Our beautiful Comox ValleyOur beautiful Comox Valley

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POPULATION GROWTH IN THE COMOX VALLEY

1986 to 2007

Population more than doubled in the last 30 years

Average annual increase 2.43%, that means 1650 more people and approx. 1000 more

cars every year!

The best place on Earth facing serious challenges.

Population growth = More cars = more traffic congestion = more cars sitting idling at intersections = more pollution and deterioration of our life style

Downtown Courtenay

Do we have room for more cars?

COULD THIS BE PART OF THE SOLUTION?

Bicycle Car Bus

This shows that the bus is most efficient as long as there are 45 people going to the same place. 45

bicycles take less than half a tennis court for parking, cars, at 1.2 ppc, the best part of a football field.

A NEW APPROACH IS NEEDED TO STOP THE STEADILY GROWING AVALANCHE OF AUTOMOBILES

FROM TAKING OVER OUR COMMUNITIES.

Positive sign:

Just the fact that this event was organised

by the City shows that our

leaders are serious about moving toward

greener and healthier

transportation.

Most of the newly elected and re-elected politicians have

campaigned on a platform of change and more focus on our

environment.

We hope that they will have the courage to do what it takes to make a serious move toward

cleaner and sustainable transportation.

Survey taken across the U.S.

81 % of Americans support spending tax dollars on expansion of public transportation, sidewalks

and bike paths in their communities”.

Recommended allocation:

Public Transport………………………41%

Roads…………………………………….37%

Cycling/Walking………………………22%

Actual allocation:

Public Transport………………………20%

Roads…………………………………….79%

Cycling/Walking……………………… 1%

The typical ‘you get what you pay for’ story.

With the 1% of the transportation budget going to cycling, the US cities have, on

average less than 1% of cycling mode share.

It will take more than that to slow down the automobile from totally taking over our towns.

European citiesEuropean cities with various with various priority and spending on cycling priority and spending on cycling infrastructure.infrastructure.

Cycling Mode Share - Cities with low priority and spending on cycling I. London (in the process of major improvements) 2.60%Vienna 4.50%

Cycling Mode Share - Cities with medium priority on cycling IBerlin 10.00%Zurich 11.00%Graz14.00%Munich 13.00%Hanover 16.00%

Cycling Mode Share –Cities with high priority on cycling infrastr.Freiburg 20.00%Copenhagen36.00%Amsterdam34.00%Cycling Mode Share –Cities with very high priority on C.I.Delft 43.00%Munster 43.00%

Valencia - Spain Innsbruck - Austria

Cycling infrastructure designed to get people out of

their cars and onto bikes

Left turn priority for cyclists in

Freiburg, Germany

Senior cyclists enjoying the Danube Trail in Austria.

If you build it (If you build it (WELLWELL) they will ) they will use it.use it.

Freiburg, Germany

Walensee, Switzerland

Cycle path tunnel in Switzerland

Great cycling/pedestrian path, suspended under the main bridge for autos.

Some bridges are safer for Some bridges are safer for cycling than otherscycling than others

Slovenija

Courtenay

Cycling integrated with Public Transport

This picture shows only about 20% of the bicycles parked at the railway station in the small city of Zug - Switzerland.

Most trains in Europe have cars for bicycles

..But can we afford it?

Remember this survey taken in the US?

Where the population voted to use 22% of the

transportation budget for improvements to cycling

and walking?

I would dare to say that a survey on this issue in the Comox Valley would bring

even more positive results.

The reasons why people like The reasons why people like to live in the Comox Valley.to live in the Comox Valley.

We have to stop to react to the increase in the number of cars by

making it more convenient to drive, and be pro-active by

spending more money on making it safe and convenient to walk or

cycle.

New traffic lights at 26th and Kilpatrick

Instead of installing four more traffic lights, we could spend the 1 Million dollars they cost in

cycling infrastructure. This would in time stop the increase in the number of cars, and these lights

will no longer be needed.

One of many possible One of many possible paybackspaybacks Davis – CaliforniaDavis – California cycling mode sharecycling mode share 17 %17 %

Eliminated need for school busses.

How much of a saving would that be?

Huband Park Elem. School – It takes 6 busses and about 100 cars to get the students to and from school.

Things we need to do better in Things we need to do better in future.future.

Incorporate safe and consistent cycling lanes when constructing new roads – Cycling lanes should be improved, not eliminated when new industrial property is developed.

We have great cycling on most of our quiet rural roads in the Comox Valley,

as long as we don’t let the MOT wreck them with the extremely rough chip-sealing they did on Headquarters and Coleman roads last summer.

We need to keep all the good cycling we presently

have

We have to make the We have to make the provincial leaders keep their provincial leaders keep their

promisespromises We have all heard our We have all heard our

premier making premier making speeches on how much speeches on how much his government is doing his government is doing to promote cycling as a to promote cycling as a mode of transportation mode of transportation and how this will help to and how this will help to make our air cleaner and make our air cleaner and our population healthier, our population healthier,

BUT…BUT…

While our While our premier makes premier makes a speech on TV a speech on TV after opening after opening 800 meters of 800 meters of new cycling new cycling

path in path in Vancouver, the Vancouver, the MOT resurfaces MOT resurfaces

some of our some of our popular rural popular rural cycling roads cycling roads

with the with the roughest chip roughest chip seal we have seal we have ever seen.ever seen.

Campbell’s Promise

Falcon’s Delivery

Get the MOT to

consider safety of cyclists when

building bridges

While we may never be totally car free, if we start investing 20% of the

transportation budget plus any available grants into cycling, we will gradually get more people to switch from the car to a

bike and can reach 15 to 20% of cycling mode share by the year 2020.

This would enable us to gradually reclaim our downtown streets from the claws of

the automobile, make our air cleaner, our population healthier, and our communities

more liveable.

Let’s give our planners a budget to work with so we end up with

Less of this More of this

and

Let’s do it for a

healthier lifestyle for our children

and grandchildre

n

Comox Valley Cycling Comox Valley Cycling CoalitionCoalition

We will work with the Comox Valley Cycling Task Force and the BC Cycling

Coalition for safe conditions for cycling.

The more members we have the more impact we will have when negotiating with different levels of governments.

We need you to join us.