Dear Editor:
The City of Vancouver said recently it wants our ideas to get drivers out of cars. Are they serious?
The city is loaded with tax-paying businesses that sell merchandise to consumers. These consumers usually put their purchases in the trunks of their cars. There are no real locking trunks on bikes, and I haven't seen many couples dressed to the nines going fine dining on a bicycle.
So what about taking a cab? The city won't increase taxi licenses to the same per-capita level as in other major urban centres. Public transit? It doesn't run 24/7 here as it does in Toronto.
What's left? Walking. OK, let's just walk home from Robson Street to Richmond.
Let's get serious here. The tax base for the city is the business and residential community. Throw the drivers with their money out of the city, and you will end up with empty buildings. Look at U.S. cities to understand what can happen. It is very easy to create ghost towns.
Our culture was created and is sustained by the transport of people and their personal goods. Stop them, and the economy suffers.
Give them a way to shop, entertain, transport their purchases and travel to and from venues when they are open, and you have a chance. Vancouver has a long way to go.
Leo Vanderbyl North Vancouver
