National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Willis Street
Wel ington Central
Wel ington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
13 December 2023
Cody C
By email: [FYI request #24767 email]
Tēnā koe Cody
Information Request – Cycleway delays
Thank you for your information request dated 15 November 2023 asking for the fol owing
information
.
Please supply the supporting evidence, if any, used by FENZ when making submissions to
local and central government that shows cycleways have actually caused delays in
response times.
Please also supply trend of average response times in Christchurch over past ten years or
nearest available periods, if held.
Your request has been assessed in accordance with the provisions of the Official Information Act
1982 (OIA). We have identified four documents addressed to local or central government that
make the specific claim that cycleways may cause delays in response times. As the documents
themselves contain supporting evidence for these claims, please find them enclosed. Some
information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA, to protect the privacy of natural
persons.
The submissions identified are all to Wellington City Council over proposed changes across the
city. Specifically, they relate to
• Changes to the Brooklyn Road cycleway
• The Karori Connections project
• The Newtown and Berhampore Transport Project
• The Newtown and Berhampore Transport Project hearing
We note that the claims made in these submissions are not the general claim that cycleways cause
delays in response times. Rather, they claim that specific cycleways in Wellington are likely to
cause delays to response times in situations where our vehicles interact with them during
emergency responses.
As far as evidence, it is very difficult to provide statistical evidence of changes in response times
because the reasons for differing times (faster or slower) contain many variables. We do not
respond to the same calls, at the same places, at the same time of day, in the same traffic
conditions often enough to be able to make an accurate assessment of the reasons for differing
times. Therefore, we did not make these claims on the basis of quantitative delay data.
Instead, the evidence relied on was information and feedback from fire appliance drivers who
have experienced the impact of similar roading changes in other parts of the city. These roading
designs are often intended to slow vehicle traffic down, so it is no surprise that the information
and feedback from drivers suggests they are sometimes being slowed down.
For example, the cycleway design in some areas (Kilbirnie, Island Bay) contain concrete “island
barriers” which are placed between the traffic lanes and the bike lanes. This means, in some
cases, cars are not able to pull to the left sufficiently enough for fire appliances to pass them while
remaining within their lane. In such cases, overtaking traffic requires moving into the on-coming
traffic lane (who also cannot pull sufficiently to the left) which requires more care and can only be
completed when the way is clear, ultimately taking more time to achieve.
Fire and Emergency will continue to respond to incidents as they arise and in a timely manner.
Below are the average response times to all incidents in Christchurch over the past ten years:
Calendar Year
Average Response Time (minutes)
2014
9:36
2015
8:00
2016
7:53
2017
7:58
2018
7:50
2019
7:58
2020
8:47
2021
7:53
2022
7:38
2023
7:54
The average response time is calculated by averaging the times it took for the first appliance to
arrive at the scene of an incident, from the time the communication centres first received the call,
for al incidents in Christchurch. The 2023 response time is the average as of 29 November 2023.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision.
Information about how to make a complaint is available a
t www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa nā
Ethan Fett
Acting Manager Information Requests
encl
