From Business in Vancouver — City streets are being returned to pedestrians

Peter Ladner (pladner@biv.com) co-founder of Business in Vancouver. 

He is a former Vancouver city councillor and former fellow at the SFU Centre for Dialogue, author of The Urban Food Revolution.

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Something very odd happened when the City of Vancouver recently announced yet another bike lane reducing car capacity on the Burrard Bridge: nothing.

A small furor rose like an angry baby alligator from the swamp, then settled back into the mud. (“Absolutely ridiculous. The amount of bike traffic doesn’t warrant another bike lane,” snarled the most-liked comment under CBC’s story, even as daily bike trips across the bridge were topping 6,000.) The Vancouver Sun printed a widely circulated editorial effectively saying “no big deal.” The NPA stared menacingly and moved on. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association was in favour. Read more: More steps being taken to return city streets to pedestrians | Transportation | Business in Vancouver