604 Industries Network

Questions about Bike Transportation

1. Do you or do members of your immediate family ride a bike for transportation? How often?

Until my 20+ year old Diamond Back was stolen at the end of July, biking was my primary means of transportation. Now I'm restricted to walking and using the bus.

2. In your opinion, what are the impediments to increased bicycle use in Vancouver? Have you done any work in the past to help overcome them? What will you do in the future?

Fear of having your bike stolen will often stop people from riding, especially if they don't have a lock, don't want to carry a lock, or won't have a supervised place to leave their bike while they're in public indoors. Also many experienced riders don't like wearing helmets or having reflectors on their bike, which the police will ticket them for. In the future I'd like to replace the existing laws governing riders on the street with rules that recognize the riders preferences, and guidelines that allow riders more self government.

3. In light of Canada's support of the Kyoto Protocol and of Vancouver's Community Climate Change Action Plan, in January of this year, the current council committed the city to a goal of 10% of all trips in the city of Vancouver to be made by bicycle by the Olympic year 2010 (we are currently at approximately 5%). Do you support this goal? What level of funding do you think is needed to achieve it?

In Denmark they have what's called the city bike concept. There are hundreds of city owned bikes which are free for the public to use. After someone is done using a bike, they leave it in one of the many bike racks around the city where anyone else can choose to use it for as long as they want. They have been using this system since 1988 and I think we are behind and need to adopt a similar system in Vancouver so bike transit use can have the potential to reach 50% or higher.

4. Given that it has been demonstrated in other cities that reducing traffic lanes does not cause congestion, and given that the city would save approximately $13 million by reallocating two lanes of vehicle traffic to bike lanes on Burrard Bridge (as opposed to widening the sidewalks), do you support the lane reallocation trial? If not, why not? If so, what will you do to ensure that it is a success?

There is obviously no harm in conducting a trial run of a lane reallocation and if it proves to be sufficient then there is no reason not to keep it. I believe in experimenting with different options and combinations of idea's until the best solution is found.

I hope that is enough to give you a sense of how I look at things. To me, biking is a great in so many ways. Not only is it great exercise for your legs, heart and lung muscles but I see it as a social transportation. You can easily bike with friends, or make frequent stops to talk to people or run errands. Help me get the votes and I will help make Vancouver a truly cyclist friendly city.

Peace out, Joe