theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Twice this month I have been struck by cyclists speeding along the sidewalk in the Burnaby Highgate area. These are not young kids riding the bikes. I am thinking about carrying my cane I used after my last knee operation and stick it through the spokes of these idiots as it seems the RCMP are to busy having coffee and doughnuts at Timmy's to enforce the bylaws and MVA. I have called both the RCMP detachment and Burnaby City hall and got the usual... OH WELL SUCH IS LIFE response. And bike couriers in downtown Vancouver are even worse. A couple of years back a courier knocked an elderly lady over on the sidewalk near the TD Tower and kept going... that is until he met a briefcase being carried by a businessman who saw what had happened and placed it firmly in the face chest area bring said courier to an abrupt halt. He and other bystanders held the courier until the police arrived along with paramedics to tend to the woman who was fortunately on shaken up and bruised with no broken bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Ed Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Twice this month I have been struck by cyclists speeding along the sidewalk in the Burnaby Highgate area. These are not young kids riding the bikes. I am thinking about carrying my cane I used after my last knee operation and stick it through the spokes of these idiots as it seems the RCMP are to busy having coffee and doughnuts at Timmy's to enforce the bylaws and MVA. I have called both the RCMP detachment and Burnaby City hall and got the usual... OH WELL SUCH IS LIFE response. And bike couriers in downtown Vancouver are even worse. A couple of years back a courier knocked an elderly lady over on the sidewalk near the TD Tower and kept going... that is until he met a briefcase being carried by a businessman who saw what had happened and placed it firmly in the face chest area bring said courier to an abrupt halt. He and other bystanders held the courier until the police arrived along with paramedics to tend to the woman who was fortunately on shaken up and bruised with no broken bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00bxQb Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Some of you hippies really do support Gregor 'the Clown' Robertson, eh? F transit, I like using my car. Cyclists piss me the hell off. One thing that really pisses me off about them is that they NEVER abide by the same rules on the road as the car users do. How many times have you seen a hippy cross in a red light on their bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Absolutely. These are not mutually exclusive. I see no problem with my City collecting more revenue from people not properly using pay meters. I have no comment on the decrease in access to the courts because I'm not aware of the particular aspects of that reference. It's not just me. It's also been the opinion to reduce car usage to the city by the City planning office for decades. Maybe it's just that you are out of step with the times? This crap article and yourself are trying to make this into a car vs bike situation originating from the mayor's office. It's not. That's just the writer's punditry and from which they attach a photo of a candidate for the office who is attempting to use this as a hot button platform. Your political lobbying is obvious and your arguments are being formed thus. Mine are based of of best practices of our evolving urban environment and I maintain less cars are better. If you want to use a car often in this city for your own convenience you should continue to abide by parking bylaws and pay the sundry costs associated. Our best policy towards vehicle usage should be that which benefits the majority of citizens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 This thread hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Way to confuse two issues. The poor behaviour of bikers is a separate issue from the one in the OP article. Car drivers also exhibit awful and dangerous behaviour. One fact has nothing to do with another fact. Both should be better enforced. The City is generating revenue, from a luxury use convenience, that helps support needed infrastructure costs and municipal expenses. Everything else is politicking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Why, when the article references the parameters and enforcement of vehicle parking meters, are you continuing to talk about bicycles? More city revenue by enforcing bylaws, whatever they maybe, helps support the city infrastructure. This is a good thing. More cars do not make our growing urban centres better. I'd love to hear an example, from anywhere in the world, where a major city that had doubled in population in 25 years didn't suffer from lack of infrastructure and gridlock. This is our reality. Let's hear a better solution than reducing vehicles use in the city and increasing public transit through vehicle levies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Your bias is showing. For the majority of people a vehicle is not a "luxury use". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Why, when the article references the parameters and enforcement of vehicle parking meters, are you continuing to talk about bicycles? More city revenue by enforcing bylaws, whatever they maybe, helps support the city infrastructure. This is a good thing. More cars do not make our growing urban centres better. I'd love to hear an example, from anywhere in the world, where a major city that had doubled in population in 25 years didn't suffer from lack of infrastructure and gridlock. This is our reality. Let's hear a better solution than reducing vehicles use in the city and increasing public transit through vehicle levies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 By it's nature it is. The vast majority of the 6 billion people in this world can't afford one. Our reliance on them in N.A. is a self generated problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Support Green methods of transportation = Automatic "Hippie" Anyways, I'm all for cars and bikes being used together in Vancouver. If I live in Surrey/Langley I'm not going to bike home from downtown, even the skytrain would take a long time. Cars are a great method of transportation that us humans have. And to what someone else said, just because 6billion people cant afford cars, does that mean the 1billion people who can are using an 'non-efficient' method of transportation? No, they're not because they transport bikes to those who can't afford cars. Say what you want, both cars, and bikes are necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Because the article is about an ideological war on cars ("It has to do with how Vision Vancouver, as part of its ideological assault on motorists, has turned parking into a cash cow.) by Lack of Vision - parking fees are but one aspect. There are others. Did you not note this? Also I did not bring up the issue of bikes and you were discussing them before I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 You may not have noticed but we live in North America. Different issues and environment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Support Green methods of transportation = Automatic "Hippie" Anyways, I'm all for cars and bikes being used together in Vancouver. If I live in Surrey/Langley I'm not going to bike home from downtown, even the skytrain would take a long time. Cars are a great method of transportation that us humans have. And to what someone else said, just because 6billion people cant afford cars, does that mean the 1billion people who can are using an 'non-efficient' method of transportation? No, they're not because they transport bikes to those who can't afford cars. Say what you want, both cars, and bikes are necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyJoeJoeJr. Shabadoo Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 How about Vancouver generates more revenue by ticketing cyclists who breach the City By-Laws???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 I see this as a political commentary by the author. I do not see it as objective fact. I do not believe there is an ideological 'war on cars.' I think that even using this type of verbiage is inflammatory as politicking. I do believe the City, which includes the past 20 years of governance, has been aware that we lack critical transit infrastructure in the metropolitan area, especially downtown, and that we are facing an inevitable transit corridor dilemna. I believe the steps to encourage alternative options, which include bikes and public transit, are a direct a reaction to this increase in volume. I don't think it's idealogical. I believe it's a practical countermeasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 It has nothing to do with our environment. Our environment in Vancouver is not vastly different than the majority of cities in the northern hemisphere. It has to do with how we build our city and shopping districts. We built our cities here to require cars. That is a mistake, one that comes at a huge financial cost, and we need to mitigate those decisions made 60-70 years ago by reforming our urban environment. There isn't a city in North America I would hope we are modelling our city plan after. If anything, we should aim for Singapore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Using a different internal combustion engine to transport every 200 lb human individually, along with the 1500 lbs of car, is hugely inefficient and a poor use of resources; ie. petrol, steel, road maintenance, traffic control, enforcement.... the list goes on and on. This is simple physics. This is a basic mathematical fact. We are functionally throwing our collective capital away on style and convenience. We are talking about cars within the city limits, not delivery vehicles. Supply trucks are not the main issue, commuters are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Political commentary??? You mean like yours? It is not ideological because it conforms with your ideology... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wetcoaster Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 You call it a "War on Cars" by Mayor Moonbeam. I call it a practical measure to generate revenue for infrastructure. You tell me what's idealogical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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