{"id":1036,"date":"2010-10-06T22:10:24","date_gmt":"2010-10-07T05:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/averagejoecyclist.com\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2015-02-13T00:06:21","modified_gmt":"2015-02-13T08:06:21","slug":"bike-fight-in-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/averagejoecyclist.com\/bike-fight-in-vancouver\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugly Bike Fight Rages in Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Vancouver City Council\u2019s unanimous vote to build a new, separated bike lane on Hornby Street, the anti-cyclist lobby is seething. The internet is suddenly full of a freshly unleashed torrent of seething hatred for all things cyclist.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to comprehend. Harvey Enchin in the Vancouver Sun<\/em><\/a> points out that improvements to cycling infrastructure have been supported in Toronto, even by businesses faced with losing some parking spots. \u00a0He suggests that:<\/p>\n

\u201cthe view of cycling in Toronto is pragmatic and in Vancouver, ideological.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pragmatically, increasing the cycling infrastructure in\u00a0gridlocked downtown Vancouver is a no-brainer. But we are mired in ideological fights between zealots on both sides (including me!). The ongoing fights on the net suggests that we in Vancouver do indeed need to \u201cgrow up,\u201d as Enchin puts it.<\/p>\n

As Enchin argues, cycling infrastructure is being added globally as it makes cities more livable, and \u201cno one can be against improving our quality of life.\u201d Actually, the anti-cycling lobby is<\/strong> against this, based presumably on their knee-jerk anti-cyclist ideology.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s just step back and look at the facts. Does<\/strong> cycling improve everyone\u2019s quality of life?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here I am indebted to pacpost, who has kindly allowed me to use the following post to examine this point:<\/p>\n

Guest Post from Pacpost:<\/span><\/h2>\n

“In trying to inform myself a little more about the various advantages of cycling, I\u2019ve been digging around Copenhagenize.com. Some of the excellent links I found:<\/span><\/p>\n

Bike lanes have been found to be good for business:<\/span><\/h3>\n

http:\/\/www.copenhagenize.com\/2007\/11\/cyclists-are-better-shoppers-than.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Cyclists should be paid<\/strong> to ride their bikes!<\/span><\/h3>\n

Cities should actually be paying us<\/strong> to ride bikes, considering all the benefits we bring:<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.copenhagenize.com\/2010\/03\/folly-of-bicycle-licences.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Denmark we\u2019ve determined that cycling is much more cost-efficient than cars. Indeed, for every kilometre cycled the nation enjoys a net profit of 25 cents. For every kilometre driven by a car, the nation suffers a net loss of 16 cents. Due to a host of health factors, wear and tear\/road maintenance factors, etc.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Copenhagen a study has determined that for every kilometre cycled, the city earns $1.10. Pure profit<\/strong>. Based on the value of our cycling citizens living longer \u2013 7 years \u2013 and being less ill whilst alive (subsidizing those poor motorists and their illnesses as we slog away at work with fewer sick days) as well as the value of health care costs saved.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So there you have it:\u00a0Bikes actively contribute<\/strong> to society; cars actively detract<\/strong> from it. And bikes\u00a0are actually good for business<\/strong>. Finally, not mentioned by pacpost, but one of my key arguments:<\/p>\n

Bikes don\u2019t kill people, cars kill people. Apart from killing more than a million people a year worldwide, cars are the most common cause of death for children aged 10 to 19, worldwide.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So when you come right down to it, it doesn\u2019t really matter whether you prefer driving or cycling: on purely pragmatic grounds, promoting cycling is the logical way to improve quality of life for a<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Vancouver City Council\u2019s unanimous vote to build a new, separated bike lane on Hornby Street, the anti-cyclist lobby is seething. The internet is suddenly full of a freshly unleashed torrent of seething hatred for all things cyclist. It\u2019s hard to comprehend. Harvey Enchin in the Vancouver Sun points out that improvements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[171,183],"tags":[19,119,381],"class_list":{"0":"post-1036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling-infrastructure","8":"category-metro-vancouver-bike-routes","9":"tag-hornby-street","10":"tag-separate-bike-lanes","11":"tag-vancouver-city-council","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUgly Bike Fight Rages in Vancouver • Average Joe Cyclist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/averagejoecyclist.com\/bike-fight-in-vancouver\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ugly Bike Fight Rages in Vancouver\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the wake of Vancouver City Council\u2019s unanimous vote to build a new, separated bike lane on Hornby Street, the anti-cyclist lobby is seething. 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