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NPA councillor rescinds support for bike lane

October 6th, 2010 · 149 Comments

This out a couple of hours ago.

STATEMENT FROM NPA CITY COUNCILLOR SUZANNE ANTON

“No one who spoke to council on Tuesday expected to be a part of a Kangeroo council,” says Coun. Anton

“On Tuesday night at 11:38pm city council once again held a vote at the end of a marathon meeting that suited the agenda of the Mayor and his caucus more than it did Vancouver citizens, small business owners, or City staff.

“When the meeting concluded I was satisfied that two of my biggest concerns about the Hornby Street bike lane project were met. First, I was assured by the City’s Engineering Department that the design of the separated bike lane was the absolute best of all available options for Downtown Vancouver. Second, thanks to my amendment of the motion I understood that every best effort would be taken by the City to mitigate the impacts of this development upon Hornby Street residents, businesses and their customers.

“However, earlier today I discovered that a critical requirement of my support has not been met. I’ve learned that at 7:30am on the morning after council’s decision, crews and equipment began immediate work on the new Hornby Street bike lane. It’s clear to me from prepared signage and work plans that logistics for this project were not done overnight, and that staff was given direction to undertake this work weeks ago. Furthermore, I’ve learned that the road had already been marked in preparation for the work as early as Monday, a full day before the public meeting took place.

“Regardless of your views on the Hornby Street separated bike lane, no one who spoke to council on Tuesday expected to be a part of a Kangeroo council. It is a fundamental trust between citizens and their elected representatives that when we meet in council chambers that we are there to listen, deliberate and debate, and finally decide based upon the inputs we have received.

“It is crystal clear to me now that Tuesday’s council meeting was a mere formality, and pure political theatre. Businesses on Hornby Street cannot have faith that their concerns will be properly considered, nor can they have faith that this is a ‘trial’ project.

“I am therefore submitting a motion to rescind to the City Clerk, and withdrawing my support of this project. I will also request a full report from staff that explains how these preparations had been completed in time to stage work the morning after our vote.

“Thanks to the STIR projects, HEAT Shelters, and now this bike lane, Mayor Robertson and his colleagues have a well-earned reputation for being autocratic. With my decision I am hoping to send a clear message to council that we must listen to the people who elected us.”

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  • Richard

    @Bill McCreery

    You are conveniently forgetting that this is a trial and adjustments can be made along the way as issues occur. All concerns do not need to be addressed now as some of these concerns will prove to be unfounded.

    At the meeting, the city said they tried to deliver notices to all the buildings but there were some that they were unable to gain access to.

    And please, tone down the rhetoric, it is not helpful and does not help make your point.

  • rf

    “It is only common sense to ignore such a “by-law” late at night or early in the morning with no cars about.”

    And there we have it from Morry….

    So why should this rationale be different than that of a car, late at night or early in the morning? There’s no cars around. Why should you stop at a red light?

    It’s the cyclist sense of entitlement. That’s where the hate comes from.

    [Edited]

  • Richard

    @rf

    “It’s the cyclist sense of entitlement. That’s where the hate comes from.” You have got to be joking.

    Hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private money have be devoted over the past few decades to make it easy as possible for motorists to drive and park anywhere they wish. Now when just of bit of public space is being now devoted to bicycle routes, all the motorists who feel that this public space is their space that they are entitled, people like you are somehow complaining about “cyclist sense of entitlement”.

    Regarding the rules of the road, many motorists feel like they are entitled to break the law by constantly speeding on many roads. They use the lame excuse that it is safer to keep up with the flow of traffic. They even successfully lobbied against photo radar so they could continue to be entitled to break the law.

    The hate comes from people with anger management problems. These people, who are only a small portion of the people on the road, need to get treatment before they injure or kill someone else or themselves. Better yet, the police need to get this time bombs off the roads to protect all people who drive, cycle or walk.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ Rick 101.
    “…. this is a trial….” Really. My experience as an architect tells me you don’t jackhammer up streets, install rebar & pour concrete when you’re doing a ‘trial’. This entire show could be done quite satisfactorily with surface mounted fixtures if it really was a trial. But, given they’ve decided to spend $3.4 M [+50% over budget] it merely adds icing to the sham cake.

    My assessment re: contacting stakeholders stand. I’ll let readers decide.

    Please point out where my rhetoric needs to be toned down.

  • pacpost

    Hi Bill,

    First, it was: “In Vancouver neighbourhoods we have learned it is essential to openly consult with those affected by PROPOSED development BEFORE the straight lines are drawn.”

    Now, it’s: “It’s not “How much more consultation….”, it’s ‘how’.”

    You keep moving the target. That’s poor debating. When you decide on your point, and you want to stick to it, let me know.

    I’ll just say this: based on your description of the talk you had with City Engineering, I’d say they were very honest about the fact that changes would continue to be made as suggestions came in. That seems incredibly open-minded and fair.

    I have a hard time believing that every $3.2 million project in this city receives that amount of consulting and discussion.

  • pacpost

    @ Jason King

    “Can I ask a serious question that maybe Chris or someone could answer for me.”

    “…no need for snarky responses, I’m simply asking a question.”

    Then:

    “Perhaps one of you could attach a snowplow to the front of your bikes so we can ensure the lanes are usable.”

    You’re cracking me up, mate.

  • Jason King

    Pacpost….

    You’re right, fair point….couldn’t help myself.

    But I do think that those in favor of the bike lanes have become so set in their views that even pragmatic suggestions are ignored. I actually think that a Feb/March time line would have HELPED bike lane proponents, as it would mean completion closer to the time biking starts to “pick up”, thereby providing “positive” statistics right off the bat….it would have minimized the entire debate about the process that’s going on now, it would have relieved the fear of businesses going into their busiest season AND it might have avoided the necessity for 7am construction on Sundays and Holidays that is only going to further anger those on Horby.

    The alternate argument seems to be that it’s necessary to have them immediately because of the safety of cyclists. And because I think there are going to be even fewer cyclists on the road this winter than last (which means VERY few cyclists using the lanes) it seems to me a rather weak justification given the benefits of waiting.

    It’s a mute point…just pointing out something that makes absolutely no sense to me.

  • Glissando Remmy

    The Thought of The Day

    “More Bodies in here, than the Nobodies in the City Hall of Vancouver.”

    Lets set the record right, the population of Vancouver interested in local politics is in the same one digit percentile as the cycling population. 3% and climbing to… 4%! Leaving a propaganda site like this, or that of an opponent’s, in all fairness, it’s nauseating.

    It feels like coming out from inside one dark, humid, beer stunk basement bodega, after a night of a alcohol induced orgy, into a BBQ smelling back street of an inconspicuous city.

    The light coming from the full sun, at around midday, hits me like a ton of weed brownies rushed from the Cortes Island, for my full enjoyment.

    After a non eventful walk on a yet another downtown street whose name I don’t recognize, I start asking around for directions to the nearest pisser. Bladder, eh? No luck.

    What ‘Aufock’s going on in this city? Everyone walking by me avoids my blogger stare, plus I stink of controversy. I stop one lady, ‘Who’s the Mayor? Who’s taking care of this city? Where am I going to pee? And I’m not just saying that!?’

    She runs away. I see her approaching a cop doing his beat. His ‘beat’? Where am I, In a Charles Chaplin movie? I thought they are well over, doing that. Anyway. He approaches me in a gentle and loving manner, second only to that of a 300 pounds quarterback in heat, taking down an opponent. He stops abruptly and sniffs me. Smiles. He likes! My BO fragrance is good for business. His.
    ‘So, we started early, we were on a blog or two this morning, weren’t we?’ Sniffing. `Mmmmm, FB, CC, VO, AGT, VC, tz, tz ,tz, you never mix those, Sir. No one told you that before?’

    I look the constable in the eyes and say ’Officer, if you don’t point me out to the nearest crapper, I’m going to do it right here. Man, who’s the mayor of this shithole, what are his lieutenants doing? Does anybody in this city care about a human trying to urinate with dignity?’

    ‘Not if you are a ‘Cycloped’ (the new word for cyclists wearing their bikes up theirs) they got their bike lanes, see?’ showing me the new separated bike lanes, painted pale yellow. ‘You can do it in there, hide behind those lane separating panels. And, don’t worry, not too many bikes on those bike lanes either. By the way, I heard the Mayor and his Cheerleading Council are off to Paris, for the Green Pisser Convention. I don’t know about you, but where I’m from, the Green Pisser is what we’ve called the Bush. Have a good day Sir!‘

    The Officer leaves me there, takes a few steps, stops, then turns around in a Lieutenant Columbo afterthought stance, and says to me:

    ‘The Mayor’s name, I can’t pinpointed out, but it rhymes with ‘rick’ or ‘mick’, everyone in my unit calls him that. Now go get take care of that…’
    My yellow mixes perfectly with the bike lane’s pale yellow. A match made in Heaven.

    You know what they say; this is what you get when nobody up there loves you…’rick’ or ‘mick’ or something like that.

    We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.

  • Morven

    @ pacpost # 94

    I am grateful for your links.

    And as a result, I am quite prepared to recognize that there is a combination of cycle education and enforcement that is the core of a safety enforcement and deterrence policy.

    Granted not all road users, vehicle, cycle or pedestrian are amendable to behavioural change but I will concede that the essential elements are there. Whether the deterrents are scaled appropriately is a different matter and not relevant here.
    -30-

  • Tessa

    [Edited, comments refer to posts that have been removed.]

    As for Jason King’s question: I can’t speak for City Hall, but think it’s extremely important it be done by winter, specifically because everyone talks about how cycling drops off in the winter, and yes, obviously it does. It’s important that we have some sort of numbers for winter to compare to previous winters, to see how bike lanes affect winter cycling numbers, on both good days and bad. I should note, however, I’ve biked in snow and in rain and I prefer snow, as long as it’s light, so maybe we should hope for that. But by completing it now, we’ll have detailed bike count data before the next election for all seasons, not just two seasons.

    I also agree that safety is an important factor, and reason to get the lane in sooner. As was mentioned previously, collisions are more likely in the dark (though of course people cycling should have lights, and people driving should always be on the lookout for others). Even if there’s fewer overall cyclists, that’s not a bad reason to implement it quicker.

    I agree with you on one thing, though. Waiting for March would have been better politics, for sure. I just don’t think it’s better policy.

  • Norman

    She’s right, of course. I have seen projects in my own neighbourhood go ahead to the stage where they started “consultation” after it was too late for input. First the decision is made, then the so-called consultation starts. This isn’t about bike lanes, at least not from my perspective. It’s about meaningful consultation.

  • A.E.

    Tessa, I’ve read your posts before and I know you get touchy when it’s suggested that you are on the inside, but you constantly talk like you are, maybe it’s unintentional, or maybe it’s a slip. What jumped out at me was your use of “we’ll” have detailed count data; not that there will be detailed counts; but “we’ll” – – -those who are looking to collect numbers. You also referenced the next election. Why is it important to have this information BEFORE the next election????

    “But by completing it now, we’ll have detailed bike count data before the next election for all seasons, not just two seasons.”

    Just observations from the outside.

  • spartikus

    Once upon a time I was riding on Burrard, toward the bridge. As I approached Davie, which was a green light in my favour, a brown 1970s Mercedes pulled up so that it was driving adjacent me. My eyes turned left, the driver’s eyes turned right. Our eyes met. The driver gave a half smile and pulled forward. Not past me, mind you, but so my front tire was level with the trunk of his car. As we moved into the Davie-Burrard intersection, he turned right, onto Davie. I flew over his hood…how could I know he was turning right, he was not past me, and even if had he had used his turning signal there was no physical way I could have seen it.

    I flew over his truck onto my back in the middle of the intersection. Dazed, bleeding, in a blur I sensed a crowd gather around me. I looked up down Davie, and there he was looking back at me in his rear-view mirror – shaken, I think, worried. Worried he’d get caught. With a screech of tires he was off like a bullet.

    Licensed, insured, that was no deterrant.

    Dazed, injured, I didn’t have the state of mind to get the licence number.

    But I did and do have the self-control not to tar all motor vehicle drivers as monsters, as this driver clearly was in my opinion. I try to make my point without resorting to ancedotes such as these.

    [Edited, refers to posts that have been removed]

  • pacpost

    Jason King and Morven,

    Thanks for the comments. Will respond to both in one go.

    JK: Sure, as Tessa points out, politically it may well have made more sense to get it ready in the early spring. But that’s a debate about optics, and would very likely have left the council open to yet more criticism about playing the political game.

    There’s also the issue of Vancouver’s 3 year term. For all the hullabaloo about the speed of the construction of the bike lanes, at the end of Vision’s term, the city will have three protected lanes: Burrard Bridge, Dunsmuir Viaduct and Street, and Hornby. Three lanes in three years. Seems like a measured approach to me.

    From the perspective of the cyclists who will be using Hornby, the earlier the better. Unless a person cycles, they can’t understand the constant fear cyclists have of getting doored. The way the painted lines have been laid out in most cases, as on Hornby, cyclists are placed directly in the zone liable to get them doored. To avoid that, the more aware cyclists hug the outer line, only to hinder the passage of cars in the adjacent lane.

    As Tessa concludes, from a policy perspective, it makes sense to “just do it.”

    Morven: Thanks. I agree with cycle education. I cycle every day, and I see the need.

    That said, I think there’s something that needs to be understood about our current situation in Vancouver and in North America generally.

    In Denmark, Holland and Germany, most people sees cyclists as normal members of every day society. Men and women cycle to work in business attire, moms and dads accompany their children to school on bikes, senior citizens go about their daily errands on bicycles. Cycling is a fully mainstream culture (with up to 50% of the population using a bicycle on a daily basis), with the sense of responsibility and duties that that entails.

    In North America, up until very recently, cycling was basically split up into a few fringe sub-cultures. You’ve got the bike couriers, who have adapted to the chaos and rush of downtown streets. You’ve got the racers (amateur or otherwise), with their lightweight bikes capable of 50 km/h, able to blend in with most non-highway traffic due to their higher speeds. And then you had the hard-core commuters, cycling to work despite the lack of proper infrastructure. Each of these groups/tribes/clubs regards itself as somehow apart, different from the mainstream.

    This is reflected in the fact that most North Americans see cycling as either a hobby (i.e., for kids, or for the leisurely weekend ride around an off-street recreational bike path like the seawall), or the domain of a few fringe groups. It isn’t seen as part of mainstream culture, it doesn’t have the respect.

    This is already a very long post. I’ll just end with this: as the proper infrastructure gets built, as cycling continues its change from a fringe to a mainstream culture, the attitudes and behaviours of most cyclists will change. Just like in the northern European countries.

    Education is a part of it, but mainstream acceptability will do far more to change attitudes and behaviours. Not overnight, but things will change.

  • pacpost

    @ CK

    Well said. Thank you.

  • Bill McCreery

    @ pp 106.

    “You keep moving the target. That’s poor debating. When you decide on your point, and you want to stick to it, let me know.”

    Please tell me what is inconsistent between:

    “…. openly consult with those affected by PROPOSED development BEFORE the straight lines are drawn.” &,

    “Now, it’s: “It’s not “How much more consultation….”, it’s ‘how’.”

    My reply is “how” includes ‘when’. Please be more specific, how are these “moving targets” or poor debating? Might I suggest you buy mirror.

    “…. changes would continue to be made as suggestions came in”. Not sure about “open-minded and fair”, that suggests some sort of adversarial context. In fact it is the job of a ‘civil’ servant to be impartial, truthful & present the information as it is. She did do that & I respect her for it & told her so.

    The real issue here is why was it necessary to be making changes right to to the ‘court house steps’? This simply highlights the inappropriateness of the Vision ram it through process. Among other shortcomings it illustrates the difficulty concerned stakeholders like myself have in keeping up with what is in fact or not being proposed. And, speaking of “moving targets”…….

  • Don Buchanan

    The behaviour of Vancouver’s street users can accurately be described as controlled chaos. While convenient, it is factually incorrect for users of one mode to simply blame another mode – the focus needs to be on creating safer conditions for all modes.

    According to a 2004 Ontario study, the average total social cost of a pedestrian injury is over $400,000, which includes the cost of healthcare, first responders, property damage, rehabilitation, out of pocket expenses, lifetime loss of income, and so forth. I imagine the costs for cyclist injuries would be similar.

    Using methodology developed and approved by injury researchers and the City’s Engineering Department, I’d like to once again share a few stats from the Downtown Eastside Pedestrian Safety Project. http://pedestriansafety.vandu.org/blog/ for some reason you need to right click on the links to download the articles.

    The project examined whether or not the overall infraction volumes and infraction rates were higher in the DTES than other non-hotspot locations. In this regard the project collected further midblock data on Burrard Street between Georgia and Dunsmuir for comparison with Hastings Street.

    Pedestrian infractions – both in total number and rate – were much higher at this Burrard Street location than at any of the injury hotspots in the Downtown Eastside. Overall, approximately 60-70% of pedestrians on Burrard Street committed an infraction when crossing the street, varying by the time of day and day of week. Infractions included not staying within the painted lines of the crosswalk, stepping off the curb against the flashing or solid hand signal, and jaywalking. In comparison, approximately 30-60% of pedestrians on Hastings Street committed an infraction when crossing the street, varying by location, the time of day, and day of week.

    On Hastings Street, the tally of vehicle drivers entering the intersection on a yellow or red light is between 3% and 17.8%. The red+yellow light infraction rate is highest in the evening and the average across sites is just under 9%. The highest red light infraction rate was observed on a Friday evening after 9:00 pm at 5.2% of vehicles.

    These two examples speak to the need for a focus on injury reduction. It has been proven that the best way to decrease the injury rate for cyclists is to increase the number of cyclists – others on this blog have provided the links.

    A groundbreaking New York City pedestrian injury study found that streets with cycling lanes not only greatly increase the number of cyclists, and hence reduced their injury rate, they also resulted in a 40% reduction in pedestrian deaths.

    http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/pedsafetyreport.shtml
    from page 26
    One of DOT’s most ambitious projects in recent years
    is the dramatic expansion of the bicycle network,
    building 200 miles of new bike lanes between 2006
    and 2009. This expansion has not only increased safety
    and access for bicyclists, but has improved safety
    for pedestrians as well. Controlling for other factors,
    pedestrian KSI crashes on streets with bike lanes were
    ~40% less deadly as crashes on other streets. The
    installation of bike lanes usually involves a narrowing of
    the motor vehicle portion of the roadway and indicates
    to drivers that they need to watch for other road users.
    These changes have a traffic calming effect, lowering
    speeds and increasing driver attention.

  • Don Buchanan

    A quick clarification on the New York quote.

    DOT = Department of Transportation (their Engineering department folks who deal with transportation).

    KSI = killed and seriously injured, a rating system used by injury researchers that would exclude small things like loosing one’s toenail after riding a bike too close and then scraping the curb while wearing flip flops, something I did as a child and have never done since 😉

  • pacpost

    @ AGT

    Until last week’s Sun article covering some of Vancouver’s fringe “political” blogs, I’d never heard of you. I therefore have no idea what you were on about in the first half of your comment.

    That said: want to go for a bike ride sometime? Could be fun…just leave the baseball bat at home.

  • Mr Archive

    @RF: I think you missed the gist. The comment was bout Pedestrians. No sense of entitlement by cyclists can be deduced from that statement.

    As for cars: weighing well over 2000lbs an automobile can never be allowed to use discretion as the adverse effect of such dis-regard for the red light has the potential for dire consequences. And a car is not as nimble.

  • Frances Bula

    For those following this link and those just catching up, I have edited out some comments by a few posters in an effort to de-escalate the combativeness here.

    I’ve also talked (by email) with the two main parties involved. They don’t have a problem with the comments staying up and feel that it’s all part of the healthy debate process. However, those comments do involve allegations of criminal behaviour and threats, neither of which I wish to be in the middle of.

    For those who are unaware of how this blog works, people who have a long record of posting unproblematic comments can post to this site without having to go through any moderation. So, if I am away or not able to access the Internet, those comments will appear and stay up until I am able to review them.

    As I’ve said before, my policy is to allow relatively free speech on this blog. I do not edit posts in the way that letters to a newspaper are edited. I do remove comments that are libellous and my stated policy is that, although people can be mean, nasty and critical about others, they have to come up with something more intelligent and thought out than “she’s a commie liar” or “he’s a rich jerk who’s never had to do a day of work in his life.”

  • Mr Archive

    We had an interesting dinner conversation last night with regards to the costs of the bike lanes.
    One side said since it costs 4$million to build the lanes there should be a tax on cyclists, and that they should help pay the costs.
    On the other side there is the argument that cars do not help pay for city roads and maintenance of them.
    As I understand it: Our ICBC insurance costs and other automobile registration costs go for Auto Insurance only and that ICBC doesn’t share revenues with municipalities so that they can maintain roads. Is this correct?

    Who does pay for Roads and Road maintenance costs? What is that Budget.

  • Richard

    @Mr Archive
    In municipalities, roads and road maintenance is paid for through property taxes.

  • Roger Kemble

    @ Frances . . .

    I must say I was somewhat taken aback by the persistent recurrent, petty hostility and I am no slouch when it comes to bad mouthing.

    “As I’ve said before, my policy is to allow relatively free speech on this blog.” Please do not change your policy though.

    We are all adults and can see infantile petulance when we see it: we just tune out.

  • Mr Archive

    @ Richard :
    “In municipalities, roads and road maintenance is paid for through property taxes.”

    Thanks. So the argument that cyclists are not “paying their way” is a very mis-guided one.

    Motorists have no problem in demanding well paved well lit roads, but woe to the cyclists who might request a special bike lane or two.

  • Morven

    @ Mr Archive # 125

    A recurring proposal by TransLink is a toll on bridge crossings to finance transit expansion in the region. Whether the bridge tolls ever become a reality is another matter but if tolls are ever imposed, we may expect arguments to be made both for an against the inclusion of cyclists.
    -30-

  • Roger Kemble

    “Thanks. So the argument that cyclists are not “paying their way” is a very mis-guided one.”

    Cyclists account for 3% of road traffic while, presumably motorists, busses, and commercial traffic account for 97% of road traffic.

    Pedestrians should account for 100% of sidewalk traffic although they are being, evidently, usurped by cyclists.

    As of now cyclists have won a great victory: Burrard Bridge, Howe, Dunsmuir streets and probably more to come.

    So at that cyclists apparently are getting a free ride . . . although I doubt very much we will hear the last of them . . .

  • Chris Keam

    “As of now cyclists have won a great victory: Burrard Bridge, Howe, Dunsmuir streets and probably more to come.”

    That three protected lanes represents a great victory at a time when climate, obesity, and land use issues dominate the news is occasion for a wry shaking of the head at our collective intransigence regarding low-cost attempts to address all three challenges.

  • bob dylan

    Frances,
    It saddens me that you have removed/edited certain posts in this thread.
    I’m confused why the apology from one poster was removed and yet in another of this same persons post you have chosen to leave in the reference to assaults, see post # 89, and another # 119 other posters initials are left in. I think leaving the apology would have made the situation better… now it just appears to me, that there is a bias in your decision to edit. I do realize that it is your blog, but I read the apology and felt it was sincere. Confused by your decision.

  • Frances Bula

    @Bob Dylan. Yes, the apology was very sincere and I thought it was an admirable attempt to de-escalate the situation. However, that would mean, in fairness, having to leave up everything in the thread, both before and after, which I and many other people thought was getting out of hand. If I left in any references to assaults, it was by mistake. I thought I caught them all.

  • bob dylan

    Thanks for the explanation Frances.

    Will you be re-editing the posts, I think in fairness the persons initials should be removed. Otherwise it appears a little too obvious. IMO

    Have a Happy Turkey Day or Tofurky Day if you are vegetarian 🙂

  • Sean

    @Mr. Archive #122

    The Vancouver Sun recently ran an article called “Bikes vs. cars: Who pays their fair share?” You can read it here:

    http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=186543e6-149d-46dc-85e8-316559a172e1&k=83730

    Their conclusion: “People who don’t drive much — including most true bike zealots — significantly subsidize those who drive a lot.”

  • Bill

    Chris – Have you factored in the costs of an additional 100 car accidents on the Burrard street bridge into your “low cost attempts to address all three challenges”?

  • IanS

    @Bill #133,

    Where do those figures come from? Is there some before / after accident statistics available for the Burrard Bridge?

  • Chris Keam

    No, I haven’t. Perhaps you could point out some examples of accident costs being incorporated into regular road construction so we can all get an indication of how costs or savings are included in the road-building costs for other projects?

  • Bill

    @Ian,

    The figures come from ICBC – http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/crashes+have+spiked+Burrard+Bridge+since+bike+lane+installed/3649719/story.html

    @Chris,

    Let me rephrase – do you consider the additional 100 car accidents as a reasonable price to pay for the impact the bicycle lanes have on climate, obesity and land use?

  • spartikus

    Where do those figures come from? Is there some before / after accident statistics available for the Burrard Bridge?

    The numbers likely come from an October 9th article in The Province “Car crashes have spiked on Burrard Bridge since bike lane installed”

    Relevant excerpt:

    According to the ICBC data, the most dramatic spikes occurred in July and August 2009, with the number of reported crashes over those two months — 60 — increasing six-fold compared to just 10 crashes in the same two months of 2008.

    Twice as many car crashes — 140 — were reported last year over a six-month period from July to December as in the same period in 2008.

    However, while numbers for 2010 are only available until June, it appears the divide is beginning to narrow. From January until June, there have been 90 crashes compared to 65 over the same period in 2009.

    The ICBC report is not public as far as I can see. I’ve emailed them for a copy. On Sept 24th, the VSun released it’s annual “Worst intersections” feature. A map was included.

    According to this, the accident rate for the Burrard Bridge north intersection is as follows:

    2005 – 147
    2006 – 131
    2007- 166
    2008 – 150
    2009- 194

    Questions I might ask are “What defines a crash” and “Do accident rates typically spike after traffic pattern changes”.

  • Chris Keam

    “do you consider the additional 100 car accidents as a reasonable price to pay for the impact the bicycle lanes have on climate, obesity and land use?”

    I don’t know the cost or nature of the crashes so I can’t answer the question. A two month spike in fender benders, or serious crashes involving injury? Two very different scenarios. I would note that the ‘spike’ is now coming down significantly. It appears it was a reaction to traffic pattern changes, which according to the TV report I saw, was considered a natural albeit unfortunate occurrence.

  • IanS

    @Bill #136,

    Thanks. Very interesting.

    I haven’t seen the ICBC statistics, so I have no idea whether the Province report is accurate. However, given the dearth of data (at least, as far as I am aware) suggesting the bridge has become safer for anyone since installation of the bike lanes, the ICBC data, if accurately reported, would go a long way to showing that the bridge has become less safe since installation of the bike lane.

    (And, of course, by “safe”, I mean less susceptible to accidents of any kind.)

  • Richard

    @Bill

    The intersection was bad before the bike lane was installed and it obviously needed improving for everyone’s safety. Now that the lane configuration for the bridge has been decided, the city should now work on a new design for the intersection that is better for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. One option would be to normalize the intersection getting rid of the right turn slip lane and have two right turn lanes that are signalized.

  • spartikus

    I have received a PDF from ICBC with a more detailed breakdown of accidents on the north end of Burrard Bridge. (I’m waiting for permission to post it to my blog). I was told this is the same document used as the basis of The Province’s article.

    Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5.

    With that in mind, there was a jump from 5 accidents in both July and August of 2008 to 30 in the same months of 2009.

    But I can also say that the July and August of 2008 appears to have experienced a particularly low number of crashes compared to past years. In 2007, there were 10 and 25 crashes respectively.

  • IanS

    I look forward to seeing the actual numbers.

  • Tessa

    A.E. – I just find it pretty absurd, a sort of tar the poster as having a conflict of interst rather than have the guts to address the ideas. And yes, we, as in the public, will have good data a year from now and then we, as in the public, get to make a decision. Twisting things as usual, hmm?

    Still, I guess I should be grateful for not having my life threatened.

    I would also agree the north end intersection needs work, and I like the idea of signalized right turn. But the data hardly precludes having a bike lane.

  • spartikus

    Ah well…in addition to being marked “confidential” it’s marked for “external use”. I’ll just post it anyway.

  • IanS

    Thanks for posting that Spartikus.

    It looks like yet another case where the data has been misrepresented or, at least, exaggerated. IMO, this only reinforces my view as to the importance of seeing the actual data, as opposed to relying on pronouncements by the press and politicians.

    As for the ICBC data, it’s pretty thin gruel as far as drawing any conclusions regarding safety on the Bridge since the bike lane was installed. To my eye, it looks like there was a spike in accidents immediately after the lane was installed, but that’s it. After September 2009, the accident rate seems to drift back down to more or less normal. It doesn’t help that the numbers are rounded.

    Having said all that, this chart is, as far as I know, the ONLY data available reflecting safety on the bridge since installation of the bike lane. So, while it may be thin, the only available data seems to indicate that the bike lane resulted in a reduction in safety on the bridge for two or three months after installation, after which it had no effect.

    Of course, that is subject to additional data becoming available.

  • voony

    From the map, http://geocommons.com/maps/22280 ,
    it looks there is overall no increase of causalities on Burrard ave, since the increase at burrard bridge is compensated by a decrease on the rest of the avenue…and the problem at Burrard bridge is probably due to the right turn from Pacific to Burrard…something then relatively easy to fix…

  • IanS

    @Voony #146,

    That’s a neat map. 🙂 Do you know where those figures come from?

    Unfortunately, without being able to break the numbers down by month, it’s difficult to draw any real conclusions at this point.

    The overall number of accidents and injuries at the Burrard / Pacific intersection appears to have gone up in 2009, which seems sort of consistent with the ICBC data, but there’s no way to tell whether that occurred before of after installation of the bike lane.

  • spartikus

    The figures from the VSun geocommons map also come from ICBC.

  • IanS

    Heh.. well, that would explain the consistency then. 🙂

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