BikeReady is New Zealand's national cycling education system, delivered by people in your area. Here's why it's happening and how it works.

Student participating in cycle skills training course.

Why BikeReady

More people in New Zealand are riding bikes — we're cycling to work, using e-bikes more, exploring our neighbourhoods by bike, and going for weekend rides.

Kids say they want to ride too, and we're helping them learn in fun ways.

New Zealand is on a long-term journey of investment and change to create a safer network and a more empathetic transport environment, so that cycling feels like a real transport choice for most people. Cycling education equips people with the right skills to be safe and considerate out on the road by:

  • giving kids skills at the right time in their life — from learning bike handling skills in primary school through to learning how to ride on-road when ready
  • helping adults, especially those who have never ridden a bike or haven't ridden for a while, gain confidence for the road conditions they'd expect to encounter
  • lifting competence and confidence, especially for young people on bikes — their bike is their first vehicle and a means of independent travel.

Benefits of BikeReady
More people develop safe road skills for cycling early in life. More empathetic road users. More kids are active and healthy. More people have cycling as a viable transport choice.

The BikeReady difference

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, ACC and local government partnered in the development of BikeReady, in collaboration with a range of cross-government agencies.

BikeReady expands on the best of current training and cycle skills initiatives from around the country, including the very successful Bikes in Schools model. BikeReady will enable cycle education to reach more people, helping them learn more and improve the overall quality of their learning: 

Reach: providing more cycle skills training that meets the needs of school students and adult learners, so they continue to gain life-long cycling skills and enjoyment.

Depth: enabling teachers and students to extend learning around contexts of bike riding and sharing the road.

Quality: ensuring all cycling education aligns with current good practice standards and guidelines.

Agile development: evaluating achievements and challenges to continuously improve BikeReady over time.

The BikeReady experience

Young people: learn about bike riding in fun ways through school. Experience cycling on-road with cycle skills instructors around the country when you're ready, and learn to share the road safely with others.

Teachers: combine your expertise with curriculum resources to deepen students' learning around sharing the road. Flexible resources will support your daily work, not add to it. Get easy access to cycle skills training by experienced instructors so young people gain knowledge and confidence over time.

Adults: get cranking with better bike skills through effective and responsive cycling education. Find tips for getting back in the saddle, riding e-bikes, and having confidence in different road and traffic conditions.

Families and whānau: find out how to support your kids and tamariki as they learn to ride.

Cycling instructors: go to one handy place online for resources and tools that support quality assurance and reporting.

The winning formula

  • Fun places for kids to learn to ride a bike with their families.
  • Regular opportunities to develop bike handling skills and gain experience in pre-road environments.
  • Aligning with the school curriculum to explore the concepts of cycling as part of citizenship and being a responsible road user.
  • Learning road rules and how to respond to hazards through on-road training in real life environments, with assistance from external providers.
  • Opportunities for adults to build confidence getting around by bike (or e-bike) in our towns and cities.
  • Learning how to be an empathetic driver who gives space to people on bikes.
  • Ongoing improvements to our transport system so we can create comfortable, connected networks for cycling.