THE City of North Vancouver is looking at a number of measures to make cycling around the city safer and more appealing, but advocates are calling for even bigger plans.
Council was set to vote Monday night on a plan that would lower speed limits on roads with bike lanes, and allow for cyclist-controlled intersections at busy streets to help them get across safely.
Those ideas are certainly helpful and welcome, according to a delegation from HUB, a Lower Mainland cycling advocacy group. But HUB member Heather Drugge pleaded for AAA cycling infrastructure that could accommodate "all ages and abilities," not just the spandex-clad keeners who are not afraid to mix it up with cars and buses.
The strategy to get more people onto bikes now is simple, they argued: "Study after study has shown that people don't ride, not because they're too old, not because of hills or because they're lazy. People don't ride because they're afraid," said Drugge.
"If we built more cycling facilities that can accommodate people ages eight to 80, there would be a large lift in ridership."
AAA infrastructure typically means bike routes that are separated from vehicle traffic, either by some type of barrier or by geography.
The biggest wants among city cyclists for AAA bike lanes are Chesterfield Avenue, Marine Drive and Esplanade, all of which have painted bike lanes on busy thoroughfares that connect important locations in the city.
There is, of course, a higher cost for the AAA infrastructure, Drugge admitted, but the more the city invests, the better payout it can expect, she said.
"Isn't it penny-wise and pound-foolish for us to spend $50,000 to $100,000 on painted bike lanes, which will not encourage more cyclists? It makes more sense to save up our hundreds of thousands of dollars to get enough money to built cycling facilities that will actually attract new riders," she said.
The city has a goal of having 15 per cent of trips less than eight kilometres be done on bike by 2040. The last time that amount was calculated in 2008, that number was only one per cent.
Council members were amenable to exploring HUB's suggestions as part of the city's Bicycle Master Plan.
On the track of increasing bicycle ridership, Mayor Darrell Mussatto asked Drugge how she felt about B.C.'s mandatory helmet law for cyclists.
Drugge had a surprising answer. "I think helmets save lives. I don't think they should be mandated by public bodies. I think that's something that should be really more about education than it should be about the law," she said.
Mussatto was sympathetic to the view. "I'm an ex-paramedic of more than 25 years and I think the helmet bylaw has some challenges. I think it discourages a lot of people from riding. There's a negative benefit to that because you don't get the healthy activity.
"Its very difficult for bike share programs . . . ," he said. "In very few of (the crashes) would a helmet have made much of a difference. It was always broken arms or scrapes and such. I think if we concentrate on much more accessible AAA bike lanes that will make people feel safe, like they have all over Europe and many parts of North America, I think we'd resolve a lot of those interactions between cars and bicycles."
Mussatto acknowledged, the challenges of adding space dedicated for bikes at the expense of spaces where people are used to driving or parking. For that, Mussatto said the city would need creative solutions like allowing parking in laneways to free up more space for cycling lanes on the road.
At the same time city council was considering the matter, the Vancouver Park Board was voting to investigate temporary and long-term measures to separate the Stanley Park Causeway from the sidewalk/ bicycle path that runs alongside it.
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