Thursday, August 19, 2010

How to get local politicians to support active transportation

Break their bones. At least that's what happened to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. According to AP, "The mayor, who said little on the topic during five years in office, is campaigning to make streets safer for cyclists after a parked cab abruptly pulled out across a bike lane, causing him to shatter an elbow. The ill-fated ride was his first on city streets since taking office." This got me thinking about our region.

In Vancouver, Mayor Gregor Robertson cycles throughout downtown and not surprising separated bike lanes are popping up all over downtown. Former Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon is a huge car buff and not surprising he championed the South Fraser Perimeter Road and Highway 1 expansion program. In Langley City, Mayor Peter Fassbender walks around Downtown Langley and not surprising the sidewalk are in a good state of repair. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what changes would happen if our elected officials actually used active transportation in South Fraser communities all the time? I wonder what sort of shift in transportation policy we would see?

4 comments:

Corey said...

That's a bit depressing actually, because it means that in part all these politicians are basing their decisions on their own subjective experience, rather than a balanced objective opinion.

My question is, wouldn't it be great to see what could happen if politicians made decisions based on facts and information rather than playing politics?

Nathan Pachal said...

Yes, but I think that more of a human flaw that we don't act until things affect us directly.

Unknown said...

*cough* global warming *cough*

Rob Bittner said...

I think it would be great if there was a way to advocate for politicians to use public transportation only for at least one full week and see what would happen then. It could really help them understand the issues facing the average person on a daily basis just getting to and from work.