Vancouver Sets an Impressive Standard for Transportation Consultation

Photo by Paul Krueger

The City of Vancouver is about to embark upon a consultation project that will cement its reputation as a North American leader in bike infrastructure.

The municipality is in the early stages of a plan to improve the 10th Avenue corridor, currently a traffic-calmed local street bikeway which runs across 7.5 km (4.6 miles) of Vancouver’s south shore. As it is a heavily-used corridor for both people on bikes and people in cars, the city is taking impressive initiative to ensure that the effort put into the corridor improvement produces results that meet the needs and expectations of those who use it.

Over the course of the following year or so, the municipality will be actively seeking feedback from people who walk, cycle and drive down the 10th Avenue corridor to better understand areas that work and areas that could use improvement. Their ultimate aim with the project is to make the corridor safe for people walking and biking of all ages and abilities, while still maintaining access for people that are driving, particularly in the area of the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). By combining resident feedback with technical input and an analysis of usage patterns, they will be able to implement design solutions that maximize space, safety and traffic flow for all modes.

As part of their broader goal of becoming a world-class cycling destination, the city leadership is also hosting three public events to engage Vancouver residents on the topic of urban transportation.  The events – on July 20th in the VGH precinct, July 26th at the Kitsilano Farmer’s Market, and July 29th at Cathedral Square – will include information and consultations on both the 10th Avenue corridor and cycling/ walking in Vancouver in general. There will also be a photographer on hand from local photobooth company imageCube to take pictures of Vancouver residents who walk and cycle for a chance to be entered in a sweepstakes featuring a number of great walking/ cycling prizes. Residents who can’t make it to the event but still want to contribute to the visual representation of the city’s non-driving commuters are encouraged to submit their own photos of themselves in their preferred mode to #ThisIsHowWeRollVan to be entered into the sweepstakes.

At a time when the need for better cycling and walking infrastructure is really being felt across North America, it is encouraging to see a city’s leadership take such an active interest not only in improving the infrastructure, but improving it according to the particular needs of its residents. Vancouver’s initiative could provide a benchmark for other cities undertaking similar projects in the future.

Check out the photos of some of Vancouver’s non-driving commuters from the first public consultation:

This post was updated on July 14 and has been updated.