It was a glorious Easter weekend in Vancouver. On Saturday I made the most of the weather and spent the morning skiing on spring snow at Grouse Mountain, then came home and took my bike out for a cruise in the afternoon sunshine.
As I rode along the beach in shirtsleeves, I realized there are few places in the world where you can ski the slopes and cycle the sea wall in a single, sunny day without leaving the city limits.
This also got me thinking about how lucky cyclists are in Vancouver. I often hear laments that our city doesnt have the same kind of cycling infrastructure as, say, Portland or Amsterdam. Its true that Vancouver might not compare to the two places renowned for incorporating riders needs into the urban plan, but if you look at the figures were not doing too badly.
Vancouver currently has more than 400 kilometres of bike routes in the city, including the new separated routes to speed cyclists through the downtown core, and more than 300 traffic signals that feature cyclist push buttons.
Vancouverites are making the most of these features by taking more than 60,000 bike trips each day, according to city information. An estimated 3,500 cyclists (the equivalent of 65 to 75 full buses, according to the city) commute to the downtown area each morning. (More Vancouver cycling facts and figures are online at vancouver.ca/cycling.)
Im conscious of these figures after many years cycling in British cities (especially London) where I felt like I was taking my life in my hands every time I ventured onto the road on a bike. By contrast, cycling is well integrated in Vancouver.
There are plenty of impatient drivers (and inconsiderate cyclistsone of my pet peeves when driving are the cyclists who pedal down main routes like Broadway, blocking cars from passing, when theres a quiet bike route one block north on Eighth Avenue) but overall, drivers are aware of cyclists, and the infrastructure continues to improve each year.
Of course, I still have my cycling wishlist. Id love to see improvements to the area around Pacific and Burrard, where cyclists heading from the east side of downtown to the bridge have to tiptoe through a nasty section with no marked bike route where vehicles merge from several different directions.
I also think theres a need for a better cross-town route in the citys southwest. What about you? What would top your list of improvements to the current cycling network in Vancouver?
If theres a particular hot spot that bugs you or an area you think could benefit from a new bike route, email me at [email protected]. Ill feature the Vancouver cyclists wishlist in a future column.
Kay Cahill is a cyclist and librarian who believes bikes are for life, not just for commuting.
