Cycling isn’t part of our cultural fabric in the capital region
Re: City has put a price tag on cycling safety, May 20.
When I was a teenager, as an avid cyclist who spent much time riding along the Rideau Canal I had a crazy dream: The city should build elevated cycling “express lanes” over the canal bikeway to allow riders to move quickly to their destination, while the lower “collector lanes” would provide access to entry and exit points along the way.
Unfortunately, we do not yet live in a city, or even continent, where cycling is truly a part of the cultural fabric. As such, we cannot fairly compare Ottawa to the Netherlands. It is no surprise that they spend 10 times what we do per capita on cycling infrastructure — a quick view in any Dutch city would make you think that they spent 100 times what we do, and that there are 100 times the cyclists.
While Ottawa is improving in cycling safety, there is much yet to be done — the painted lines and arrows on city streets are only superficial. That said, they do provide some kind of alert to drivers and they do indicate that the city is moving in the right direction in trying to bring cycling into the mainstream. Let’s face it, there are massively more cyclists around Ottawa today than there were 20 years ago.
Meantime, and even when Ottawa does reach Dutch status, it is upon all of us to share the responsibility of safety, drivers and bikers alike. There is no “us versus them.” More importantly, when our risk as cyclists is much higher, it is upon us to take an even greater share of that responsibility. Ilan Arnon, Ottawa