Candidate says she won’t yield to cyclists
Vancouver mayoral hopeful Young vows to fight ‘ideological war on transportation’
Vancouver mayoral hopeful Wai Young took aim at “lawless” cyclists and pedestrians when she promised to rip out bike lanes in front of Vancouver General Hospital and turn half of the city’s parking enforcement officers into bylaw officers to ticket bikers and walkers and to clear illegally parked cars.
Young chose a small pedestrian island between the brand new bike lane and the car lane on 10 Avenue at Laurel Street to read a prepared statement citing cyclists’ “attitude of entitlement” and pedestrians’ “dangerous jaywalking” and she vowed to fight the “ideological war on transportation.”
Young, who arrived a few minutes late for the news conference because she was “stuck in traffic,” may be trying to secure voters who do not agree with the four other mayoral candidates who support bike lanes, according to UBC political science Prof. Max Cameron.
And that could be enough to win the mayoral race, crowded with a field of candidates with similar platforms, he said.
“Differentiation is the name of the game for her,” Cameron said. “It is a crowded field and there’s been a collapse of the centre. A narrow issue could allow you to stand out. If she gets 20 per cent (of the vote), who knows, it could be enough.”
When Young arrived, she couldn’t have arranged the backdrop better herself for her message that “healthy cyclists” were being given precedence over frail patients needing to access the emergency department at VGH: An ambulance backed in beside Young to attend to a call at a nearby apartment building, and the paramedics weren’t able to pull up to the curb because of the bike lane.
“They’re giving healthy cyclists the right of way when the vulnerable and the sick need to cross the road,” she said, as the paramedics prepared a stretcher.
Young said Vision Vancouver over the past 10 years in power ignored what the majority wanted for transportation solutions. She called the system “broken” and said building more bike lanes is the solution from “those who broke it.”
“They want to social engineer us and tell us how to live our lives,” she said.
Young, of Coalition Vancouver, offered instead her “common sense solutions,” in which she promises that immediately after she becomes mayor, half of the city ’s parking enforcement officers “will be retrained or will be let go.”
Those retrained would work as bylaw officers who would be tasked under new tougher traffic laws to keep traffic flowing, especially during rush hour.
The officers “will have the ability to ticket any cyclist, pedestrian or vehicle driver who hinders traffic flow,” she said.
Young on Tuesday also promised to help small businesses by freeing up parking at meters on Sundays and ending metered parking by 8 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.
Cameron said if Young’s goal is to ease congestion, “I’m not sure people parking during peak times is the challenge.”
He said urban planners agree the way to speed up traffic is to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles and progressive cities are encouraging more bikes and pedestrians.
Young promised to take out the 10 Avenue bike lanes to return onstreet parking for those accessing the emergency department.
“They (Vancouverites) said, we don’t want this ridiculous bike lane but they were ignored,” she said.
Mayor candidate Ian Campbell of Vision Vancouver, in an email, called Young ’s plan to remove bike lanes “very disturbing” and a “big step backward.”
They’re giving healthy cyclists the right of way when the vulnerable and the sick need to cross the road.
He claimed 10 Avenue by VGH is “now safer for all users because pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers now have separated routes” and said it would be a waste of tax dollars to remove them.
“Didn’t they just put the bike lanes in?” asked Katelyn Laniger, who lives in the area and stopped to hear the announcement. “I’m super happy they keep building these bike lanes and I wouldn’t be happy if they took them out. I always bike 10th.”
But Mary Lavin, holding a sign that she said showed images of accidents on Point Grey Road, said she supports Young because as resident of Point Grey Road, she has seen how closing the road to vehicles in favour of cyclists has made driving there unsafe.
She said half the cyclists don’t wear helmets, they ride erratically and don’t stop for traffic signals.
Lavin said Vancouver city hall failed to carry out a proper safety analysis and she and her neighbours hired a private firm to do one on Point Grey Road and the firm found many safety deficiencies, she said.