The traffic numbers are slowly going up for the Dunsmuir bike lane, in spite of those who are attempting to cast doubt as to the accuracy of the data.
The bike lanes tend to be a topic of conversation with those that know I have an interest in municipal politics.
Of course, the ones that feel the need to speak to me tend not to be supporters or even indifferent to them, because as is the usually the case, it is the opponents that are the first to voice their opinions.
And, I have heard of the usual responses from these people before:
“No one uses the lanes. There is no traffic on them.”
“The biking lobby have co-0pted the Mayor’s office to the detriment of drivers.”
“The amount of cyclists in this city do not warrant this kind of expense.”
But yesterday the City released the first figures to emerge from the Dunsmuir bike lane trial, and the numbers show that the intent of increasing cycling traffic into the downtown core is showing signs of success (although I have no idea how they came up with the 250% increase – my math says 300).
What comes next for the detractors? Well, they attack the accuracy of the statistics, making ridiculous statements like “The figures the city has published about bike riders are absolute rubbish – if they were even remotely true, you would always see many, many more bike riders on Burrard Bridge – but you can never see more bike riders than pedestrians, never, regardless of the time of day.”
Here, however, are a few things to consider.
