Editor:
Once upon a time the magic automobile was invented.
Like the pumpkin turned into a chariot in the Cinderella story, it whisks us from here to there, as if in a fairy tale!
But now there are too many chariots, and our story is heading to an unhappy ending. Some drivers are clamouring for more roads, hoping all the other cars will disappear.
This kind of magical thinking doesn’t work though. We’ll eventually be back in the same situation once again. It’s time to rewrite our story. We have limited room to grow in the same way, here on our Coast.
We know we need to give up our old ways. And now our story includes a scary climate dragon trying to burn down our forests and melt our snow packs!
Like in a fairy tale, let’s use our imaginations. What other choices are there?
Maybe we could use our cars half as often?
Maybe have a bus going by our places every five or 10 minutes, or even stopping at our doors when texted?
Could we allow small private neighbourhood “Collectivo” mini busses?
Could we twin-lane some parts of the road between Gibsons and Sechelt, and let busses, trucks, and high occupancy cars only use them? Maybe B-Train busses with room for bikes inside? Park-and-ride bus stations? More separated bike and mini electric car lanes? It could be fun to think of other ways to get around.
Of course, we’d still need our cars for important trips. Well, have to go now. I’m designing an electric bike trailer to pull my drum kit from gig to gig. Wish there was a better shoulder on Lower Road, so I could safely use it! See you at the dance.
Graham Walker, Roberts Creek
