The Lightfoot Initiative

18/06/2026

The passenger princess economy has arrived in Queenstown & Wānaka.

🚗 Go find your ride on the Carpoolin App.

18/06/2026

More buses are cancelled today... make sure you check the Orbus alerts and send ORC your feedback via the website. We also appreciate the messages about how these cancellations affect you... so keep 'em coming to [email protected]

18/06/2026

🚲✨ Meet our amazing OneBike Hub volunteer, Bert! 🚲✨

Bert is our most dedicated volunteer who comes in every week to help repair bikes so they can be donated and enjoyed by others in our community.

We truly appreciate his time, knowledge, kindness, and unwavering commitment. Thanks to volunteers like Bert, more bikes find new homes and more people get the opportunity to experience the joy and freedom of cycling!

17/06/2026

Bus Cancellations Thursday 16th June. If you're affected, please let ORC know via the form on their website... we have raised the issue directly with ORC this morning. We'd love to hear your impact stories when the bus doesn't come... email [email protected]

16/06/2026

Who's ready to ride? Carpoolin' has officially arrived in the Queenstown Lakes, on time and ready to roll. This NZ-based tech might be the first step towards solving our traffic woes. Take a geez and see what you think...
www.carpoolin.co
Carpoolin NZ

16/06/2026

There’s a brand new way to rideshare in Queenstown & Wānaka! 🚗 Here’s how to use the app so you can save $$ and meet new besties in town.

🚗 Available on Apple & Google.

09/06/2026

Regular bus being cancelled?We all dread that moment when the bus doesn't show... so make sure you let ORC know via this link... and remember it's not the bus driver's fault! But you MUST tell ORC...
https://www.orc.govt.nz/orbus/travel-with-us/using-the-bus/bus-safety/report-it-bus-safety/

Driver's face removed for anonymity...

18/05/2026

Got Graphic Design skills and some free time? Our amazing designer Nicky is taking a short break and we seriously need some paid, creative support. If you're interested, then drop us a line at [email protected]
Note: we're so creatively challenged that we don't even have a flashy graphic to go with this post :-(

10/05/2026

Sometimes, you really can build the bridge.

This one is for the cage-rattlers, email-writers, photo-takers, video-makers, engineers, architects, councillors, MPs, transport planners, community groups, businesses, residents and everyday locals who looked at the SH6 crossing and said, “Nah. We can do better than this.”

Because we could. And now we are.

The confirmation that Puahuru Bridge across SH6 is going ahead is a huge moment for Queenstown, and a massive win for shared and active travel.

Soon after Lightfoot formed, Mark Williams, W***y, from Queenstown Trails came to us with a very clear problem: people needed a safe way to cross State Highway 6.

Queenstown Trails had the vision for an active travel link that would properly connect with the Wakatipu Active Travel Network Route A2. Lightfoot agreed, backed the idea, and got stuck in.

At the time, the “safe” option was an island refuge near Hardware Lane, with a proposed cycle and pedestrian underpass at the SH6/Hawthorne roundabout. There were a few problems with that.

So we started the kōrero.

We talked to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency. We read everything publicly available, plus a few things that were not exactly easy to find. We spoke with, and yes, probably badgered, the Mayor and Councillors at Queenstown Lakes District Council.

We took photos and made some quite frankly terrifying videos showing what it was like to cross SH6 by bike or on foot.

Then the community got moving.

Around 30 organisations, businesses and community groups joined an email campaign to Waka Kotahi, the QLDC Mayor and Councillors, and former QLDC infrastructure boss Pete Hansby.

People spoke up. People backed a better solution.

A big early moment came when Jim Boult CNZM and Pete Hansby recognised the need for a bridge.

Then, with generous support from Tony Galavazi at Holmes Aus & NZ, Matthew Barnett, and Wyatt and Gray Architects, Lightfoot helped develop an early vision and budget to show what was possible.

You can still see that early vision here:
https://lightfoot.org.nz/jims-way-bridge-sh6-queenstown-trail/

Before long, most people agreed that a bridge was simply the smartest solution.

Over the past four years, Queenstown Trails Trust, with Lightfoot beside them, has kept pushing and making the case. Local MP Joseph Mooney’s support has also been crucial in helping turn a very good community idea into actual infrastructure.

And now it is happening.

Kudos to Queenstown Trails Trust for rattling cages and staying the course. We are proud Lightfoot could help carry the kaupapa forward.

But mostly, kudos to this community. This outcome is what happens when people get organised, get loud, and keep going.

Puahuru Bridge is a win for all of us.

A proposed bridge provides an iconic gateway to Queenstown that declares “we’re actively addressing our congestion and emissions problems”