Five Things: Put the pedal to the metal for Bike to Work Week
Credit to Author: Stephanie Ip| Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2019 21:03:46 +0000
Get those wheels spinning.
It’s Bike to Work Week and Vancouver being Vancouver, life will continue as usual for the huge population of cyclists that live there. But for those who cycle only occasionally, Oct. 21 to 27 is the week to get in on the action.
Here’s five things to know about Bike to Work Week and the state of cycling in Vancouver.
During 2018, about 53 per cent of trips made in the city were walking, cycling or transit, according to the city’s 2018 report card on alternate forms of transport. That percentage beats the city’s goal set for 2020 – so good job, Vancouver.
But that doesn’t mean cars are gone for good. The average distance driven by a Vancouverite in 2018 is about 3,690 kilometres, which is 3 per cent lower than in the previous year.
A cyclists takes in the view of the North Shore Mountains while riding along the seawall in Vancouver.
Over the course of 2018, there were 2.4 million cycling trips. That’s second only to 2015, when there were more than 2.5 million cycling trips recorded. The busiest month in 2018 was July, when more than 360,000 cycling trips were made, according to automated counters on the Lions Gate Bridge, the Burrard Bridge and the Viaducts.
The Burrard Street Bridge bike lane, which turned 10 years old earlier this summer, is the busiest cycling lane in all of North America, with about 1 million cycling trips accessing the lane annually. When the bike lane first opened in July 2009, opponents were convinced it would cause massive gridlock and that it would sit unused. Looks like times have changed.
Last year, the city expanded its Mobi bikeshare service from downtown and central Vancouver into east Vancouver. There are currently 1,500 bikes in the system, 184 docking stations installed, leading to 706,491 trips in 2018, which is a 30 per cent increase over 2017.
The distance covered by cyclists on Mobi bikes last year totals more than 2,000,000 kilometres. That’s nearly the distance to the moon and back but we wouldn’t recommend trying to cycle there.
A man takes a spin on a Mobi bike during the Gastown Grand Prix in Vancouver, B.C.
About 2,000 bikes are stolen each year in Vancouver but about four in six bikes are successfully returned to their owner, according to the Project 529 bike registration program, which works with the city and local police.
The program is free and aims to register cyclists, their contact information and details about the bike in an accessible database. If a registered bike is ever stolen, police can easily track down the owner and if the bike has been reported stolen. If that still doesn’t offer you any comfort, look into whether your home insurance covers bike theft and loss.
Each day during Bike to Work Week, there are celebration stations set up throughout the Metro Vancouver region, where cyclists can stop off for a free snack, basic bike maintenance and enter to win prizes. The grand prize is a trip for two to cycle in the Baltics, while other prizes include Patagonia jackets, an Infinity Boss 3 bike, tickets to Whistler’s Scandinave Spa and more.
To learn more about Bike to Work Week and where to find a celebration station, visit bikehub.ca.
Source: Walking and Cycling in Vancouver – 2018 Report Card