Let the deconstructionist analysis begin. The city has posted the first round of stats on car, bike and pedestrian traffic on the bridge, noting that bike traffic is up 30 per cent, pedestrian is steady and car flows are fluctuating after a 10 per cent drop in the first days.
And, so as not to miss out on any of those precious cycling/driving debates that are so beloved of page-view sluts, I must note that the Critical Mass ride (you know, random bicycle ride through downtown Vancouver to promote cycling that started off as a Public Dreams-style festival on wheels and has turned into an Independence Day-style battle between the two- and four-wheeled) has generated yet another media heyday.
The Province captured the angry zeitgeist with its “Critical Mess” headline and now every media outlet/random commentator is opining away. A couple of posts from the blogosphere — citycaucus and Councillor Geoff Meggs — give you a sense of the range (i.e. “it’s all Vision’s fault somehow” to “what an interesting piece of anthropology”)