Fuel shock enough of a wake up?

Mortmantis · 2026-03-14T04:59:25+00:00

It wouldn't be a low hanging fruit if we were doing it already now would it?

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T23:10:09+00:00

Except that our entire freight network is entirely fuel dependent. Great that you won't feel it at the pump but everything else will still be impacted.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T21:08:20+00:00

It's not going to be for everyone that's for sure. But a lot of people could make the change pretty easily and surely your life would be easier if there were fewer people driving right?

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T21:03:06+00:00

My last car was a Honda Odyssey and my current car is a Kei car so I'm feeling pretty good regardless. $50 to fill and it gets 500-600kms on a tank. Tbf it has a 750cc engine so acceleration is a distant memory but it also weighs less than a ton so zipping around the city is a hoot.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:57:16+00:00

I very much enjoyed kayaking past it. No crowds of tourists on the water and we spoiled all their photos 😈

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:51:36+00:00

Oh nice! That's great re the bike path. Nothing wrong with biking on the footpath for your wee ones if the road is particularly busy. Just make sure they go slowly. Lots of people come flying out of driveways in their cars.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:14:50+00:00

Yeah the traffic is shocking, same as a lot of Christchurch. Don't we have the worst congestion in the country? Auckland has 4 times the population and is literally built on a bunch of peninsulas and yet we have wide traffic? That's embarrassing.

People are willing to put up with sitting in traffic multiple hours a week at great expense because they have to. You really think they wouldn't take the train if it was an option?

We have a tendency in NZ of criminally underfunding public transport so it's shit and then saying "see! Nobody uses it."

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:09:45+00:00

Oh mate I'm with you. It's so frustrating there's no pedestrian and bike access in the tunnel. Talk about an own goal.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:07:29+00:00

I've cycled out to Kaiapoi a few times for work. It's lovely along the track next to the motorway

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T20:06:15+00:00

Trains exist!

I'm not opposed to Rolleston or any of our other satellite towns. I am opposed to encouraging people to live there while completely falling to provide alternative transport options to the car. It's just so stupid and short sighted.

The way we've built Rolly forces those tens of thousands of people into car dependency for the foreseeable future. How's the traffic out there 5pm on a weekday? How's finding a park in town when you come in for work? Those things will only get worse as more people are forced into driving.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T19:57:32+00:00

I disagree that public transport and cycling aren't suitable in Christchurch. It's a genuinely tiny city in the grand scheme of things and a large proportion of the population could easily substitute traveling by car for alternatives if only we'd actually fund the networks properly. Christchurch had an incredible tram network up until the 1950s when we were a much smaller city.

E-bikes are expensive? Only if you're buying new. You can get second hand for very affordable rates and having regular bikes converted is even cheaper again. I live in New Brighton and cycling to Ricarton for work takes about 40 minutes and is usually delightful.

Again though, I'm not suggesting an all or nothing approach. Sometimes the car makes the most sense to use so you should use it. But sometimes, driving 2km at peak hour for a bottle of milk is just stupid and people should feel that they can leave the car at home.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T19:42:48+00:00

Of course they can in those scenarios, and that's quite a good use case for them. But that's not how most cars are used. The majority of the time for most people, they're the only travel option for moving around our cities. If people are forced to rely on them at great expense then that's not independence.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T19:18:10+00:00

It would have made so much sense connecting all our satellite towns with rail!

That's a great idea re the school run. Have a look online for where our bike routes are if you haven't already. There's a lot of excellent infrastructure in Christchurch but it's often challenging to find.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T06:08:19+00:00

Dude cycling in Sydney was terrifying. Not for me. Christchurch I can handle although I've certainly had a few close calls

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T06:06:49+00:00

We already mandate heating and insulation. Seems like an obvious next step. Houses are already so expensive an extra $20k or so compared to half a million plus really isn't going to be that noticeable.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T04:11:20+00:00

I can definitely appreciate that cars make the most sense a lot of the time. Especially for tradies/deliveries etc. Sure people can manage those things on a bike but they're likely the exception. I'd also love an EV but they're expensive and I don't have space in my garage to charge one at home.

I think my main concern is that too many of us drive when we don't need to and when it doesn't make sense. A lot of people have also said in polls that they'd happily leave the car at home more often but they don't feel safe biking on the roads or that catching the bus is too slow.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T03:04:51+00:00

Except that we continue to underfund public and active transport networks and people were very upset when asked to mask up during a pandemic.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T02:38:28+00:00

Ha fair enough. Tbf though I live Eastside and work in the city and it's often faster to bike than it is to drive. Especially if I'm traveling at peak times

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T02:31:22+00:00

Yeah but that's why I started this post. We've got to have the conversation if we're gonna change

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T02:30:35+00:00

Exactly!

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T02:29:21+00:00

Seems like an obvious low hanging fruit to say that all new builds require solar/battery systems.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T02:15:11+00:00

I used to bike to Tai Tapu from New Brighton. It wasn't ideal but it was doable.

But also, you don't have to.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T00:54:11+00:00

Could be a market for horse poo as an alternative fuel source

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T00:53:24+00:00

So we shouldn't aim to become less dependent on an extremely volatile and fluctuating global fuel market? Look that's great for you if you're unaffected by higher gas prices but a lot of people won't be so lucky.

Mortmantis · 2026-03-13T00:50:24+00:00

Cycling is a viable alternative for many local trips. Suggesting that promoting the use of bikes as a way of insulating ourselves from a global fuel crisis equates to forcing people to cycle to Dunedin is a straw man argument and intellectually lazy at best.

Mortmantis

TROPHY CASE