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Comment: Building bike lanes protects environment, saves society money, improves safety

A commentary by a resident of James Bay. The writer of a recent commentary doesn’t seem to understand the concept of All Ages and Abilities cycling networks.
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A cyclist rides along Richardson Street with the Richmond Avenue intersection in the background. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST

A commentary by a resident of James Bay.

The writer of a recent commentary doesn’t seem to understand the concept of All Ages and Abilities cycling networks.

They are not being built for the relatively small number of people who are comfortable cycling in traffic. They are for the roughly 50 per cent of Victoria residents who have said in surveys that they would like to cycle more often, but they don’t feel comfortable riding in traffic, or even on busy streets with just a painted line for a bike lane.

The experience elsewhere has shown that when you build a true All Ages and Abilities network, a large increase in cycling will ­follow.

The commentary mentioned the bike lanes’ negative impacts on seniors, yet building an All Ages and Abilities cycling network — along with the increased popularity of e-bikes — has allowed many seniors to choose cycling as a transportation option for the first time.

Delayed right-turn lights for cars at some intersections not only make it safer for cyclists, they also make it much safer for pedestrians trying to cross at those intersections. That is why many cities have been installing delayed right-turn lights, even on streets that don’t have bike lanes.

The argument that bike lanes are little used at certain times of the day reflects the nature of transportation — nearly every facility will have its peaks and non-peaks.

Why not examine the actual bicycle traffic data collected by the City of Victoria and the Capital Regional District? For example, the Wharf Street bike lane has recorded more than 563,000 trips in the past year, or more than 1,500 daily trips on average.

From May to September, daily trips regularly top 2,000. That is far more people using the bike lane daily compared with the number of cars using a typical residential side street or even some collector roads in Victoria.

Yet few people would complain and say it’s a waste of money to build and maintain all those side streets since they are largely empty of traffic most of the time.

Similarly, researchers have estimated that there are five parking spaces for each vehicle in Canada, so by definition that means 80 per cent of those parking spots are ­sitting empty at any given time. Yet no one seems to complain about the huge costs — in both money and land — that all those empty parking spaces represent.

Researchers in Vancouver found that a five-kilometre car trip costs society $2.78 to pay for infrastructure costs, as well as accident, emissions, and other pollution costs — and that is after subtracting the fuel tax and other fees that the motorist pays.

Meanwhile, a five-kilometre bike trip actually saves society $0.75 – mostly due to health-care savings resulting from the health benefits of cycling. There is a strong incentive for governments, and society as a whole, to continue to support increased cycling infrastructure.