Congestion really sucks, doesnt it?
Like when youre trying to get from, say, Granville Island to Boundary and East First Avenue and it takes you anywhere from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in a car.
Then you hop on your bike one day and discover that you can make the same trip in, say, 30 minutes.
Argh!
Is this city always under construction?
I think it was that legendary writer/drunk Brendan Behan who once said about Toronto that it would be a nice city once its finished.
Behan, of course, was an Irishman prone to whiplash flippancy, as another typist put it. Not sure how he felt about congestion.
And because Behan is currently dead and not exactly available to respond to my questions about Vancouvers congestion problems, I consulted with the next best thing to an Irishman: a Scotsman.
Yes, a Scotsman named Gregor Robertson.
Maybe you heard the makers of the TomTom GPS used data collected from drivers to conclude that Vancouver is the most congested city in Canada. In fact, the company says Vancouver is the second worst congested city in North America behind Los Angeles.
Thats crazy.
I downloaded TomToms 12.4 megabyte congestion index and almost had my eyes explode with all the graphs, pie charts, maps and percentages.
The best I could glean from the section on Vancouver was that the delay per year with a 30-minute commute meant 87 extra hours in the car.
OK, thats really crazy.
So what does the bike-riding Scotsman, who also happens to be mayor of this city think about TomToms conclusions?
We have issues with traffic but nothing like L.A., nothing like Seattle down the I-5, Robertson said. I think all of us have been in other cities in North America where the traffic is horrendous. We certainly have some challenges, we need better transit to address those, particularly.
Yeah, but TomTom says otherwise?
The methodology of this study is questionable. Transportation experts have raised those concerns and anyone whos driven in different cities and compared it to Vancouver, that would be self-evident. But we can always improve the traffic situation we have here.
Toronto, by the way, ranked fifth and Montreal, fourth.
Note: That was pure whiplash flippancy when I wrote the next best thing to an Irishman was a Scotsman. Sorry about that. I really meant to say Welshman.
A joke, people.
Oh boy, now Im in real trouble.
Puck drop
Yes, hockey is back.
So I guess that means the Vancouver Canucks could be in the playoffs again.
Which means, undoubtedly, more talk of the Stanley Cup riot in 2011 and how to avoid another one.
I mention this now purely for the Vancouver Police Departments sake. Up until a deal was announced between the NHL and its players, the department was looking to save a fair chunk of cash on policing the playoffs.
In a VPD budget report that went before city council prior to the Canucks dismal playoff run last spring, cost estimates came in at $1,070,667.
Thats if the Canucks went to a Game 7 in every series, including the Stanley Cup Final round. But, as we fickle fans know, thats a big if.
Follow that astronaut
Im hardly the guy to recommend you sign on to Twitter or add more followers, but do yourself a favour and follow Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Where else can you, with one click, get daily photos from space. Interesting view of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland on Sunday.
Twitter.com/@Howellings
