Recent polls by Business in Vancouver newspaper show that 59% of business leaders disapprove of mayor Robertson's administration, up dramatically from the 36% disapproval rate in 2009.
Recent news of the total failure of the new bike lanes on Dunsmuir and Hornby street to increase bike usage in the city, despite efforts to encourage more green transportation as part of the mayor's goal to make Vancouver the greenest city on the planet, have not helped his credibility or the support for his Vision party agenda.
Some businesses on these 2 streets say they are losing tens of thousands of dollars per month in sales since the new lanes were implemented. The fact that business owners were not consulted and the plans for them were in place before any council debate took place did not help the mayor's cause.
When the true cost of the Olympic Village real estate fiasco become known his popularity and that of Vision party members like Geoff Meggs can only fall further.
If Mayor Robertson and the Vision team lose the next civic election what happens to the goal of making Vancouver the greenest city on the planet?
Many think this grandiose statement is just a copy of Premier Campbell when he promised to reduce the province's GHG emissions by 33% by 2020. The provinces GHG emissions are still rising.
Does the mayor really think that just creating new bike lanes is all that's required to change commuting habits and convince thousands of drivers to abandon their cars?
What about something more radical like free parking for electric cars?
Why are city owned trucks not converting to cleaner natural gas instead of diesel to reduce CO2 and particulate emissions?
Perhaps some sort of property tax break for homes and buildings that use geothermal heat pumps for there heating and cooling?
Making a city greener is more than just bike lanes and transportation, the city has a growing garbage problem, in a few years some 3 million tons per year will be generated in the lower mainland and about 70% currently is being incinerated or trucked to a landfill. We need to find a better solution than a bigger incinerator which is the only option discussed so far.
Comments
Bike lanes is probably the stupidest and most irresponsible thing the City has done in years, and somebody should pay for this mess.
Criticizing the bike lanes is probably the stupidest and most irresponsible thing that one could do considering the Burrard bridge lane increased ridership by 300% and the Dunsmuir lane increased it by 1000%.
We have to give the lanes more time especially since the Hornby lane has only been open for about 2 months. Come summer time it will be obvious how successful the lanes are.
The writer obviously doesn't use public transit as he would have seen the huge campaign to not buy junk over christmas. He is not in support of cycling so it is easy to presume he doesn't cycle. So why is this write given the opportunity to spew out divisive rhetoric when he doesn't have a clue about what he is talking about.
Vancouver residents are afraid of change and it is going to take time for the bike lanes to prove the benefit to the city. It would be a service to the city at large if the Examiner didn't take easy pot shots at the seemingly vulnerable residents of the city that are cycling.
We are one community and the cycling infrastructure is for everyone to use. People that are afraid of cycling in traffic need the time and opportunity to try the segregated bike lanes in the city for themselves and see how safe and encouraging they are.
The people that are presently cycling need to step up and connect with their neighbours and help them get started. The time for whining and demonizing has passed.
There is no Us vs Them. There is only Us and we need to work together. We all agree that Pollution Sucks and isn't necessary. Vancouver is a beautiful place and lets use the example of larger cities to see what not to do.
The change isn't like what ignorant writers like this guy portray.
If you haven't tried the bike lanes yet, now is the time. It will be a revelation to your transportation needs. If you cycle already help a neighbour.
I will be writing more about biking in Vancouver because it is still a sensitive issue. Perhaps what is needed is more discussion and some suggestions as to a solution that would make everyone happy. I believe some protection for bikers is needed, my former dentist died riding his bike, even though he had a helmet. I do take transit as I do not own a car.
Look.. the bike lanes and the parking for bikes are the early steps in a plan to eliminate the car in downtown Vancouver 1. by eliminating places for cars to park and 2. by gradually eliminating places for cars to comfortably drive. That is the plan. You can read about this stuff elsewhere (Green Metropolis by David Owen.. Hell you didnt think Gregor thought all this crap up himself did ya?). Bike lanes are but a political tool being jammed into the heart of Vancouver to draw a line in the sand and to exacerbate and manufacture automobile congestion so as to jusify more bike lanes. "Get them out of their cars' is the rallying cry as if that would result in anything beneficial. Now I actually dont care if people want to ride bikes to work instead of transit or instead of driving. I don't figure it is my business, but when many millions are being spent to build bike lanes that are, in fact, EMPTY of TRAVELLERS ( no I dont call a bike a minute a sucesss nor is 2 bikes a minute reason for celebration even if it is a percentage improvement over last year) then it dawns on me that this is really not about transportation of people and goods any more. It is holy work. And that just ticks me off no end.
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