Your tie is cutting off the oxygen again

Like I do with most Alex Tsakumis rants, I didn’t stop laughing and shaking my head while reading his latest, found in today’s edition of the 24 Hours newspaper.

Tsakumis starts off with his best impression of Fox News’ Glenn Beck, whose anti-global warming pontifications are far more eloquently worded, but on par with Tsakumis’ love of all things big, dirty and self-polluting (I’m talking about his vehicle, not the driver).

If Alex doesn’t like the Burrard Bridge trial, or the people that ride bikes in this city (a group he affectionately refers to as cycling fascists), then that is fine, because he isn’t alone in his complaints.

What I do take issue with is Tsakumis’ use of false data, sloppy math, and flawed arguments.

First, to clarify, average commute times for vehicles traveling south bound from Georgia Street to West 12th during rush hour have NOT gone up by 6 minutes.  In the morning, they have increased (not to the extent that Tsakumis claims), but during the afternoon they have decreased.  For vehicles taking the same stretch north bound, both morning and afternoon wait times have dropped.

For a confirmation of this, you can visit the City of Vancouver’s webpage of statistics, which currently has been collected up until August 30.

Tsakumis also refers to these figures as the “mayor’s own numbers,” as if Gregor Robertson is out there every day collecting and obfuscating the data.  The information is compiled by the City of Vancouver engineering department, and if Tsakumis has a better or more accurate system of data collection, maybe he should give them a call directly to offer his pearls of wisdom.

Finally, Tsakumis talks about how increased congestion leads to higher greenhouse gas emissions, and decides that “as a green initiative the Burrard Bridge bike trial is already a MASSIVE failure.”

Well, by that kind of reasoning, we should have highways throughout the City of Vancouver to ease congestion and reduce pollution.

That kind of logic is why the NPA’s former “brain trust” is sitting around trying to figure out how to become relevant again.

The theory of induced demand when it comes to highways is simple – if you build it, they will come.  Each new highway or highway lane draws more cars until it, too, is congested.  Some of these cars are drawn from other roads, but many represent trips that otherwise would not be made.

There are numerous sources that back up this concept, but a good one to reference is Urban Transportation Economics by Kenneth Small, pp. 113-117, which states that “50-80% of increased highway capacity is soon filled with generated traffic.”

Tsakumis is a commentator that is most often full of hyperbole and gusto without the facts to back up his vitriol.

Speaking of which, I am fully prepared for some of that vitriol to come my way now that this post has been written – once again, in typical Tsakumis fashion.

Fortunately for Vancouverites, the predictions fell flat on their face (without wearing a helmet, I might add) and a well-planned trial has proven that its obituaries were clearly premature.  Today, the most challenging hurdle that the trial has faced to date was cleared without incident.

It is quite funny to see the naysayers (non-supporters for the sake of politics, not reason) scurry to adapt their positions.  Councillor Suzanne Anton’s goalposts have shifted so many times, it is hard to figure out which way she is heading – first it was the AM traffic that was going to be hell, then it was the PM traffic that was going to prevent people from getting home, then it was the Celebration of Light fireworks traffic that was going to wreak havoc, and finally it was today – the first day back to school and work after the summer – that was going to lead to Armageddon.

One other thing – throughout this trial, Anton has claimed that “by far, the most cost-effective solution, the one that increases capacity for cyclists and pedestrians, and the one which doesn’t take away from all of the other bridge users, is the sidewalk-widening option.”

Well, that option would cost $66 million ($33 million to widen the sidewalks, and $30 million to repair the disintegrating concrete elements so that they can support the added weight).  How that is more economical than a trial that costs $1.5 million (and a potential permanent solution that wouldn’t add much more to the equation) or a pedestrian/bike bridge pegged at $45 million is baffling, and something for the NPA bean counters to try and explain.

Oh, and that abovementioned website?  Well, it is now devoted as a “place to celebrate the success of the Burrard Bridge lane experiment.”

Of course, the authors pose an ominous question to maintain their original hunt for opposition fodder:

“Someday the summer doldrums will end, and people will want to start commuting across the city in and out of downtown. Then we’ll see if the $1.5 million was worth it.”

Welcome to the fall, gentlemen.