Despite the real-world implications of our outdated laws and regulations, it’s not what’s keeps most people up at night. It’s the daily grind. Getting around and paying the bills. And for some people, an extra thousand bucks in their pocket can make a big difference in their decision to get rid of an internal combustion engine for their personal mobility.
Read MoreIn a recent poll, 70% of Kelowna residents supported the building of a cycling grid in their community. As a result, the city is planning for and promoting active transportation; in their most recent official community plan, the City of Kelowna pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 33% by 2030, and providing transportation options for residents that go beyond the motor vehicle is key.
Read MoreWe’ve developed a set of transportation policy recommendations in advance of the 2020 provincial general election that we believe expresses the legislative, policy-focused and strategic priorities that would best serve British Columbians. We’re sharing them with BC’s top three political parties, for consideration in their 2020 provincial general election platforms. (And we’re sending them a survey too.)
Read MoreAs an advocacy-driven, non-profit society, we feel an obligation to acknowledge our privilege, because even while each of us individually and collectively benefit from this privilege, we can use it in different ways, share it, and give some of it up, so others less privileged can benefit. Even when thinking about and working on transportation issues, we can simultaneously become participants in building a better world.
Read MoreCycling culture in Revelstoke is big. The town boasts a machine-built mountain bike trail of some renown that runs a full vertical drop of 5,620 feet (and named, naturally, the ‘Fifty Six Twenty’). During a normal school year, the bike racks outside the elementary and high schools in town are packed — hundreds of bikes lined up to one another like dominoes. “There’s great potential to connect what we’ve go. The irony here is that everyone rides, but there are no bike lanes.”
Read MoreUnder the terms of a new resilience funding stream within the 12-year Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), up to $413 million could be allocated to cycling projects in British Columbia. But, according to the BCCC, little to none of these funds may end up being allocated to active transportation projects in the province.
Read MoreOn July 27th, the provincial government announced new and improved incentives intended to encourage British Columbians to buy electric-assist bicycles, or e-bikes. While the provincial government is contributing a total of $4 million to the rebates over the next two years, some believe the conditions of the consumer program may be too restrictive to result in meaningful shifts of British Columbians out of their cars and onto bicycles.
Read MoreOn July 7th, BCCC Executive Director Colin Stein spoke to Keith Wiley of Eco-Centric Environment Radio about the funding announcement, about the Nelson bike lane project, and what British Columbians should be asking for from their leaders.
Read MoreYesterday, the Province of British Columbia announced almost $9m in grants awarded to active transportation infrastructure projects in municipalities across the province. The total amount of funding dropped from $10 million in 2019, to approximately $8.4 million in 2020; the total number of projects benefiting from provincial funds dropped by five, from 28 to 23.
Read MoreHow much and where should the province spend on active transportation — walking, cycling and rolling — going forward? This Friday, June 26th at 5:00pm, the public consultation period closes — this is your chance to make a written, audio and video submission, and answer a government survey about how public money should be spent in 2021-22.
Read MoreIt is estimated that less than 30% of cycling collisions with motor vehicles are collected by official sources, such as ICBC or police, leaving most incidents unreported.
BikeMaps.org was launched by UVic researchers in 2014, with the goal of capturing more data on bicycling safety, and to inform transportation policy-makers, planners and engineers on real-world experiences of people who bike.
Read MoreBC’s Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) was written in 1957, a time when only 200,000 vehicles were registered province-wide, and bicycles were lumped alongside 'play-vehicles'.
While frequently amended in the subsequent six decades — hundreds of amendments in the last 20 years alone — the continued failure of the MVA to recognize the many different ways our roads are used today has resulted a couple of major issues impacting all British Columbians.
Read MoreThe BC Cycling Coalition has been working with members and stakeholders to develop four sets of recommended actions for the provincial government, which we’ve made public in a document entitled, “Recommendations to the Government of BC: Active Transportation for States of Emergency.”
Read MoreRelated to the current pandemic, articles and research proposals currently circulating in the public have included recommendations related to physical spacing while cycling and walking without citing peer-reviewed evidence to support their claims.
Read MoreThis is no less critical a time for active transportation than any time in the past, and we can reasonably argue it is now THE most important time — to seriously focus on cycling as a transportation solution, as an outlet for physical activity, and as a salve for our emotional fatigue.
Read MoreMaintaining our active transportation options—the ability to walk, bike, and wheel—can help us all achieve Canada's physical activity guidelines, and is as important as ever for our quality of life.
If you have no symptoms, stay 2 metres (6 feet) away from others, and strictly follow Health Canada’s COVID-19 prevention rules, you can walk and cycle in support of your physical and mental health.
Read MoreLast year, changes went into effect at ICBC in order to limit costs and make the rating system fairer — and more just — for all who drive.
However, not every British Columbian owns or drives a motor vehicle. Vulnerable road users — people who predominantly walk, cycle or wheel for transportation, as well as those who use transit — represent neither the source of a significant proportion of the losses at the Crown corporation, nor the overriding need to overhaul its rating system.
Read MoreThis disappointing and somewhat alarming gap in Budget 2020 — and all the related missing pieces in the MoTI Service Plan related to AT — seems to harken back to earlier eras, when cycling was just not part of the provincial conversation. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, active transportation was not really “a thing”, and we had no broad, mainstream cultural imperative driving the everyday discourse towards big, bold moves aimed at resolving existential crises.
Read MoreWith the prospect of the provincial government clearing away legislative hurdles for ride-hailing companies to begin operating in BC next year, the BCCC has issued a white paper entitled, “Making Roads Right for Ride-hailing”.
Read MoreThe Province of BC has opened up public consultation on active transportation, an opportunity for all British Columbians to participate in the policy-making process related to walking, wheelchair use, cycling, and other emerging forms of human transport. Public feedback will be open until April 15.
Read More
