WHY DRIVERS SHOULD PUSH FOR BIKE LANES
… the best solution for drivers – those who have no choice or, for whatever reason, insist – is to provide a range of better options, including transit, walking and, yes, cycling. …
The cyclist beside you is not the car in front of you; the bicycle locked to a ring at curbside means one less parking space is taken. Driver, cyclist and pedestrian are complementary rather than mutually exclusive categories. Most of us are all of these at different times. What’s crucial is the proportion of time we use each mode, and creating communities where the car is needed for only certain types of trips. For other trips, we can make more efficient choices.
Well, duh. But why is this simple point so hard to get across to those who claim that road-space reallocation is a zero-sum game, and that any change from the status quo is a ‘War on the Car’?
Which is rather like Warren’s Buffet’s comment on ‘class warfare’:
“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
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PETE McMARTIN NAILS IT
From The Vancouver Sun:
Drivers feel besieged, to gauge the decibel level of public discourse. In Vancouver, initiatives like downtown bike lanes have inspired a puerile backlash out of all proportion to the bike lanes’ effect. It is as if their critics were not just aggrieved at having to share the road with bicyclists, but were railing against the passing of a way of life. As it happens, they are. Time to move on.
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A SOLID LEFT HOOK
Ken Ohrn writes:
Following on the heels of the Globe’s and the Sun’s recent articles (above) on urban transportation infrastructure, here is Part III. It is in my addled mind a solid left hook following the two hard jabs earlier. The article focuses on what makes a city attractive and liveable. Variety in transportation infrastructure, for one.
It is written by Nick Rockel in the Globe, and quotes Lee Malleau, CEO of the Vancouver Economic Development Commission (a major player in the Stantec Report on Bikes Lanes). Good transportation infrastructure provides solid economic benefits. Especially when trying to attract top companies, who want to attract and retain top talent, who in turn look for quality of life:
City leaders know how crucial such infrastructure is to quality of life. Since it opened in late 2009, the Canada Line rapid-transit link between downtown and Vancouver International Airport has helped reduce traffic congestion. Then there’s Vancouver’s growing network of bike lanes. “They’ve already proven to be very effective in taking cars off the road,” Ms. Malleau says.
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CYCOPATHOLOGY
The Vancouver Courier steps up its game:
Coverage of cycling issues, developments, personalities and racing events by Courier reporters persists as some of the most well-read stories in the newspaper and online. To bring you more cycling news and in-formation each week, we’re proud to introduce two new columnists who will write exclusively about cycling: Kay Cahill and Kristina Bangma.
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It will be interesting to see how Courier readers respond to articles about cycling that aren’t hating editorials. Both ladies appear to be serious athletes. Kay Cahill is going to write articles about urban commuting, but judging by her blog (http://sidecut.wordpress.com/) she’s much more then a bike commuter. I hope she’s able to capture the life of everday cyclists, like Momentum Magazine does.