In “To a Louse,” Scots poet Robert Burns considers how we might be disabused of our “false notions” if we could only “see oursels as ithers see us.” I wonder how the 18th-century bard might be received if instead of composing his thoughts in volumes of verse, he posted them on the Facebook page “Sunshine Coast – Got Something on your mind?” After getting dressed up and down by our local citizens, he might reconsider what a powerful gift it would be to see ourselves through the eyes of others.
As a cyclist, I receive this “gift” every time I read local social media postings concerning cycling infrastructure and traffic calming. Indeed, the comments can be bracing. They can offer a glimpse of cyclists, however, that I don’t see otherwise. So, for my purpose here, I will dismount and look at these issues from the other side of the handlebars.
1. Cyclists should pay for bike lanes through bicycle licensing fees.
I see the line of thought here: drivers pay for roads through taxes on gas and insurance while cyclists ride free.
In fact, roads are mostly paid for through municipal taxes as well as federal transfers and grants (which come from general tax revenue). Bike lanes and traffic calming are often funded through grants as this kind of investment usually results in net savings. Add to this that most cyclists are also drivers: No one gets a free pass!
2. Bike lanes cause congestion.
This looks inarguable on the surface: creating bike lanes funnels traffic into less space, and slows it – double whammy! Yet, for a variety of reasons, including getting people out of cars and cyclists onto designated cycling routes while improving traffic flow, municipalities experience less congestion when they invest in infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists – without adding pavement, according to cyclingfallacies.com.
3. Cyclists make roads unsafe.
To make roads safe, the thinking goes, keep the flow of cars and people as simple and predictable as possible. Bicycles add a complicating factor that makes them “accidents waiting to happen,” according to one Facebook commenter. Add to this the brazen cyclist who rides on sidewalks then weaves between cars; this situation invites chaos. The facts tell a different story, however. Streets with bikes lanes are not only safer for cyclists, but for pedestrians and motorists too, according to a study out of Thunder Bay, Ont., cited on CBC.ca. As the number of cyclists on a street increases, everyone becomes more cautious and the number of collisions goes down.
4. Bike lanes are a solution in search of a problem.
Wherever bike lanes are slated for installation, the locals who will lose street parking will undoubtedly point out that no one cycles on their street anyway. “Exactly which problem is being solved here?” they will cry in unison. From the perspective of the residents’ front yards, it is a fair point.
When a neighbourhood lacks bike lanes, cyclists tend to disperse, taking any route that feels safest. Once the paint hits the pavement, so to speak, the cyclists show up. Routes are chosen for connectivity not for the number of cyclists using them. Also, the best practice is to keep bikes to secondary roads and away from traffic. A recent Vancouver Sun article pointed out that West 10th Avenue near Vancouver General once had almost no cycle traffic but it now logs half of a million trips per year.
After having undergone this thought experiment I’d like to report that comments on social media no longer bother me, though that isn’t completely true. I have realized, though, that there is some benefit to acknowledging the viewpoints of others. The gift then is to grasp the poetic perspective as well as the lousy one.
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Submitted by Nick Smith
Transportation Choices - Sunshine Coast
Director
