Vancouver, BC is located on the west coast of Canada, 120 miles (200 km) north of Seattle, and is a beautiful city with a mild climate well suited for cycling. It has undergone a truly remarkable evolution in sustainable transportation since the 1970s, and this post uses photos and videos to document key developments in this evolution.<\/p>\n
It all started back in the 1960s and 1970s, when the people of Vancouver were smart enough to reject a plan to build a network of urban freeways through the city that would have devastated many historic neighborhoods and changed the face of the city forever – and not in a good way. Even so, until recently, it lacked sufficient user-friendly cycling infrastructure.<\/p>\n
A while ago, Vancouver set a goal to be entirely powered by clean energy by 2050<\/a> \u2014 not just in regards to electricity, but also for transportation and heating. Towards that end, Vancouver adopted the goal of 50% \u201csustainable mode share\u201d by 2020. Specifically, it aimed to ensure that by 2020, 50% of all trips would be taken by walking, biking, or transit. Amazingly, Vancouver achieved that target in 2015<\/a>, five years early.<\/p>\n As part of this success story, Vancouver has undergone an amazing evolution of\u00a0 cycling infrastructure. Credit must go to former Vancouver Mayor Robertson and Vision Vancouver.<\/a> And also to the thousands of dedicated cycling activists in Vancouver \u2013 notably HUB Cycling<\/a> and Modacity<\/a>.<\/p>\n We start with a video showing some of the improvements. Be warned: this video might persuade you to take a cycling vacation in Vancouver<\/a>!<\/p>\nVideo Showing Some of Vancouver’s Cycling Infrastructure Improvements<\/h2>\n