One other thing I didn't mention in the video is how much better Vancouver's bike infrastructure is compared to my last visit about four years ago. There's not a huge number of new lanes, but little gaps have been filled and connections have been made. Coming from a jurisdiction that built a network of lanes and then spent the next couple of years doing little more than patting themselves on the back for it, this incremental progress in Vancouver is impressive.
Comparing Vancouver and Montréal (two Canadian cities that have presented considerable improvement regarding cycling infrastructure, as far as I know), which one do you think is taking this issue more seriously? And if not one of those, which one then and why?
Not sure about the city as a whole, but as a resident of downtown Calgary, I've noticed a few new bike lanes that have gone in during the pandemic with no fanfare whatsoever, which I'm very happy about. I think a good step to becoming a city that's serious about cycling is treating that sort of thing as routine, rather than as an event.
"Coming from a jurisdiction that built a network of lanes and then spent the next couple of years doing little more than patting themselves on the back for it" This really describes how I feel about Portland's "fall from grace" as a North American bike city. The infrastructure built in the last 10 years was geared towards more confidant riders and as soon as critical mass went away with COVID, most of the "infrastructure" felt extremely unsafe. Only recently have they started to do some basic modal filters on greenways(bike boulevards) and making permanent a large protected cycle track that parallels the waterfront but it's really not enough. Everything still feels extremely disconnected and you constantly get this feeling of being "put in your place" when you get to a spot that's clearly prioritizing cars over everyone else.
This is an important observation. I cycle commute about 800kms per month and fully support any initiatives that prioritize my movement versus a motorist's. It's these minor QOL improvements to existing infrastructure that encourage individuals to begin & continue cycling.
Indeed, connectivity is key. Lots of unconnected segments of bike path is useful only to the people who are staying within those segments. It takes a well-connected grid of routes to allow large numbers of people to be able to use the infrastructure. (As an example: my 25 mile commute involves mostly separated infrastructure, or at least wide, well-marked bike lanes. But it's 4 miles on narrow, winding road to the first separated path, and then another 2 miles, including an extremely steep uphill, on dangerous road to the safer road-based segment, and then another 5 miles on those bike lanes before getting back to the separated infrastructure. I do the ride, but I certainly would never expect an average person who is just trying to get from point A to point B, as opposed to being someone that _really_ loves cycling, to ever mess with a route like that. With an electric bike, the route is not severely longer than just driving the same route, especially when one takes into account time one would otherwise be spending at the gym or other athletic enterprises. So a biking-for-transportation person _could_ do it without trouble. But they're not going to given the current state of affairs.)
Just doing google earth around the city in random areas and seeing streets with "do not enter, except bicycles" makes me REALLY jealous of Vancouver! I hope they're taking a lesson from the Dutch can expanding out bike infrastructure to the suburbs. There's a lot of smaller cities along the Fraiser River that could be great to connect into a regional bike network.
As someone from Vancouver I’m glad you enjoyed it and focused on the positive side but I wish you could have talked about the dark side of bike ownership in Vancouver , which is the huge amount of bike theft going on , it is rampant and a very serious issue some might think it’s just “bad” but as someone who lives here it’s VERY bad all across the city , there’s almost nowhere safe to keep your bike even if it is locked to a bike rack in a bike room in a gated underground parkade. It sucks when going grocery shopping only to come out to your bike stolen, and those of us that use our bikes to go to and from work are hit the worst.
Such high rates of bike theft is definitely not confined to Vancouver, similar rates of bike theft can also be seen in Toronto and Montreal, even though both places have worse bike infrastructure than Vancouver.
I started cycling in Vancouver back in the early to mid-90s when the Adanac Bike Boulevard was created. Back then people thought you were crazy to ride a bicycle, and it was kinda true if you cycled downtown. It's amazing how far the cycling infrastructure has come in the last 25 years.
Oh boy, you weren't lying when you said you got lots of sunshine while you were here! :p Living downtown for the past year has been really quite good, with lots of bike lanes connecting me to the places I need to go. Even when I do have to ride in traffic, which is rare, people are courteous enough to give me space or be patient. That definitely feels like a product of the increased bike lanes and cyclist presence. For sure it isn't perfect, with lots of gaps in areas that require traffic-riding, but I've never felt particularly at risk or in danger riding around here. Great video Tom, I'm glad our city treated you well!
Vancouver is so beautiful! I went to university in a neighboring town and went to Vancouver often. It is such a pretty place the waterfront sea wall is so great! I live in Portland OR a city known for bridges and bikes and I wish we could do something like the sea wall on on riverfront here. There is some which is great but it’s not all throughout the city and many areas of the river you just can’t get to walking or biking.
I live in Vancouver, particularly Richmond. I have certainly noticed biking lanes, infrastructure and connections (and the simple volume of bikers) have increased significantly in the past 5 years. And because of that, it has shaped the city into more of what may be referred to "Vancouverism". I think it has the potential to become a world-renown place for bike living just like Netherlands is known for. Richmond itself can do so much more with better connections, but it's almost there! And it makes sense since it's flat!
I love the planter box lane dividers. A great way to bring greenery into a grey urban environment whilst encouraging cyclists. I do hope some Australian road bureaucrats see this and take up the idea.
We have an overabundance of fresh water, otherwise, s beautiful as they are, they are a terrible waste of water. Not sure they'd be suitable for a place like Australia.
@@wilfdarr I am sure you could put plants in that are water conserving. And there are lot of modern techniques for recycling water. At the moment quite a lot of Australia has a surfeit of water.
@@amandajane8227 Yes certainly not all of Australia is water poor, just something that shouldn't be taken for granted: above ground flower boxes use significantly more water than ground level flower beds. That's all. In Canada, it's not a problem.
I'm fascinated that bike lanes went from being controversial to political non-issue in just 10 years in Vancouver. I do wonder if the same thing will happen here in Calgary. I think it happened with the Peace Bridge, for comparison, which has gone from being hated by the masses (though not me) to an undeniable icon of Calgary in a short time.
It may have already happened here. In the last civic election, reporters couldn't even get a certainly anti-bike politician to say anything about bikes. Even he sees it as a vote loser.
That's not really true in Vancouver- we've been fighting over a bike route that goes through kits beach park for the better part of 15 years and it's still an interim route. (that route is part of the seawall)
I used to live in east Vancouver and I was always impressed how they had small barriers at streets that prevented through traffic for cars but allowed bicycles. So much better for neighborhoods. My street (grant) didn’t have that traffic calming or even any stop signs. I saw driving schools cruise through the intersection at a constant 30km/hr without slowing down. A tandem dump truck cruised on through at about 40 km/hr By the way, public transportation in the lower mainland is also great!
There's lots of great cycling routes close to downtown - Stanley Park and UBC/Pacific Spirit are popular, relatively easy cycling loops, or crossing to North Van or West Van if you want a challenge and climb to one of the ski hills.
I think, with Van specifically, you cannot discount it's place in mountain biking culture. It is a global bucket list destination for mountain bikers...who often ride bikes for other reasons too
Cool seeing all the places I know! I bike the burrard bridge. hornby, dunsmuir route every day to get to work. One comment I have on the bike lanes, is cars tend to turn through them without looking for oncoming bikes, I've been hit once and had a couple close calls on arbutus and hornby.
I think a big component of the Burrard Bridge bike lanes being successful (or at least not getting much continued ire from drivers now that they're complete) was the redesign of the intersections at either end to improve traffic flow. I haven't seen the bridge ever get as backed up as before the redesign even with a second fewer lane since lane capacity across the bridge was never the real problem despite drivers concerns before the change (I moved to Van after one lane was already reallocated, and there was plenty of resistance to removing the second vehicle lane). I look forward to the changes to Granville Bridge, which is an over-built vehicle-centric monstrosity but people still criticize reallocating some of the lanes to make space for pedestrians, cyclists, and buses. Some of the pushback now, at least close to downtown is "aren't there enough cycle lanes? Why can't they just use the one X blocks over?", often ignoring the connectivity of the cycle network, or insisting that one route for each of north/south and east/west is enough. A thing that needs improvement is signage and traffic restrictions on streets crossing the major bike routes like Adanac, 10th, and York. I've had multiple friends get hit by drivers going through stop signs without paying attention, and plenty of close calls myself (and making sure that ICBC doesn't try to bill cyclists for damages to the vehicles that hit them 🙄...)
"No one really runs on an anti-bike platform." I remember a few years ago (I think around 2018/2019 but can't remember what position it was for) someone had as a major talking point getting rid of the bike lanes on 10th and turn it back into parking. Sadly they didn't get elected. 😂 I live right off the seawall, practically meters from one of your filming locations and I can't believe I never saw you. It's a nice path to use to get to quite a few places, along with the other traffic calmed streets around it. I didn't use to bike (used public transit) but in the last couple of years, things have really opened up as I started biking. Finding little hidden shops, parks, streets that I cognitively knew existed, but now I actually know what they are like. I remember in one of your videos you mentioned trying different paths when commuting, and I often do that now, testing out a different way to take the kids to school, or get to the grocery store, or even for fun. I think it would be interesting for you to come back in a few years after the Broadway subway extension is completed, and see how things have changed. There has been a push for Broadway to become more bike friendly in the midst of the construction, and I think it could be it's own video (but again, that may not be done until 2025).
"Damn cyclists, getting around quietly and efficiently. I demand that you level this transportation throughfare so that I can store my personal property here for 8 hours a day"
I think it shows a lot about me as a Vancouver resident that basically every intersection you went to is a place I frequently pass by or used to (shout out to Origins Parkour on Main Street!) I do think that this was a bit shallow of a dive into Vancouver biking though - you passed by all of the places that the city loves to showcase as "bikeable Vancouver," except maybe the Arbutus Greenway, but there is a lot more that could be delved into that is less focused on the Burrard St Bridge + Downtown + Seawall that both contributes and detracts from bike culture in Vancouver. A few things I'd like to share that maybe you could check out if you have the time. Throughout Vancouver there are a bunch of "quiet streets"-style bike routes that I think are really interesting to look at as they really provide the accessibility to cyclists to the broader areas (for an analogy, imagine Toronto's transit: you've looked at the equivalent to the streetcar network but ignored all the buses). A lot of traffic calming work has been done to make these routes viable - limited permeability, roundabouts, etc. but then there's also really weird sections like the eastern/industrial part of Union St. that when you're riding down you think "these car lanes are absurdly wide, no way this can be safe - except I don't see any cars here for some reason." Some places to check out: 1. Yukon and 17th - limited permeability parkette made in 2016 2. Union and Hawks - "Strathcona Linear Park" - "bike traffic calming" with a swervy 15 km/h limit route in the park at the bottom of a big hill. 3. Ontario street if you like roundabouts. 4. Revisit the Burrard St. bridge, but try to go South 5-7 blocks once you've crossed, get really confused about where you're actually supposed to go, try to go back north up Burrard, wait it's one way now?, meander to Cypress St. - oh here's a two way bike st, except where it's one way going North for one block, and oh boy these are some hills. 5. In the West End or McLean avenue near Commercial the whole thing is a total maze to cars but allow cyclists to go through on several parallel streets. Anyway, glad to see coverage of Vancouver on your channel! It was fun to see.
These are great points, and I'm happy you shared them. Stay tuned for an upcoming video on the "quiet streets" you mentioned. And yes, I did get lost trying to get back to the Burrard bridge at one point!
The Arbutus Greenway is the one that was a former railbed right? I biked on that months after it was opened up (without realizing it was that new) as it happened to be the best way to get somewhere and coming from Nanaimo, my mind was blown.
I biked over to Vancouver from Nanaimo around 2015 and I spoke with a longtime cycling commuter about how there were so many cyclists in the city. I asked "did the cyclists increase and then they built up the infrastructure or was the infrastructure first?" He said that the infrastructure was built first and was absolutely key to why there were so many cyclists.
Vancouver has been doing a great job increasing mobility and providing safe routes to bike that really reduces any chance of conflict with the odd annoyed car commuter. The only "anti-bike" thing the Van city government has done this year - and not on purpose - is that they are getting rid of parking meters all over the city which is what we all locked to when running quick errands. The street signs and some bike racks can be un-bolted from the ground so secure parking is getting a LOT harder to find.
Seems like Vancouver and Chicago share the same fantastic feature, the uninterrupted coast. It adds so much charm. Vancouver's separated bike lanes are very nice, wish Chicago had more of those.
Thanks for yet another great look at bike infrastructure success in North America. I love the take-away point that while improvements like this require some community involvement, it often just takes one determined person in a position of power to really push for the changes, and that once things get started and people see the reality of the situation, there's a certain level of inertia that allows further improvements with much less (though not zero of course) effort. I haven't been to Vancouver in a couple of decades and didn't realize they'd made so many improvements. The Vancouver I recall really wasn't bike-friendly, except in specific places (e.g. Stanley Park). It's so great to see how far they've come since then. (By the way, silly little production note you probably should ignore: I'd love to see the b-roll not repeat itself. Not only does the repetition itself get boring, but every time I see a repeat segment, I pine for the other b-roll of something else interesting in that city that I'm missing out because of the repeat.)
Great video. I am moving from Edmonton to Vancouver in 2 weeks and I am thoroughly looking forward to the walk ability / bike infrastructure / public transit. Vancouver is a good example for North American cities to follow. Keep up the great videos!
@shifter it’s funny when I crunched the numbers on moving from Edmonton to Vancouver it is actually not as ridiculous as one might think. The big factor is I am selling my car and moving to biking and public transit. Without the costs of a car (gas / insurance / payments / parking / maintenance) you would be surprised how much money that is every month that you can put towards Vancouvers rental prices.
@@lukebaker717 EXACTLY! Calgarian here... spent 7 months in Vancouver last year without a Mercedes. I walked everywhere and rarely used transit. It's so liberating. I'm in the process of officially moving and already eyeing a folding e-bike. :)
Vancouver is blessed in many ways, but the core has always been the citizens that have made good decisions to help shape their city. Always envious from here in Alberta, but hopeful the ideals set by our neighbors in BC show how smart planning in biking, transit can help build livable, thriving cities here too. Can't wait to be back to visit again soon. Fantastic tour and local insight, there is much to be excited about and proud of in Vancouver. Hope you get an opportunity to do more travel content in the future.
Great video, thanks Tom and Hilary! Really cool and inspiring to see how much has changed since I last visited Vancouver 8 years ago, there's no reason why more cities can't be like this!
I haven't cycled in Vancouver proper yet but I've been cycling around Coquitlam and even out here, there are many cycling routes and it's a blast using them to get around. Yesterday I visited 4 local urban parks on one bike ride.
As long as you're not on the east side of Vancouver. I had a cop pull me over (lights and siren stop) for riding my bike on the road in East Van... He asked why I wasn't riding on the sidewalk. TRUE STORY. It was painted on the road that bikes were allowed. Drivers in East Van look at you like you're crazy for being on the road. ... Once you get to the west side of Vancouver it changes completely. There, being on a bike feels normal and sane. Downtown and the seawall are also excellent.
Some really cool bits of infrastructure I saw there when I visited Vancouver were these little modal filter public plaza/parks in the West End. They allowed through access for pedestrians and bikes but not cars. Made a really dense area with older towers feel really open and pleasant even with how busy Denman St was a block away.
Vancouver looks beautiful. Reminds me a lot of Sydney. Just not so much the bike lanes. Australia hasn't really gotten serious about bike infrastructure yet. But they really need to. We have an election coming up and the one with the most bike friendly policies will get my vote.
50 years ago (long before these segregated lanes, aaand pre-helmet - shudder), when I still lived in Vancouver, I rode across the Burrard bridge every day. In the mornings, going south, you could get a bit of a run at it and get over the top reasonably quickly in the curb lane (too many walkers on the sidewalk to make that an attractive option). Going the other way later in the day (a much longer stretch) I'd choose the sidewalk, however, despite the foot traffic. So it was manageable even back then, even though a separate lane is obviously much nicer.
Yup the only nice, safe place to bike is the beach boardwalks. The downtown path along Harbor Drive is a congested path for biking but nice views. I didn't even try biking in the actual downtown streets.
She is right, you didn't want to ride across the Barrard Bridge! I did it years ago as a confused American tourist wanting to go from point A to point B, it was a terror and yes, Canadian can get angry.
I went to Vancouver in '14 and there weren't any of these bike lanes. It's nice to see progress! I've always wanted to go back and ride a bike around the city. There's so much to see.
Parts of Stockholm are car free in summer. Works great, as far as I can tell. So many people on the street: kids playing, pop-up cafés, music stages, book markets... *I might be mistaking Stockholm for Copenhagen here, or maybe they both close off some streets during summer
Great video guys, watching a citie like Vancouver makes me dream. I live in Bolivia. a horrible, nasty, noisy corrupt at its core country. My city Oruro has become insufrible due to motorcycles. COVID Pandemic took us backwards. WE do have laws but unfortunately are unfulfilled. motorcycles and car are not sanctioned if they are not provide with noise killers. Through 2020 to 2022 delivery servies has increased exponencially. and now that we are going back to "normal" . The city is plagued by cars and motocycles. I' like to know more about Vancouver laws and rules about cycling and about NOISE LIMITS. Thanks.
As l have mentioned before, if you’re a driver you really should advocate FOR alternatives such as PT and bike lanes. Bc every person on a bike, is (roughly) 1 fewer car on the road.
Downtown businesses should be demanding for better walking/biking infrastructure. Seriously,being able to accommodate ~10 bikes in one car parking spot has got to be good for everyone!
As for the politics of bike lanes - we've been fighting over a bike route that goes through kits beach park for the better part of 15 years and it's still an interim route. Plus, we're coming to the end of a five year plan for bike routes installation, but there's no new plan because there's no will on council for it. Helmets? The police do two crackdowns on helmets a year, usually during bike to work week, specifically on busy bike routes. This video really glosses over a lot of issues with the bike route system here an it's really too bad.
I’m an avid bicyclist here in Vancouver and I’m happy about the increase in bike infrastructure, but at times it feels very ad hoc. For example, the Smithe Street bike lane is a bit of a mess. People heading east have to turn right or left at Richards instead on continuing east. Of course what happens is that people just ignore the rule. Thus the lower half of the Smithe bike lane becomes a de facto two-way lane.
One thing I’d love you to talk about is how to make good bike infrastructure for hilly cities. I live up a hill, and I have an e-bike which at least makes it possible to commute, but I feel it’s also more dangerous than a flat place because downhill speeds can get pretty fast, and wet or icy weather can make it pretty hazardous. My city is starting to make the flat parts of the city better for cycling, but there’s little will to improve things on the hills, because of less demand - which is of course a feedback loop.
Yes, there needs to be some creative thought around helping cyclists deal with hills. I have seen solutions like cable cars (I think the Portland cable car allows bikes), or even just an in-ground motorized track that cyclists can plop their wheel into and get a nice push up the hill. But frankly, especially with the advent of e-bikes but even for completely unpowered bikes, even just having proper separated routes that takes a shallower (albeit longer) grade would go a long way to helping. You are so right that, like the rest of the bike infrastructure debate, the argument that it shouldn't be done because no one's biking falls flat. It's been demonstrated all around the world that "if you built it, they will come" applies 100% to biking infrastructure.
I am jealous, it really looks like a very pretty city. I'm pretty lucky to live in a place that I can commute to work by bicycle of course Kansas is a very flat place. I saw the mountain in the background and I really can't even imagine cycling in a hilly place.
You just have to get on before rush hour. I'd kill for even that much here. It's a full day ride around the bay and no way to get home (bikes aren't allowed in the tunnel or on transit)!
Grew up in Vancouver. Dad always rode his bike, and never had a car. He got hit by a car in the seventies riding in a BCCycling Tour event. Should of had a helmet on. We as young kids hated the car-culture. An East End group of us decided to block the road around Stanley Park. Was a bad experience. A paradigm shift away from that traffic madness should become the future. More light rail trams, and rural Greenways please.
Used to live in the west end of Vancouver by Stanley Park a few years before Covid began. Some bikes going across the Burrard Street bridge during the summer however once the cold weather began few if any bikes. Of course when it was raining and snowing during the winter even fewer bikes using the bike lane on the bridge. Another problem I have with bikers is crossing the street in crosswalks when I'm a pedestrian. Bikers don't tend to dismount and walk their bikes across the street they continue riding across the street. I've had bikers come up behind me and brush by me coming close to hitting me. I've seen bikers hit other people and continue on.
@@cmmartti I expect cyclists to walk their bikes across intersections when pedestrians are present because it's dangerous to the pedestrians when cyclists are mounted and riding across intersections.
@@cmmartti From the AAA: Walk your bike on pedestrian crosswalks and overpasses. This gives you the right-of-way as a pedestrian. If you ride your bike across crosswalks and overpasses, you may not have the legal right-of-way.
You've done soany commutes to your work on different bikes, I'd love to see you collate all the results and give an ultimate breakdown of the data next to each other, include cost per time as well.
Interesting hearing about the bike lane on the bridge. Here in Auckland there have been calls for the main bridge across the harbour to allow one car lane as a separated walking and cycling lane, but unfortunately the car dependant masses would prefer the status quo 😒
Dear car lovers, Creating safe, alternative forms of transportation, e.g. bike lines, better mass transit like buses, etc., takes more drivers off the road and lowers congestion. So, if you love to drive, then instead of demanding more and more roads and lanes, push for safer alternative modes of transportation like bike lanes and sidewalks.
Vancouver's bike routes are great, if you live downtown, but as soon as you get out of the core it's hot garbage. my +1,-2 score for my commute is -45.
great for cycling, but the housing is too expensive, service workers can not afford to live in the city... so most end up moving to satellite cities, only to then be stuck commuting, and if they need a car good luck with parking, so still problems to solve, but it is a great place...
Absolutely Vancouver bikes routes have gotten better. They still need maintain the bike routes Such as pot holes on the routes , dangerous for kids . cheers 🍺
Not a commuter but am interested and just found your channel (it’s great). Watching your channel I can’t help but notice that you hardly ever wear a helmet. Do most bike commuters not wear a helmet?
whats that front rack looking thing you have on your bike? I think I've been looking for something just like that, plz respond or make a vid for the best/worst bike cargo components.
Would rather go without pants than ride without my helmet. One thing that helps with putting in bike lanes is one way streets. Get rid of the two way streets and give one lane to two way bike travel. That will give autos one lane and usually two with parking.
Hey shifter! Could youmake a video on the importance of signal vests? On my very first week urban cycling obe of these prevented an accident by a unlawful mercedes driver. He could emergency brake and stopped just under a meter to my leg. Could otherwise killed me or send me to wheelchair.
Why is there is always such a lot of opposition to improving cycling infrastructure from people who don't ride bicycles? Everywhere it is implemented though, usually reports a massive increase in the quality of life there, people are more sociable, businesses see better trade, and people are happier.
Since the making of the video Ken Sim and his ABC party have been voted in. Sim and the Park commission board are vehemently anti-bike removing the AAA bike lane from Stanley Park and seeking to remove the Beach Ave (one of the most used bike lanes in North America) to ease congestion caused entirely by private vehicles making non-essential journeys. I wish the building of bike-lanes was no longer a political issue but it most definitely is.
People talking quietly about bike infrastructure in Vancouver: Turn up volume Loud, unnecessary music interlude: Turn down volume People start talking quietly about bike infrastructure again: Turn volume back up Unnecessarily loud music starts again: Frantically turn volume back down Excellent video, but there are definitely a couple of "minus 2" moments. 6:23: "Do not industrialise the waterfront." The entire waterfront of downtown Vancouver is inaccessible.
Car free summer sounds nice but if you’re going to do that, then you might as well go the whole hog and just ban cars from the city centre entirely. That length of time is more than enough for people to form new habits. It’s unlikely drivers would go back to driving after a whole season of doing something else.
That two-way bike lane on one side of the street seems dangerous to me. When drivers turn right, they will instinctively be looking for cyclists beside and behind them, but they won't look for cyclists coming from in front of them, especially if there is a vehicle on the other side of the intersection and a cyclist comes out from beside that vehicle suddenly, into the path of the turning vehicle.
It's a 1 way street so there are no cars on the other side of the intersection, you have a clear view. Also bikes and cars have separate traffic lights so they cross the intersection at different times. In practice it works great. I think the best part for drivers is that these separated bike lanes are visually super obvious so bikes going past you on your right isn't a surprise.
@@fallenshallrise That makes a lot more sense, thanks for sharing. I cycled down one of those paths the other day and it did feel much safer than I expected.
