I spend most of my transportation time biking, walking or riding the bus around town, so I end up thinking a lot about how those things could be improved.
That's because, in general, things aren't set up well for these modes of transportation -- a view hammered home every time a bus squeezes by me on a so-called bike route or a car door swings open in the bike lane in front of me.
My partner and I have long discussions about what our ideal cycling setup would look like. Topping that list are separated lanes and priority signals,but it also includes things like multi-use paths along the city's waterfront and a clearly signed network of bike routes. Maybe we could get some more covered parking, while we're at it?
We're not the only ones talking about these things, of course. Locally, the Capital Regional District has a pedestrian and cycling master plan, which has been endorsed by the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition (which has its own advocacy list).
I was pretty excited to stumble across Cycletopia, the British group CTC's list of 15 things that make a cycling-friendly town.
It's a good general list, covering things from long-distance bikeways (check), integration of transit and cycling (check, but could be better, I think) and cycle-friendly town centres (nope -- much of downtown Victoria is classified as suitable only for confident or fearless riders).
While some of the items don't apply to Victoria (no trains here -- yet), I think it's helpful to look at the wish and to-do lists of other cities and cyclists for inspiration and new approaches.
And if you see things out there that you want to see here, let me -- and, more importantly, the fine folks at the GVCC and CRD -- know.
