I’ll begin with a quote from Benjamin Franklin.
You’ve probably heard it a million times, but what the heck.
It goes like this: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except for death and taxes.”
Now a quote from yours truly.
It goes like this: “In this world of journalism, no story can be said to be certain to generate controversy and reader feedback as much as tales about cycling.”
Though stories about homelessness, mental health and drug addiction generate interest and controversy, cycling is an issue that gets people all cranked up. Or in high gear. Or unchained. Or, well, you get the idea.
And that interest is just wonderful, said the reporter who is glad to see people still read newspapers and get engaged in their city.
Anyway, it’s bike-to-work-week this week.
So with that in mind, I thought I’d share some comments from readers who filled up my in-box in recent weeks. They were prompted by a piece I wrote in this space that defined what a bicycle “trip” is and another story I wrote about the Vancouver Police Department issuing 733 tickets in four years to cyclists riding on sidewalks.
For brevity, I’ve edited and condensed what you’re about to read.
Here’s Henry Cussen on the city’s stats that estimated 100,000 bike trips per day were made in 2014.
“I would be very dubious about these figures. When city hall presented their case for the Point Grey bike lane, they claimed that the traffic count on Lower Point Grey (Balsam to Trafalgar) was 2,000 per day. Residents performed their own study and most days were less than 400 with peaks of 700 on a summer weekend. City hall redid the survey and confirmed the residents’ figures, blaming the discrepancy on a counter malfunction.”
Here’s Ross Mitchell on the same topic.
“I must admit I had the same question you have with the average 100,000 bike trips per day across the city. It is just another example where the average citizen is taken to be above average stupid. The other question I had was just how long the acting director of transportation and the acting general manager of engineering would remain acting if they did not present reports like this to their bosses.”
Here’s Roger Annis on cyclists riding on sidewalks.
“Until I see some statistics on bicycle-pedestrian collisions on sidewalks, I’m going to treat this story as a tempest in a teapot. I am a lifetime, experienced cyclist, not afraid of the road. I routinely use sidewalks when I feel a road is unsafe. OK, that’s not great and I don’t plan ahead to do that. I use the cycle routes whenever possible. But when I use a sidewalk, I slow to walking speed. And, of course, I would not do so on a busy sidewalk. I would dismount and walk. If the Vancouver region paid more attention to creating cycle routes, the issue of sidewalks would be moot.”
Here’s Virginia Richards on bicycle counts.
“In 2010, over a three-week period, I had a video camera recording bike lane traffic on the Burrard Bridge. I physically watched the video with a counter [clicker] in hand. My numbers, even including rush hours, and making those numbers for 24 hours were about a third of the City of Vancouver’s published counts for the same days!”
Yep, folks are cranked up.
But, hey, let’s all be careful out there on the roads and sidewalks, regardless of your mode of transportation. So far this week, I’ve used my car, walked a lot and taken transit. I’ll be commuting by bike Wednesday.
I know many of you are doing the same.
So, let’s all get along, eh.
@Howellings
