Share the Road

Introduction 

There are many ways to travel around New Zealand. You may choose to walk, cycle, use a car, or use public transport such as buses and trains. Wherever you are going it is likely that you will travel on one of New Zealand’s roads. Good roads are an important part of our community. Our communities work much better when it is easy for people to travel. Roads are also a community space: we ‘meet’ and have lots of interactions on the road as we navigate safely from one place to another. On this field trip you will see how roads are designed and how technology is used to improve safety. You will meet students from Pūtāruru College who are helping shape the future of transport networks and investigate the impact of speed on safety. You will also explore the new Waikato Expressway and see how it is helping people to journey safely.

Meet Shelley the LEARNZ field trip teacher

Watch the introductory video on Vimeo.

Location

You will fly to Hamilton, the main city of the Waikato. You will visit Pūtāruru College where students will show you the story behind "Hayden's Big Adventure", their winning video animation in the Future Transport schools' competition, and meet the students who will accompany Shelley as fellow inquiry leaders. You will get up close to local parts of the 102km Waikato Expressway, a huge roading project which by 2020 will provide a 4-lane link from south of Auckland to south of Hamilton. 

Travel Day

• Read the diary about Shelley and ambassador Māia's journey from Dunedin to Hamilton to begin the Share the Road field trip.

Tuesday 14 August

Safer journeys and road users

• Meet students from Pūtāruru College. Watch the videos to see these students sharing their ideas about the future of transport. Read the diary and watch the recorded web conference. Read Māia's ambassador update.

Wednesday 15 August

Designing safer roadways

• Explore the Waikato Expressway roading project. Watch the videos to see how the expressway has been designed to enhance safety for all users. Read the diary to discover how environmental impacts are managed and technology is used on site. Read Māia's ambassador update and watch the recording of the web conference.

Thursday 16 August

The future of our roads

• Meet experts from Waikato University. Read the diary to explore future forms of transport and discover more about research into driver behaviour. Watch the videos to see how a driver simulator works. Read Māia's ambassador update and watch the recorded web conference.