Vancouver is not the only West Coast city that has been installing bicycle lanes on downtown streets over the objections from critics in the business community.
Seattle installed five new bike lanes in 2010 – more than in any previous year. A painted line separates cyclists from traffic in all of the Emerald City’s current bike lanes, although there’s one proposed lane that would be separated from traffic by a concrete barrier.
Many of Seattle’s bike lane projects and policies predate the arrival of Mayor Mike McGinn, an avid cyclist who took office in January. But the perception in the Washington-state metropolis is that the city’s Cascade Bicycle Club has more clout at city hall than do business advocates.
Critics of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson have similarly claimed that the avid cyclist pays more attention to what the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition says than to what business representatives say.
There are many similarities between Vancouver and Seattle when it comes to promoting cycling as a viable alternative to driving a motor vehicle.
Differences, however, predominate.
Cascade Bicycle Club advocacy director David Hiller believes that aside from cyclist-friendly mayors, the two cities share:
- laws that require cyclists to wear helmets;
- the expensive challenge of installing bike lanes on bridges given that, unlike Calgary, both Vancouver and Seattle are bounded by water; and
- methodical city officials who do extensive studies of traffic volume, turn patterns and crashes before forging ahead with projects.
“There’s a difference between collecting data and being consultative,” Hiller noted.
Vancouver civic politicians have been slammed for not consulting the public enough before installing bike lanes.
Non-Partisan Association city counsellor Suzanne Anton went as far as to call the current Vision Vancouver council a “kangaroo council” because Hornby Street bike lane construction started hours after an evening vote authorized the project, which implied that the vote was simply a rubber stamp.
In contrast, Hiller said many believe Seattle consults too much.
“We’re famous for our process here,” he said. “Even for a small project that has been on the list for a long time, the city will go out and put door hangers and hold public meetings to discuss things.”
Other significant differences between Vancouver and Seattle include:
- Seattle is cut up by freeways; Vancouver is not;
- Seattle has what Hiller calls the “Hippocratic oath: first do no harm to cars”; Vancouver’s 1997 transportation plan clearly identified that priority be given first to pedestrians, then cyclists, then goods movement and, lastly, motor vehicles;
- Seattle’s central city has much steeper hills than does Vancouver; and
- Seattle tends to consider separated bike lanes only when it saves the city money; Vancouver’s pilot-project separated bike lanes are expected to cost taxpayers $4 million.
City documents show that the Dunsmuir Street bike lane was built in June 2010 for $810,000, or $90,000 under budget.
The latest city documents estimate that the Hornby Street bike lane will cost $3,260,000, or 55.2% more than the original $2,100,000 estimate.
Seattle Department of Transportation rail transit manager Ethan Melone told Seattle city council in September that the city’s only proposed separated cycle lane, which is part of the First Hill streetcar project, would pay for itself.
That’s because, were it not for the bike lane, there would be utilities under the proposed streetcar track that would have to be moved because they couldn’t support the weight of the streetcar.
There are marginally fewer commuter bicycle trips in Seattle than there are in Vancouver.
Hiller’s data shows that in Seattle cyclists make 3% of total commuter trips – double the 1.5% that Seattle cyclists made in 1990, compared with other modes of transport, but it’s much less than in Portland (5.8%) and Vancouver (4%).
Robertson has often pointed to Copenhagen as an example of a city that has an enviable bicycle infrastructure and culture. That city, where cyclists account for 37% of all commuter trips, has high taxes that deter car ownership and use.
According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Copenhagen has a vehicle registration state tax of 105% on new cars for the first $14,852 and a tax of 180% on anything above $14,852. A 25% value-added tax is charged atop that. In addition, gasoline costs twice what it does in Vancouver.
The net result is that the equivalent of a Vancouverite buying a basic $16,000 Honda Civic in Copenhagen would be buying a mid-range BMW ($45,000).