Last week I heard a great sigh of satisfaction from Colin Stein (present at the creation of Viewpoint Vancouver), having just finished a life accomplishment that we will all benefit from. It’s this:
Vancouver’s Bicycle People & the Fight for Transportation Change, 1986-2011
An Oral History by Colin Stein
From a car-centric region teetering on the edge of inner-city freeway hell, to one of the non-European world’s bike meccas, Vancouver has come a long way in just a generation.
Vanbikes — this site and a forthcoming book — aims to tell that story.
Some of the people, places, stories, art, ideas and decisions that helped shape west coast cycling culture.
For the past 30 years or more, these people worked and sometimes fought to bring a sustainable transportation system to Greater Vancouver:
- Equitable, evidence-based policies and legislation
- Flexible and response public planning & development processes
- Safe, accessible facilities for all transportation modes
Vanbikes is a voice for building on that momentum by understanding where we came from, and what we’ve learned.
Congratulations to Colin. This is a story where I had a tiny part to play, but because of it, a knowledge of just how big the story is. Bike advocates have had to overcome fierce opposition from an entrenched media culture, at least one formerly major civic political party, and the great big mass culture of motordom at large.