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Give us safe bike routes so that EVERYONE can cycle

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AvatarThis is Marj and Dennis, two dedicated cyclists we met on the Lochside Trail on Vancouver Island. A retired couple living in Sidney on Vancouver Island, they cycle the Lochside Trail every day for exercise, and also use their trikes for shopping trips. The Lochside Trail is clearly marked and relatively safe, making it an ideal cycling route.

Marg and Dennis on the Lochside Trail Vancouver Island - safe bike routes
Marg and Dennis on the Lochside Trail Vancouver Island. This route is relatively safe for all ages and abilities in many sections, although not all.

Every time we cycle the Lochside Trail we see this couple – they seem to always be out there. They are a lucky couple to be living in an area with such great cycle trails that they can cycle in relative safety, despite their relative slowness. Both Dennis and Marj glow with the vitality that comes from cycling in the fresh air, in beautiful surroundings beside the Strait of Georgia.

I wish my own mother could cycle, but she could never negotiate the busy, unfriendly roads that lie between us and the nearest safe bike route in New Westminster.

Related popular content: 3 Reasons why we Need Separated Bike Lanes

We need safe bike routes in every city, so that many more seniors (and children) can cycle in safety. All the money spent on cycling infrastructure would be more than made up by the money saved in the healthcare system if more people could safely exercise every day.

Marj and Dennis are an inspiring couple, cycling every day to stay fit. I look forward to the day when couples like them are a common sight, even in our biggest, busiest cities.

The last few years in Vancouver have seen some impressive improvements, notably in downtown Vancouver on Hornby and Dunsmuir Streets.

Hornby Street before and after it got separated bike lanes - which looks safer?
Hornby Street before and after Vision Vancouver approved separated bike lanes – which looks more pleasant? Which looks safer? I work on this street, and I now see far more cyclists, far more women cyclists – and I have even seen children cycling in central Vancouver! What a difference safe infrastructure makes!

I now see people of all ages cycling in downtown Vancouver. It’s still not safe enough to be the norm, but the cycling infrastructure in Vancouver has improved enough that I do more and more see sights such as this – parents transporting their children on bikes in a major city.

And here's another photo of a mom with two little kids on a separate bike lane on Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver. To me it is just painfully obvious that these little children need to be kept separate from cars that could kill them. And the research supports me - separate bike lanes are a WHOLE lot safer than mixing up bikes and cars
Here’s a mom with two little kids on a separate bike lane on Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver. To me it is just painfully obvious that these little children need to be kept separate from cars that could kill them. And the research supports me – separate bike lanes are a WHOLE lot safer than mixing up bikes and cars.
Families can now cycle in downtown Vancouver, thanks to the relative safety provided by separated bike lanes
Families can now cycle in downtown Vancouver, thanks to the relative safety provided by separated bike lanes
Here's a family from Brazil, on rented bikes. I met them as they set out on Vancouver's separated bike lane on Hornby Street. This would NEVER have happened before Vision Vancouver pushed through the safer, separated bike lanes
Here’s a family from Brazil, on rented bikes. I met them as they set out on Vancouver’s separated bike lane on Hornby Street. This would NEVER have happened before Vision Vancouver pushed through the safer, separated bike lanes

In fact, the last few years have seen impressive improvements in cycling infrastructure all around the world, such as in London, where they are building bike superhighways.

In London, architect Norman Foster has unveiled the concept for an urban cyclist’s dream: a car-free stretch of elevated highway made especially for biking. The SkyCycle, which you would pay to access with the city’s Oyster farecard, is designed to span more than 130 miles running above suburban rail lines throughout the city. Photograph Courtesy of Foster + Partners, from this web page about bike superhighways.
In London, architect Norman Foster has unveiled the concept for an urban cyclist’s dream: a car-free stretch of elevated highway made especially for biking. The SkyCycle, which you would pay to access with the city’s Oyster fare card, is designed to span more than 130 miles running above suburban rail lines throughout the city. Photograph Courtesy of Foster + Partners, from this web page about bike superhighways.
There are many areas of London where cycling is unsafe. Support for bike superhighways has been galvanized by the death of a 26-year-old woman cycling on one of the proposed cycling routes.
There are many areas of London where cycling is unsafe. Support for bike superhighways has been galvanized by the death of a 26-year-old woman cycling on one of the proposed cycling routes.

But we still have a long way to go. Still, I am hopeful that this will be the century when we create the same level of cycling infrastructure that we created for cars in the 20th century! In this regard, I am not willing to settle for anything less than the separate, high quality bike lanes one sees all over the Netherlands. We cyclists should not be content with a little bit of paint on the road.

A little bit of paint on the street does NOT magically protect cyclists!

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It’s up to us to make it happen. It does not happen by accident. If you live in BC, you can help to make it happen by signing the petition for more cycling infrastructure here. Wherever you live, there are ways to make it happen!

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