The Vancouver Critical Mass bike ride is back and here's why

The Vancouver Critical Mass bike ride is back and here’s why

Two decades ago, the Vancouver Critical Mass was a scene and it forced a change for the better in the West Coast Canadian city. Cyclists were mad and they took to the streets to let those in power know that it was about time to take cycling seriously and to create the infrastructure to keep people safe. It worked, and for a long time, Vancouver invested heavily in creating a bicycle-friendly city considered one of the tops in North America. And then it wasn’t. So, it’s back to the bicycle barricades and a return to the critical mass.

It’s not hard to see what happened. A conservative mayor took over, and the Overton Window started to not only shift, but it also started to close.

A few years ago, if a debate came up over creating or even keeping a protected bicycle lane in Stanley Park or a main street somewhere or other, there was a good chance that the municipal coin flip would land on heads for cyclists. But that’s just not the case now.

“In the early 2000s, Critical Mass was huge in Vancouver. I had just moved here from Montreal, where I had been on a few rides. The rides here were bigger, way bigger, and people had all kinds of crazy bikes — Tall bikes, Lazy-boy bikes, Tandem drum kit bikes,” says one of the organizers of Vancouver Critical Mass, who chose to remain anonymous for this article. “The energy was infectious and I fell in love. The rides got so big and disruptive that they made the front page of the newspapers a few times, at that point the city could longer ignore us. This combined with a shifting political landscape set the stage for major change.”

Nice to see so many Park Board, Council, & School Board candidates out in support of the Stanley Park Mobility Study, speaking about accessibility for all. pic.twitter.com/Z2UaiCuRuX

— Lisa Corriveau (@spokesmama) October 9, 2022

Critical Mass bicycle rides are a form of social movement that began in the late 1980s in San Francisco. The rides were originally conceived as a way to reclaim public spaces for non-motorized transportation and to raise awareness about the benefits of cycling as a means of transportation. The first Critical Mass ride took place in 1992, and involved a small group of cyclists who gathered at the Embarcadero Plaza in downtown San Francisco. Since then, the rides have spread to cities all over the world and have become a symbol of the cycling community’s struggle for recognition and respect on the roads. The rides have also been the subject of controversy and legal disputes, with some cities attempting to ban them, while others have embraced them as a way to promote sustainable transportation and community building.

Vancouver once invested heavily in the best cycling infrastructure at the False Creek seawall, the Burrard Bridge, and the Georgia Viaduct to name just a few places.

“During this period Critical Mass lost their most active organizer (who moved back to Montreal) and their raison d’etre…with an ally in the mayor’s office working hard on cycling infrastructure, there was less reason to agitate. The war had been won, or so we thought,” he said.

Last year, the Vancouver municipal election resulted in a major change, and for the first time in a long time, one of the more progressive cities in North America found itself with a very conservative mayor.

“For the first time in a generation, we have a mayor from the far right leading the city,” he said. “A mayor whose first major action was to remove a popular AAA (All Ages and Abilities) protected bike lane from Stanley Park. The removal came with an estimated bill of $225k -$400k. The mayor cynically ordered the removal to be paid from the cycling infrastructure budget.”

But that, most unfortunately, appears to be just the beginning. Right now, the city is working up a new vision for the absolutely massive and key Broadway Avenue corridor. It stretches hundreds of blocks right across the city. And, currently, the idea of lining this important transportation corridor with safe and separated bike lanes has been yanked off the table.

Was happy we had critical mass (despite the rain) for a ride to Vancouver City Hall and a return trip down Broadway to protest the decision to axe the active transport lanes there. #CriticalMassVan #BikeYVR pic.twitter.com/JUSDkjINj0

— Chris Hubick (@hubick) April 1, 2023

For those unaware, a huge section of West Broadway is currently being excavated for subway construction and plumbing and electrical infrastructure upgrades. The area has been rezoned for high-rise apartments and the plan calls for more than 75,000 new housing units over the next 30 years.

“Now would be the most cost-effective and least disruptive time to change the traffic pattern and add these active transit lanes,” he said. “During the public hearing prior to the vote 95% of the speakers spoke in favor of the protected lanes and their benefits such as safety, connecting to transit, making Broadway a “Great Street” with reduced traffic, patios, and a destination for pedestrians, reduced pollution, better for local business, meeting climate targets.”

But the new Vancouver regime said nah, not interested.

So, not surprisingly, cycling advocates will do what they need to do. And the Vancouver Critical Mass is back on.

“The plan is to once again, grow the rides to the point where we cannot be ignored,” he said. “We need protected separated lanes on all major roads. We need planners and politicians to understand that painting a line or bicycle on the pavement makes cyclists less safe not safer. Study after study shows that drivers drive faster and closer to cyclists when there is an unprotected bike lane.”

Right now, there are three different Critical Mass rides scheduled in Vancouver including a monthly Critical Mass on the last Friday of the month, which meets at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 6 p.m., ride 6:30. There is also a weekly Broadway Mass on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Friday of the month (meet Vancouver City Hall Broadway, meet 5:30 p.m. ride 6 p.m.). And there is also a weekly Stanley Park ride every Sunday, meet at the park board office (2099 Beach Ave.) 1 p.m., ride 1:30 p.m.

“The route is decided by whoever is at the front of the mass, it keeps the authorities guessing and prevents the mass from being kettled,” he says. “Viva la Veloution!”

For more information, here are some social channels to follow: Critical Mass Vancouver Instagram, Facebook.