Here in Victoria, one of the most "cycling friendly cities," with two allegedly green party and one cycling advocate on city council, individual parking meters are being replaced with "environmentally friendly" solar powered ticket dispensers. The solar power thing is cool, but by removing the individual parking meters, we've also lost a lot of bike parking and I haven't seen any new bike racks yet. They're discouraging cyclists, even though we offer a big part of the global solution. Is it any wonder we lose faith in "the system"?
From Dave Olsen in Vancouver:
What a great festive atmosphere in and around the Vancouver International Film Festival Saturday.
The sun was shining and the streets were clear of cars outside the Granville 7 Theatres downtown, which hosts the bulk of the Fest's screenings.
Unfortunately, the streets were also clear of bike parking...completely. Ellie O'Day, Media Director for the Festival, briefed me before I could even open my mouth that she had informed the City's staff about the Festival's growing need for bicycle parking outside the Granville 7 Theatres weeks in advance. She was told by staff that the street is under construction and that no bicycle racks would be installed.
Bus shelters are installed. Parking meters a block away were stuffed full of coin from cars parked along both sides of Granville all day. Hmm.
I did see a sign in the window of the Granville 7 Theatre: "BIKES...Please do not store bikes on company property. If this conduct persists, bikes will be removed. Thanks, Management." Um, just where are we supposed to park them? Oh right, we must fuel the economy (read: kill the planet) by driving one tonne killing machines to the Film Festival. How silly of me. You can see photos by clicking here:
Let's see if we can change this situation, shall we? Back racks cost hundreds of dollars; the Worm/Canada Line just cost us over $2 billion, the repaving of Granville and Davie Streets just cost us millions more.
The mayor claims he's "green"; ask him to make it happen (
There's almost 2 weeks left in the Festival (it ends October 16th) and it takes less than an hour to install a bicycle rack; a dozen racks would take about a day. The skies are forecast to be clear for the foreseeable future (well, if you ignore that pesky brown cloud that thickens hourly between rains). Is Vancouver really the world class city it aspires to be? Do our politicians really run our city or is it the suburbanite staffers who drive to their jobs at City Hall? Send 'em an email and see what happens!
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Take care and if you can't take the lane, take the bus!
dave
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Movie lovers with a functioning mind (hopefully all of us!) might like to share their thoughts on Reel Life, Real Ideas: Movies and more...
By regularly riding through red lights and stop signs (after yielding to make sure it's safe for all), we can encourage the powers-that-be to modernize their rules (e.g.,
Adam Smith, godfather of modern economics stated: "Civil government...is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, of those who have some property against those who have none at all."
Hit by a car at 60 km/h (40mph), a pedestrian has an 85 per cent chance of being killed; at 50 km/h (30mph) s/he has a 45 per cent chance of being killed, while at 30 km/h (20mph) the risk falls to 5 per cent. Source: British Parliamentary Advisory Council on Transport Safety (1996) Taking Action on Speeding
