Ohrn writes:
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This motion by NPA Councillor Melissa De Genova will be discussed at City Council’s Nov 3 meeting.
Hard to say about the timing, but I’ll probably try to attend in a virtual fashion, just to see the responses of sharp-tongued Councillors Louie and Deal to this motion. I imagine the one-liners will fall somewhere between contemptuous and bemused.
MOTION At the Regular Council meeting on October 20, 2015,
Councillor De Genova submitted the following as a Notice of Motion.
1. Bicycle Licensing Program for the City of Vancouver
MOVER: Councillor De Genova SECONDER:
WHEREAS 1. The City of Vancouver is a leader in green transportation and aims to be a city where moving on foot or by bicycle is safe, convenient, and sustainable;
2. In a modern urban environment, such as the City of Vancouver, motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists frequently come into conflict when the rules of the road are disregarded;
3. The Motor Vehicle Act of BC defines the rules of the road in British Columbia and specifies that a person operating a bicycle has the same rights and duties as a driver of a vehicle, including, for example, the duty to remain at, or immediately return to, the scene of an accident in which they are involved;
4. Mayor Robertson was quoted on Global BC news on October 10, 2015, as stating that “an extra half million of the City’s 2015 budget will allow police to target cyclists and drivers who put pedestrians at risk.”
5. Unlike motor vehicles which are required to have a license plate, bicycles are not currently required to carry any form of identification that is visible to pedestrians, motorists, and other cyclists;
6. Despite Vancouver Police Department (VPD) anti-theft initiatives, such as Bait Bikes and other initiatives and technologies that make it easier to record bicycle serial numbers, over 2,000 bicycles are stolen in Vancouver every year;
7. In the first nine months of 2014, the VPD recovered over 1,000 bicycles, the majority of which will never be returned to their rightful owners due to the fact that their serial numbers were not reported to police, making them untraceable;
8. The hundreds of stolen bikes recovered by the VPD each year are stored at taxpayer expense and eventually end up at auction; B.1 9. A bicycle licensing program would better enable the VPD to return bicycles to their rightful owners and would also serve to identify bicycles and cyclists to other users of the City’s roads and bikeways.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council direct staff to report back on the potential for a bicycle licensing program in the City of Vancouver, one which would include some form of visible identification for bicycles, such as a licence plate, to identify cyclists to other users of the City’s roads and bikeways and assist the Vancouver Police Department in returning stolen bicycles to their rightful owners;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff specifically examine the most current, as well as emerging, technologies that could be employed in a successful bicycle licensing and identification program;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff advise Council as to how much of the half million dollars that will allow the police to target cyclists and drivers who put pedestrians at risk will be allocated to the enforcement of cyclists and how much will be allocated to the enforcement of drivers of motor vehicles.
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If you wish to comment on the motion, send your email to mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
