Over the past few weeks, councilors and the mayor of the District of North Vancouver have been wringing their hands over the draft budget. What’s keeping everyone up at night? A tax increase to homeowners that would amount to less than the cost of a small coffee at the local cafe per month.
At issue are the long-planned and important items slated to be axed from the budget. Specifically, a list of developments aimed at making our streets safer for anyone not in a car across the district. The importance of maintaining bike lanes and other non-car routes cannot be overstated. The District of North Vancouver (DNV) is currently considering cutting funding for these essential infrastructure projects, but this decision would have negative consequences for the community’s health, safety, and economic growth.
Investing in non-car routes is vital for promoting public health. Transportation methods such as cycling and walking are effective in reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Additionally, non-car routes can decrease air pollution and noise levels, leading to a healthier environment for all North Shore residents.
Economic development is another reason to prioritize non-car routes. Research has shown that bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly streets can increase revenue for local businesses by making them more accessible to customers. Moreover, communities that prioritize all types of transportation tend to attract and retain more young professionals and families, which can contribute to a thriving local economy and higher property values.
Safety is a significant factor when it comes to promoting non-car routes. Dedicated bike lanes provide pedestrians and cyclists with a safe space to ride, and drivers can better avoid crashes with cyclists on the road. By investing in infrastructure that supports active transportation, communities can create a more connected and safer environment for everyone.
Finally, promoting non-car routes aligns with the DNV Official Community Plan’s broader goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. By reducing the number of cars on the road, communities can make a significant contribution to a more sustainable future.
The DNV may argue that the funding allocated to bike lanes and other non-car routes would be better spent elsewhere. However, cutting funding would be a shortsighted decision that ignores the needs of the community. Neglecting non-car routes would limit the community’s ability to grow economically, lead healthy lifestyles, and protect the environment.
Let’s face it, maintaining and expanding non-car routes is critical for the health, safety, and economic growth of the community. The DNV must prioritize the needs of the community and ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to create a safe, healthy, and thriving environment for everyone. Investing in non-car transportation methods is an investment in the community’s future, and it is the responsibility of the municipal government to promote a sustainable and prosperous future for all.
After all, if you own a home in the DNV and can’t afford what amounts to a small coffee per month at a cafe, let me know. We can safely bike to a cafe where I’ll treat you to one.
Greg Robins lives in Lynn Valley with his wife, two teenage children, and big dog Luna. He’s an avid snowboarder, hiker, and all-around community guy. Greg is a graduate of Sheridan’s Journalism program and holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University.
Great points. Apart from being a promise our elected leaders have made to the community, one of the biggest benefits of building out a safe, connected active transportation network across the north shore is that it’ll give people more options for getting around. It delivers a freedom of choice we don’t really have now. Traffic congestion is consistently the number one issue for north shore residents and countless real-world examples show that providing good alternatives to jumping in a car for every trip, shifting even a small number of trips to other modes, is a proven congestion-buster. Residents have been really clear that they want those choices and the District has committed to delivering them. That commitment needs to be reflected in the budget.
Unless you are a proponent of 15 minute cities, a driver will always choose to drive to their destination. That was the point of creating suburbs in the first place. Now the government wants to reverse this ideal and return everyone to the city. Ludicrous.
“maintaining and expanding non-car routes is critical for the health, safety, and economic growth of the community” – Really? Why? Aren’t things working fine now? Give me a tax cut and/or no increase please! There’s so much been spent on these “car alternative” projects over the years and how many people really use them? How much per cyclist was spent? I want real “Leadership” and someone to stand up against this ideological nonsense and start being fiscally responsible to the ones paying the taxes. With the yearly increase in the number of taxable units in the DNV & NVC, they should be able, at worst, to keep taxes at a zero increase. It’s time we demand our Cities and Govs at all levels reduce taxes. They are the ones destroying our way of life stealing money right from our pockets! This must stop!
Excellent article. Excellent points. DNV Council better be listening, because we are watching and demand better than has been seen by councillors and a mayor “trying to appear reasonable.” While shirking their responsibilities to act, and to act now.
@Tony: Things are not working well right now. Witness the grandpa killed in West Van earlier this week. Taxes are not stealing money from our pockets, they are us collectively choosing to spend money on things that benefit us all. Take your over-dramatic rhetoric back to Donald Trump where you got it from.
The Dutch spend nearly CAD $1 billion a year on active transportation, because they know it saves CAD $27 billion a year on health care. #CityMakingMath
That is fiscal responsibility. Invest in the future and the present. Spend a little bit of money on active transportation, on artificial turf fields, and make life better for the community.
Oh give me a break with your Trump rhetoric, you lost people with that comment. The Dutch have an active bike network because it is flat, not like North Vancouver with our hills, rain and winters. Count how many cyclists use the bike lane on the Parkway for example in the rain, or at night compared to the number of cars. Why should our tax dollars support a minority who feel privileged at the expense of people using cars?
A large part of the reason things are not working well now is the rush to poorly thought out development which has already overwhelmed our transportation infrastructure. It is well and good to talk about non-car transportation but to pretend that use of cars is going to drop dramatically in the short term is completely unrealistic. As a consequence transportation here has become slower and more dangerous than ever before. Anyone who has to travel regularly to and from the North Shore will testify to how badly our transportation has deteriorated in a short period of time. It is an unfortunate truth that in the short term more bike lanes will provide only more traffic problems
There has been no problem with foot mobility of residents of the North Shore to date. There are sidewalks in almost every neighbourhood. The problem is traffic congestion. More and more residential development is contributing to more traffic. BUT there are no more roads being built; in fact they are being narrowed to fit in bike lanes. Drivers have become angry and agressive due to the patience needed to drive on narrowed roads filled with all sorts of barracades. Your article is flawed as it is the health and safety of drivers which is the problem. The difficulty of driving on congested roads with angry drivers is a problem to a person’s mental health and physical safety! Sit on the east side of Grand Boulevard and count the number of cyclists using the north bound lane, previously a two way street. The closure of this lane and so many others is a reason that so many drivers have become angry and impatient. So if this spills into careless or reckless driving and pedestrians and cyclists feel unsafe, the cause is obvious. Get rid of the road junk and return the roads to being roads, not restaurants patios, cycling lanes, and every other purpose except what they were intended to be!
In my opinion bikes are for recreation .
Why?? because not all the population can ride a bike safely eg those with disabilities, seniors and those who generally find our topography to do iso a challenge . Consider those who do own
an e bike and electric scooter- they also own a car because it is easier to transport groceries
and other goods by car where added space is needed.
Increasing bike lanes for 2 to 3% of the population at a time of budget restraints
is as poor example of fiscal prudence. Those funds could be transferred to other areas of the population in dire need of increased municipal support such as local food banks and those agencies
supporting additional funds to aid people in finding shelter.
Whenever it s raining (seems like four months of the year) or in winter, or at night and I drive by those empty bike lanes that are put in mostly for fair weather riders when the weather is good. Tax payers dollars for the minority, Lee the lanes we have now and spend our money elsewhere, like repainting the lane lineson the street. Oh wait, we don’t count.