Tag Archives: ALL

ALL, CYCLING, INCONVENIENT FACTS , ,

Another empty bike lane – cyclists are no-show on Burrard Bridge

by

Despite all the money poured by Vision Mayor Robertson and all the hype feverishly pitched by Vision Councillor Meggs there are no increases in cycling volumes on high profile bike routes.

Review of the City of Vancouver Downtown Separated Bicycle Lanes Status Report released this July shows that cycling volumes on most established separated bike routes are flat to declining.

source: City of Vancouver,  Downtown Separated Bicycle Lanes Status Report, Summer 2011, Appendix A

Vancouver taxpayers are being fed arrogant hype claiming increases in cycling as a result of separated bike lanes being installed while City’s own data shows decreases in cycling on main cycling routes like Burrard Bridge or the Ontario Bike Route.

ALL, INCONVENIENT FACTS, TRANSLINK , ,

Tailgating TransLink

by
TransLink executives just released their “Cycling for Everyone” plan.  As part of that plan they promote dangerous tailgating as a method to improve space efficiency.  The document signed by the TransLink CEO – Ian Jarvis, states that cyclists can ride so close to each other that they are separated by only half a second.
 Any TransLink bus driver knows that following closer that 2 seconds behind is not safe.  At least 2 seconds are needed to react to a traffic situation.  Fortunately for commuters, executives in charge of TransLink are not driving our buses.  Unfortunately for the taxpayers TransLink executives waste our tax dollars promoting unsafe riding practices.
ALL, CYCLING, INCONVENIENT FACTS , ,

Disappearing Cyclists – City reports fewer cyclists on a popular bike route

by

Ontario Bike Route is a popular bike route in Vancouver running north/south through the heart of the City.  Comparing spring and summer months of 2009 and 2010 shows a 15% decline in cycling along that cycling route.

In 5 out of six months there was a reduction in cycling.  Spring months show double-digit drops in cycling exceeding 30% in April of 2010 when compared to 2009.

ALL, CYCLING, INCONVENIENT FACTS , ,

ICBC reports more injuries after bike lanes were installed

by
Local media brings to light an ICBC report showing that Vancouver commuters – travelling by bus, in a taxi, carrying deliveries or in private cars – are getting injured more frequently after segregated bike lanes were introduced.  Over the four year period before bike lanes were installed, there were nearly 150 accidents a year resulting in about 50 casualties a year.  Since the bike lanes were installed, more than 60 commuters are injured every year.  This represents a 31% and a 20% increase in accident casualties in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Getting used to the new layout is not the answer.  A full year after segregated bike lanes were installed, in the second half of 2010, there were still 25% more accidents than in the years leading up to the installation of segregated bike lanes.
The reason is simple:  Introducing segregated bike lanes makes intersections more confusing.  And confusion leads to accidents.  Traffic studies throughout the world show that.  But City Hall chooses to ignore those facts.
ALL, CYCLING, INCONVENIENT FACTS , ,

Free education – Ask and you will be answered

by

Vision Councilors Heather Deal and Andrea Reimer are reported to oppose investigating injuries on the Burrard Bridge.
Coun. Deal and Reimer are using the “enormous” cost of such a study as an excuse for ignoring the safety of commuters.
In fact, all it takes to find out about injuries to Vancouver commuters on the Burrard Bridge is to ask ICBC –ICBC provides the data free of charge.
Unfortunately for the 95% of commuters that travel by bus, car and taxi, deliveries and services , ICBC report shows 31% increase in injuries in 2009 and 20% increase in 2010.
The same Coun. Deal and Reimer had no problem wasting millions of dollars taken away from our libraries, parks and emergency services on unused, dangerous and wasteful separated bike lanes.
This underlines the incompetence of Vision Councillor Heather Deal and Andrea Reimer who would spend enormous amounts of your tax dollars rather then ask a simple question.