a charter train, there are already trains passing through here at this time (providing signals and points are working)
if the CBD rail loop is built and the lines electricfied then it will be the trains. but the trains arent on there so…
Not including motorcycles taints this test IMHO.
Look at most European and Asian cities. Scooters and small bikes offer a way round the congestion there.
Since this event is billed as a race and a cyclist won it last year it stands to reason that a small motorbike would be better still.
Come on organisers what are you scared of?
I totally agree with Matt L, a very silly kind of race if every contender is starting form a different place in town. Lets try the same from Ellerslie by train, bus, car and bike.
Hmm, the way I read Jons’ article, “cyclists, car drivers and bus users” are all plural, which would imply that each of these is making the trip from each location.
I remember watching this on TV3′s Sunrise last year where each mode from each location was in the race (with the exception of ferry and train, of course).
I can’t find the video archive for this but here’s the article from Urgent Couriers.
Agreed that they should include scooters although because they can’t (legally) pass a moving vehicle in the same lane it would probably be only a little faster than the car (with bigger petrol savings but that’s not what is being counted here)
Su
They should include a scooter or bike. And under certain conditions, you can pass a moving vehicle (in the same lane on its right, without crossing the line) its called lane-splitting)
I asked the organisers about last year. The winner last year was a cyclist from Mt Roskill who took just 15 minutes to get into town while the longest time recorded was over an hour for the commuter by Bus from New Lynn. Cyclists won 3 out of the 4 legs.
Hi all
There is a bike, car and mode of public transport from each point. Here is a link to the site with some more information http://www.urgent.co.nz/Public/About.aspx. We will be doing updates throughout the morining via Twitter @urgentcouriers and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/urgentcouriers. If you would like to know more feel free to send us a message.
@catherine Thanks for letting us know. Hope it goes well.
Please have a look at our commuter challenge website which is http://www.urgent.co.nz/public/commuterchallenge.aspx
@Steve Cool thanks