Liveable communities take away my rights

[shootingstar]

Badger,what would you suggest instead spending the money for City of Vancouver for cycling infrastructure? I'm not sure what the non-cycling, roads intrastructure budget....unless one runs over the website on the city budget. Shouldn't be hard ...since you work for the city (fire dept. counts as part of the whole city budget).

Separated bike lanes is the next step up. It doesn't make sense to spend alot of $$$ for this as the lst stage, to put it on a residential street in a residential neighbourhood. Put it where the car traffic is genuinely heavy. But even that, Vancouver's car traffic volume is quite pale..compared to Toronto where I biked into downtown core for several years with over 1 million people pouring into the same area for work.

Would you suggest bike lane, separated lanes (emphasis) in East Vancouver somewhere closer to Hastings St.? Would alot more people want to ride in that area? (I have to say, I did part of it..where the homeless some drug addicts hang out... daily on a commute for a few years going home. )

The reality is that:

the local cycling advocacy group with the City of vancouver engineering staff went over several proposed other streets in the downtown core. Helmucken St. was one of them and the list goes on. Except it gets steep and narrow. Not wide enough. I've ridden it many times since it's close to home (now my 2nd home).

It just sounds to me, the big unspoken message is put bike lanes anywhere except any downtown core in any city where there businesses and that'll keep everyone happy. Is that the route?

And we will never be able to pedestrianize our core downtown streets like some of the bigger European cities with good transit, etc.

What did the Winter OLympics teach us: A ton of people adjusted. Over 1 million people were not using cars in the downtown core...every day. City had an aggressive plan during the Olympics and cut down 30% daily car traffic coming into thecity. So yes, Vancouver proved..to itself, to its own citizens it COULD do it.

It proved to the world. That's why City of Vancouver did think seriously about separated bike lanes. Various public transportation planners and urban planners in north America are intrigued what actually happened during that time in our city.

Sorry. I gotta skype to dearie in Vancovuer. I'm in Calgary....the city of god....I don't want get into this. It's nightmarish biking around here. They barely have painted bike lanes on their 4 lane one way streets downtown. Think of Richards St. and multiply that by 20 streets. It's kind of sick and sad.

[badger]

I don't think you understand me. I'm not saying DON'T put separated bike lanes, I'm saying how they did it was reckless in spending public funds.

In an ideal world there will be separated bike lanes everywhere, but that's not possible. What I object to is the fact that the ones they created are very limited, in both access and usefulness. If you're traveling from East Vancouver on Adanac bike route and using the Georgia viaduct to go to Pacific Centre, you've hit the jackpot. But if you're traveling from South East Vancouver on several different bike paths wanting to go to Burrard and Thurlow, you are protected only part of the way. You're still wearing a bulls-eye for motorists to hit you after the separated bike lane suddenly stops at Hornby (what's up with that, anyways? they couldn't go one more block to Burrard??). And how do you get back onto the bike lane if you're traveling back? You have to go the wrong way on the lined bike lane to get back onto the separated one.

They spent around $25 MILLION to put in incomplete bike lanes. Wouldn't it have been better to use the money to expand more bike routes? How about completing some existing bike routes that SUDDENLY end without any warning? (Pacific has at least 3 sections where they stop and you're left very vulnerable, especially under Granville bridge headed towards Burrard) Perhaps subsidize or give incentives for the citizens to buy bikes?

I'm not saying boo to bike lanes. I'm not saying make the downtown core closed to cars or keep bikes out. My argument rests solely in Gregor's ridiculous agenda to have Vancouver become the world's most "sustainable" city by spending way too much of the public funds for something that is so impractical.

In fact, a better way to have used that money was to make every street downtown bike friendly. I can usually get somewhere downtown, but have a hard time finding a safe route home.

[shootingstar]

Badger this is a highlighted slideshow from City of VAncouver, Sept. 2010. It highlights the total usage statistics of cycling, transit, walking before and during Olympics.
http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transpor...nicalBrief.pdf
On slide 34:

the annual 2010 transportation budget was $125 million. This includes typical road paving and other stuff that has nothing to do with bike lanes.
% spent on separated bike lanes for City of Vancouver was: $3 million dollars for 2010. (Not $25 million as you mentioned earlier.)

****Please get back to the people who told you the wrong figure. This misinformation undercuts the long hard work of cycling volunteers who have worked in countless meetings and tireless work educating people....

I spoke with dearie about this just now. He confirmed that the $3 million also included installation of some additional pedestrian/cycling activated controls at some intersections or extra lights.

I trust him because he tried his best to represent for us (cyclists in Vancouver) and has detailed technical discussions with engineering staff at the City of Vancouver.

Until Mar. 2011, he was one the directors for the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition for last 8 yrs.

Still on the city's Bicycle Advisory Committee as a volunteer cycling citizen under the umbrella of City of VAncovuer for past 5 yrs.....I think. I'm losing track of time here..


We really do lead a cycling-dominated life ..on several different fronts.
He is not interested in joining Critical mass rides because he knows it just alienates drivers from cyclists. This is what and where he stands.

Hey, if I get maidiebike doll in Vancouver when I visit, would you be interested in picking her up as the next person after me?

[jordanpattern]

I am always amazed a people's ability to whine when they are reminded of the fact that the entire world doesn't revolve around them. Oy vey!

(this in response to the original post, not to any conversation since)

[smilingcat]

When a person can't connect the dots, one statement made to next, in a logical and reasonable argument, you can not reason with them.

Ask how does supporting alternative transportation begets poverty. How can he justify such connection. People today just can't show the connection even at stretch let alone reasonable.

I for one, can't even begin to see a connection that supporting mass transit leads to poverty.

Stupid! don't waste your time on bin-atama (jar head) no reference to USMC intended though it is often used derisively toward members of USMC.

[shootingstar]

would like to say to badger and folks: please forgive me for my ranting.

Pam the hotel that objected to bike lane: it was because it ran in front of the hotel,..... but on the other side of the street. I haven't quite figured out the problem there.

By the way, unlike other Canadian cities, some of Vancouver's streets both and downtown, have back laneways, for tenant parking or unloading delivery trucks. (Not for hotels though)

[oz rider]

Got into an argument with another person in a different internet forum.

Does he have a sense of humour?

[Trek420]

Just listened to a short interview with this guy:

http://www.governing.com/poy/mick-cornett.html

The mayor's crusade against obesity became the cornerstone of a whole new vision for the city's future. "We had an automobile-centric culture, a drive-through restaurant mentality," he says. "We hadn't built a pedestrian-friendly community." ....

"It's all part of this culture shift where we're creating a healthier community. This is a renaissance time for Oklahoma City. We're in a golden age."

Oklahoma City sounds like they're doing it right