Comments on: Critical Mass rant

By: molamola

molamola — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:56:23 +0000

Didn’t understood the last part :s could you explain better please?

By: johnny

johnny — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:54:54 +0000

Hello. Thank you for this great info! Keep up the good job!

By: Gregg Scott

Gregg Scott — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:16:00 +0000

What is the total budget figure for roads, highways etc?

By: Janis Lanka

Janis Lanka — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:50:49 +0000

Here is a view of their meeting place at Vancouver Art Gallery. http://ow.ly/j6jn It was taken during their July 2009 meetup and shows the 360 angle view of that place – also gives an idea of how many people are meeting up there.

By: Ken Simpson

Ken Simpson — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:13:23 +0000

Greg: we all pay for road infrastructure whether through our income taxes, fuel taxes, or translink levies and fares. Cyclists actually get far less than their fare share of infrastructure budgets. If you take total provincial funding on roads, cycling infrastructure should get $150M/yr but gets only a small fraction of that.

By: Gregg Scott

Gregg Scott — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:07:14 +0000

Ken. Very well-stated.

I completely agree with you. The current system is unfair to both parties and cyclists need their own roadways.

What’s troubling is the rampant unwillingness of cyclists to contribute financially to this infrastructure through licensing or tolls. There is, by many and seemingly not yourself, a sense of entitlement as if this should just be provided with no burden of responsibility of the very small percentage of the population that will actually use these paths.

By: Gregg Scott

Gregg Scott — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:06:53 +0000

Ken. Very well-stated.

I completely agree with you. The current system is unfair to both parties and cyclists need their own roadways.

What’s troubling is the rampant unwillingness of cyclists to contribute financially to this infrastructure through licensing or tolls. There is, by many and seemingly not yourself, a sense of entitlement as if this shold just be provided with no burden of responsibility of the very small percentage of the population that will actually use these paths.

By: Twitted by kcdyer

Twitted by kcdyer — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:25:41 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by kcdyer [...]

By: Ken Simpson

Ken Simpson — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:56:01 +0000

Gregg: Most cyclists I speak with would be more than happy if there were a licensing process in place. As a regular bike commuter, I would be over-joyed if ICBC allowed me to license my bike, because at the present time there is no way other than expensive private disability insurance for me to cover the case where I am injured simply by falling, hitting a tree, etc.. Bike theft insurance would also be nice. But mostly it would be great to have a direct relationship with ICBC to provide more rapid and hassle-free coverage for hit-and-run incidents with drivers.

Critical Mass is a protest (sure, some people call it a celebration, but it’s really a protest) against the lack of _safe_ cycling infrastructure in our city. Cars and bikes are NOT meant to share the road. Cars go faster and weight a great deal more. To a driver, hitting a bike does not lead to death or permanent serious injury. To a cyclist, cars mean death, so it’s no surprise that cyclists get a little hot under the collar about cars.

The way to end Critical Mass is for drivers to get together and demand that cyclists be put in their own place – i.e. their own dedicated bike lanes like the one (ONE) that we now have on Burrard Bridge.

In European cities like Amsterdam, Critical Mass is a non-issue, because bikes have their own road network. Where bikes and cars must intersect, there are better bike lanes and more effective laws in place to permit safe bike riding.

By: monnibo

monnibo — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:44:36 +0000

I use a variety of modes of transport. When I’m a pedestrian, I look both ways before I cross the street. When I drive, I do shoulder check when turning left AND right AND before opening my door. When I take the bus, I take off my bag if it’s crowded to make more room. There are things we can all do to make commuting more safe and pleasant for everyone.

I agree with you that not all drivers shoulder check, and it would be great to see ICBC mark it more harshly (as much stress as it was doing my driving test). But I would also like to see cyclists having to signal.

My main worry is, if I don’t know which way a cyclist is going or what they’re planning to do at the next intersection, how can I (when I’m driving) make sure we both stay safe? I know MANY cyclists signal and wear helmets, and many don’t. Just the same as MANY drivers signal and wear their seat belts, yet many don’t.

All I’m saying is that we ALL need to respect each other on the road… and the mass blocking traffic (thereby forcing cars to idle) is not an action that will result in change.