An environmental transport lobby group say walkers and cyclists should have access to a lane on Auckland Harbour Bridge.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is currently reconsidering whether to implement a trial of one lane on Auckland Harbour Bridge that would be dedicated to walkers and cyclists.
Currently, pedestrians and cyclists wanting to get to the North Shore either need to take public transport or go through Massy and Hobsonville.
Modelling suggests if a single lane was taken away on the bridge it would require a reduction of 17,000 vehicles per day.
The Government last year asked about running a trial at a "quiet" time of year but, instead, NZTA offered to hold a one-day celebratory event on the bridge and began planning for it to run this November.
Last year hundreds of cyclists forced their way through a police barricade on the bridge in a 1000-strong protest demanding a dedicated cycle lane.
The protest came after long-debated plans for the so-called Skypath were abandoned and a subsequent Government proposal for a $785 million cycle bridge was also canned.
Movement, a lobby group, is in favour of an entire lane on the bridge being dedicated to non-car users.
"Walking and cycling are not provided sufficiently across the Auckland Harbour Bridge at the moment and we know that there is a huge demand for it," group chair Christine Rose, told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
"We can't build our way out of the infrastructure crisis that we're in at the moment, we have to use existing infrastructure wisely and the best way to do that is to allocate a lane that would leave the rest of the bridge for everybody else in their cars, but just one lane for walkers and cyclists."
Movement's lawyers wrote to NZTA last month, saying the Government's request was "a gilt-edged opportunity for WK (Waka Kotahi) to break away from the narrow, car-centric thinking that has characterised it for most of its existence and actually do something significant about climate change".
Rose said evidence shows if a lane was dedicated to walkers and cyclists people would use it.
"Waka Kotahi estimated that if a cycle lane was open, 6000 people would use it on day one for walking and cycling but also people will use public transport, they'll take other routes that work from home," she told AM.
Rose said people are currently forced to drive across the bridge because of a lack of alternatives.
"Well, actually, taking cars off the road speeds up traffic because the problem with congestion is too many cars on the road, so we're providing modal choice and that's what's important," she said.
"So not that everybody has to ride a bike but those who want to and those who want to walk have those opportunities.
"People are being forced into car journeys because of a lack of alternatives."
Another alternative being considered is having another ferry but Rose believes this will require more work and money.
"We haven't got enough ferries and we haven't got enough landing stations, so we'd need to build new jetties and wharves and we'd need to procure the fisheries, when in fact, we've already got the lane."
Watch the full interview with Christine Rose above.
