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Cycling given too much play in Victoria OCP

Reader questions supporting numbers contained in official community plan

The accuracy and validity of the numbers that are being used with respect to cyclists in Victoria’s draft Official Community Plan are artificially and conveniently inflated.

Under the transportation section it claims that 10 per cent of residents bike to work. Is that year-round, on average or one sunny day in mid-July?

Interestingly, with a projected price tag of  $275 million for full implementation, the recent Regional Pedestrian and Cycling Master Plan received negligible press or public comment (see http://www.crd.bc.ca/regionalplanning/transportation/cycling-walking/index.htm).

The recent Victoria Vital Signs Report mentions under Commute Method that only six per cent cycled to work, down from seven per cent in 2009-10 and eight per cent in 2007-08. And yet a noisy, well-organized lobby group wants to cover the region with bike trails.

I can see doing something like this over 25 years – with more current and more accurate numbers. But doing it over 10 years represents a substantial outlay, when there are many other, perhaps more important, priorities such as sewer and water and the upgrade of primary facilities.

To do otherwise during a time of austerity is irresponsible and a detriment to the greater bulk of the public.

Stan Bartlett

Victoria