This Is Not A Bike Lane (...And Why We Need Them)

Some think the 10th ave. and 8/7/6/5th Avenue bike routes are bike lanes. In this video I talk about the reality of Vancouver's cycling routes, Vancouver City Councils decision to not include protected bike lanes on Broadway and why we need them.
0:00 This is not a bike lane
0:35 What is a bike lane?
2:02 Is 10th a bike route for everyone?
3:29 Problems with our bike ways
5:36 Why we need good bike lanes
8:17 City Council cancels bike lane
10:44 Bike lanes, boon on commercial streets (Broadway)
12:21 Conclusion
This Is Not A Bike Lane (...And Why We Need Them)

[@jellybeansi]

My opinion? If you can't see a young kid cycling down it without your stomach dropping, it's not a bike lane.

[@kailahmann1823]

In Germany kids under 8 must and under 10 can cycle on EVERY sidewalk, when there is no separated bike lane.

[@5688gamble]

It is crazy! Imagine if they said they weren't going to put car lanes on a street becaus another street nearby already has them? The car-heads would have a fit!

[@joe42m13]

People worried about traffic don't seem to realize that every person who rides a bike or takes public transportation mean one less car on the road.

[@TheOnlyKontrol]

No it doesn’t when our population increases so much every single year

[@joe42m13]

@@TheOnlyKontrol you prefer to stick them in more cars instead?

[@jess_o]

@@TheOnlyKontrol You aren't much a thinker, are you

[@pkg24]

I noticed the argument in the article. "YOU need to think about the elderly, we are not as limber as 20 year olds".... yeah old people bike in Europe. It keeps you limber, healthier & living longer.

[@geoff5623]

e-bikes also increase the number of people who can cycle, e-trikes even more so for some people with other mobility challenges (or just small passengers or cargo), and other mobility devices can make use of cycle lanes instead of navigating through pedestrians on sidewalks when beneficial. But without good, wide, cycle lanes that are well connected to destinations, it's harder for people to choose these transportation options for trips that they would be good for.

[@rjh00]

7:46 So even IF car drivers did pay for the roads, the only roads they really pay for is highways, which are roads that are exclusively used by them, so it would make sense that they pay for those roads. So really, car drivers should be charged MORE to make up for the 30 % of the highway that they aren't paying for.

[@danielvibar8543]

I ride these streets all the time. These bike lanes are a joke. They treat cyclists like second-class citizens in Vancouver. My work brought me to Richmond and my goodness it is a dream to ride there. Excellent video!

[@jellybeansi]

I remember constantly hearing, just a few years back, that Vancouver was leading the way re: bicycle infrastructure in Canada. Now it seems every other municipality is running circles around them. It's very good to see other places picking up the slack, I'm definitely a bit sad Vancouver has fallen behind momentum-wise.

[@marcom9103]

And I thought Vancouver was the progressive capital of the world?

[@danielvibar8543]

@@marcom9103 they say that but they are removing bike lanes from Stanley park. The roads are also so poorly maintained it’s almost like a conspiracy by mechanics shops. Having an off-road rated vehicle is not the wild idea at all.

[@kjancku]

Richmond is a living hell for biking. So much worse than Vancouver! We have zero bike infrastructure aside from the Railway Greenway, which doesn't even go anywhere.

[@kailahmann1823]

We Europeans tend to say "you don't need a bike lane at 30 km/h or lower" but may forget to mention the exceptions: * 30 means the actual speed, not what's stated - which may vary in both directions. My street here has less than 6m and on-street parking. So everybody with more than two brain cells drives

[@nicthedoor]

Thanks. I think this is what I was trying to say but obviously fumbled. For example, today I was riding my scooter and a woman zoomed past me. I sped up to see how fast she was going and at 50+ kph I could not keep up. This is so common it's the norm. Too many cars zooming through these streets.

[@scottfrazer4669]

Overcoming car culture is going to be a monumental effort but it’s a fight worth fighting. I’m grateful you’re making videos like this!!! I switched to biking as my primary mode of transportation in Boston and I advocate to anyone who will listen!

[@Siranoxz]

Keep fighting the good fight my friend.. If we Dutch can do it, so can you.

[@fatherboniface8804]

I agree. Also a Boston 65yo biker (for two years now), I support anyone showing videos of advocacy for urban biking. Keep up the good work!

[@Potato-dx5mc]

6:05 Unfortunately, Burrard lost the title of the busiest bike line in NA since the opening of the REV in Montreal :( Just another symptom of a city that was once a leader for cycling infrastructure but slowly degrading. Thanks for the video!

[@nicthedoor]

Thank you. I know of the REV, did not know it became that popular.

[@michaelkalus7802]

ABC made a very clear statement with that decision. Congrats to Sim and his party to move Vancouver back 15 years in one fellow swoop.

[@TTRTIM]

I rode the 10th Ave bikeway from the Cambie Skytrain station to Hemlock St on New Years Day. I saw a fair few folks out on their bikes but I definitely felt like it needed improvement. I felt like a bit of a jackass because I was going slowly because I didn't exactly know where I was going, or whether cars turning in and out of driveways would actually respect my right of way, so in the parts that did have a separated bike lane I was a bit of a traffic jam and people were having to take to the street to get around me. We also need to talk about how an inconsistency in the design of bike infrastructure leads to precisely the inconsistency and unpredictability of bicycle behaviour that car drivers love to complain about. People in cars generally behave in a predictable way because no matter where you go in BC the roads are going to be designed in the same way and have been designed the same way for your entire life. But bike infrastructure will completely change designs within a few blocks, the way you're treated at intersections will be different as well, sometimes you're expected to pretend you're a car when making a left, other places will require you make a Copenhagen left with very little by way of signage to explain how it's supposed to work. And you shouldn't need signage for the most part, it should just make sense and be consistent.

[@heatherallen9201]

So true. Signage only helps those who already know where they are going. Better roadside maps, even spray paint on the pavement, consistent verbiage through municipalities would make bad not as bad.

[@WilliamThyer]

My new favorite urban planning/bike infrastructure channel

[@AdamsHadEnough]

If the option is a bike lane like on 10th near VGH, I'll take a normal street bike route like 14th any day. It's not the cars that worry me, it's the pedestrians who walk onto the bike lane thinking it's sidewalk.

[@nathandavidowicz3721]

Look at the new painted bike lane on Nanaimo St. ( what a missed opportunity )

[@adamnunn3017]

Great video, and great explanation of the issues around bike infrastructure. As long time cyclist and recent car-free convert, I'm increasingly annoyed at the large vehicles on these narrow roads that act like they deserve the entire width of the road just because they chose to bring 3 more tonnes of metal with them than I did!

[@oceanwonders]

I enjoyed riding along 10th this summer, but you're right - it's not safe enough for the Stress Level 1 people.

[@Michelle-qu7zj]

excellent video!!!! for the public hearing for the bike lane on broadway there were like 40 speakers in support and one or two against and you summed up the pro arguments really well! the public hearing didn't matter in the end since abc rules and they don't care about climate change or safety but we will just have to vote them out next time and vote onecity in. :)

[@eugenetswong]

Hello, from Surrey, BC. I agree about Broadway.

[@wasifkhan367]

well put together video! keep up the good work

[@jamesb9780]

Really high-quality video that covers the issues around the Broadway corridor.

[@Jawes222]

Keep up the good work!

[@arlenefox558]

cars where i live swear at me to scare me off the streets..and distracted drivers go into bike lanes..ive also had drivers pass me then purposely drive into bike lane in front of me to scare me

[@cargo_roam]

Informative and sassy, I like it 🤙🏽

[@robertemumford]

Getting in on being one of the 1st 500 subscribers!

[@gustotrails]

I love there is people with the same concerns I have. Bike infraestructure exists in Vancouver, but needs to improve to really become a bike friendly city!

[@marcs1024]

Would love more videos like this about bike infrastructure in Vancouver!

[@kafetzou]

Great video. I would call myself a type 2, but I have no issue with the 10th Ave. bikeway from my home in East Van out to Alma (I know it doesn't go that far, but it almost seems to). Maybe that is because I usually cycle at non-peak hours, though.

[@in551125do]

Long way to go, but good luck anyway.....greetings from Amsterdam....!!

[@amorphousblob]

11:55 This is a good point. I've read many studies like this, and even in the studies that didn't have slam-dunk "cyclists always spend more" conclusions, they still affirmed that while drivers may spend more in a single trip, cyclists and pedestrians spend way more than drivers over a given period of time. In the long run, cyclists and pedestrians win out.

[@mikko.g]

Why do we just accept that fast metal boxes just have to be accommodated for first and everybody else gets what is left over!?! We don't need bike lanes. We need to reduce the number, reduce the speed, reduce the desirability of using metal boxes on wheels. 20-30 Km/h designed roads are absolutely safe for bikes, and micromobility, and pedestrians. Bike lanes are great when its exclusively away from the road, but unless its an 80 Km/h high volume rural road, buffered bike lanes are garbage while bike gutters are always garbage. Roads are for people, not cars, and we need to return to treating them like that. If people are using roads, and roads are naturally designed to be slow, then safety will go up. Nobody feels unsafe riding a bike on a quiet residential street. Might as well say sidewalks are safer for bikes because cars are not on sidewalks going 80 km/h. Cyclist awareness of their surroundings contributes a significant portion to this segregated safety. Buffered bike lanes are just sidewalks with pedestrians only there some of the time.

[@RaiderNation-North]

John Stossel couldn’t have done better himself. You do pro level reporting Nic!

[@Monkeybone_]

I ride a bike and riding next to parked cars gives me huge anxiety, I need to be super alert and go really slow

[@Arachn4]

I say you'd make a better city councilman. At least you should be a consultant to them!

[@nicthedoor]

Far too flattering. I lack the intelligence.

[@Arachn4]

@@nicthedoor are you saying that the current council has a superior intelligence?

[@chronicalcultivation]

Did you live in Richmond before? You seem familiar (I work downtown though?)

[@nicthedoor]

Worked down there a few times. Maybe 5 years ago.

[@RJLupin-zu9xv]

Can't we just break the guillotine out and make sure those in power are moving in the right direction?

[@menikmati789]

Please do a video about how terrible biking on prior between Lakewood and Clark is

[@Treps1]

Its fine actually. Since they closed 10th Avenue in front of the Safeway a few years back there is no traffic. Plus its a pretty scenic route with the trees on 10th. I don't like the part before or after that which is all hills.

[@menikmati789]

@@Treps1 Hahha I meant prior st ie the northern most bike route in the city, beside the port

[@Treps1]

@@menikmati789 oh yeah that sucks bad

[@knrz2562]

Downtown Houston has some nice 🚲 ⚟

[@GurHenuoasHazourem]

Awesome! Keep besieging the enemy :D

[@TheShawnster]

you need more viewers i do not understand the lack of followers 😅

[@nicthedoor]

Eh, pretty new channel. I'll keep plugging away. Thank you 🙏

[@theepimountainbiker6551]

I once asked a "my gas tax pays for the roads" guy why are EVs allowed on roads yet you want bikes off the roads and refuse to pay for bike lanes. The look on their face was priceless

[@eugenetswong]

That's a beautiful question!

[@MichaelSalo]

The delivery service access seems like an important argument in favor of bike lanes, for the local economy.

[@FrostyButter]

Gotta love the "what about senior citizens" argument against bike infrastructure - as if we want a city full of elderly people tooling around in 2-ton metal death machines instead lol

[@thatguy5233]

meanwhile in Eu (the capital of Poland): we're gonna replace this smooth bike lane with a harsh one because it looks "better" (meaning "older"). as someone who always rides to his work on a skateboard, this hurt my soul. especially because i've read that a bike lane must be accesible by all sorts of wheel-sizes, so i thought "at least it's only gonna get better", but as always, one thing is to state it, the other is to actually follow it. you just do a pull that i'm starting to doubt is even real? did people really vote to replace a perfect bike lane with literally a worse one? we Poles are too attached to our history and it makes so many places unusable even for cars, let alone bikes. brick streets are all over Krakov for example and it's a pain even in a car.

[@jess_o]

Street side parking on non-residential streets drives me absolutely crazy, at least for 2-lane roads. To me, it seems like such an obviously stupid thing to do, for both congestion and safety purposes, that I feels like something someone who wanted to purposefully sabotage cities would do

[@tubehead101]

It's a well made video and Nic makes a lot of good points. We need cycling infrastructure and it's true that 10th is not a AAA bike lane, but the suggestion is that anything but AAA is somehow dangerous and stops most from cycling. I don’t see that. I cycle east west on 10th sometimes, but more often, 13th or 14th. Not even a designated bike route, and yet it's so safe and quiet. All the way from Kits to Main, I rarely pass a moving car. If I want to go shopping in Kits, as I often do, I always feel really safe on the quiet residential streets and I see other cyclists, old, and young, cycling on these streets as well. My daughter and I used to ride to her school together in Kits. Never felt unsafe. When I get to Broadway to shop, I get off my bike, lock it and go shopping. I don’t need to cycle on Broadway to shop on Broadway. I appreciate and support safe biking routes, but generally, I think most find that we have a lot of really safe cycling right now. Reports and reviews about biking in Vancouver are full of praise for the cycling infrastructure and appeal of biking here. We have dedicated AAA lanes where we need them, like on Burrard Bridge, and in the future, on Granville too. Also downtown and in the West End, many quiet streets to bike on. Where we don't have AAA, it's mostly still really, really safe on quiet residential streets which run parallel to arterials. I love the Arbutus Greenway and other routes, but I don’t need to use them exclusively. I'm pudgy over 60 and never feel unsafe cycling here. I don't own any lycra, apart from a bit in my socks, and I have no problem cycling most anywhere in Vancouver. I'm not going to cycle on Oak St during rush hour, but we are blessed with numerous quiet parallel residential streets, so it’s easy to avoid. This isn’t an argument against safe cycling infrastructure, but just a context. Beach Avenue is clearly popular, but to get there you have to bike on normal roads, so if you see lots of people using that bike lane, it follows that those same people were likely willing to get there on normal roads. One of the biggest barriers for many is bike theft. I know I won’t cycle downtown if I have to leave my bike anywhere I feel risks theft. We need safe places to lock our bikes, but that means getting off and walking because clearly they are not going to be on every single block. As for the decision not to put bike lanes on Broadway, I am guided by staff who have shown in the past to have a considerable bias towards bike lanes, so saying this one is not suitable, gives the view particular weight. If they said it could all be done without causing traffic issues, I'd be all for it. I would enjoy cycling on Broadway in a AAA lane (weather permitting, and that's a whole other thing), but they are saying it would not work. Are they manifestly anti bike lane? Clearly not, so why are they taking this view? The video mentions why staff took the decision, but that view is dismissed. I'm not inclined to do the same.

[@nicthedoor]

You're right. I left a lot on the cutting room floor and I was back and forth whether or not I should just cut what I said there. I do think local street bikeways can be AAA, however I do not see 10th meeting that standard in it's current state. There are still too many collisions between cars and cyclists. Data indicates people are not going to use it as much as a separated cycle track. As for dismissing their reasons, I wasn't explicit in linking the two, however data supports bike lanes adding revenue to the city which can offset the cost of building it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@tubehead101]

@@nicthedoor Thanks for your reply. I also meant to add another point, but then forgot. It's about who pays for roads and the oft made point that cars do not pay anything like the real cost of roads. To that, i would say that roads have a much broader functional purpose than just a means for private car owners to zip about. Roads are about delivering goods and services, getting people to and from work, school, etc, emergency access for police and ambulances and, of course, public transit. They are really vital to the economic and social health of our city, so the cost of roads can't be framed in terms of cars only. Indeed, even bikes get delivered to the bike shop in a truck using these roads. Great job with the video. Are you a filmmaker otherwise, or is it just a hobby?

[@nicthedoor]

@@tubehead101 I have heard this argument a few times. While it is true that roads aren't only for drivers and it should be recognized that those who don't drive need roads as well, the problem that I and others are trying to point out is that driving, especially those in SOV, are the root cause of our bloated and expensive streets and roads. Unlike public transit, moving large quantities of goods in trucks and emergency services, moving a large swath of the population in cars is very inefficient for individuals and society as a whole. Thanks 🙏 Just a hobbyist. ...and thanks again for your comments. I mean it. There are many people in the community that are hostile to questions or outside opinions. Glad we can talk about it :)

[@cadriver2570]

It's unfortunate that a video is even required to explain this. Clearly the mayor does not care.

[@josargor8179]

def should move the bike lane to broadway street. 10th ave can be so hilly

[@theepimountainbiker6551]

You would think, with a 12 year old boy in Edmonton having just been run over and killed by a recycling truck just because he was biking to school it'd be enough of a reason to argue for bike lanes. This poor boy is far from the 1st, many cyclist are killed biking on roads cars are supposed to share or have painted gutter bike lanes. When a car intersection causes too many collisions they redesign it, when cyclists and pedestrians die by cars they ignore it.

[@SponsoredByDeath]

should I expect to see you at critical mass tomorrow?

[@nicthedoor]

I will be there :)

[@nathandavidowicz3721]

Could have a Bike Tunnel on Broadway

[@nathanjang2414]

Technically with your definition of a bike lane, the 10th Avenue Bikeway is technically a bikeway. It is designated by many signs and pavement markings (although some worn out). Broadway does not need bike lanes when there needs to have two lanes per directions for emergency vehicles accessing Vancouver General Hospital. Instead the City should just upgrade the existing bikeway on 10th to a mostly finished separated bike lane along its entire length. People voted for this new council, and the council is addressing other concerns that actual citizens want.

[@nathanjang2414]

Also, the Millennium Line is already addressing and reducing the amounts of cars on Broadway. They are already getting rid of two traffic lanes for more pedestrian space.

[@nicthedoor]

Sorry if I'm mistaken, but it sounds like you're suggesting myself and those who share my concerns here in the city aren't actual citizens. I did call it a bikeway in the video. It's not a bike lane. We can disagree on Broadway but my points stand with the data.

[@nathanjang2414]

For the definition you said “a bike lane is a portion…” so then 10th Avenue would be a bike lane with the definition you gave. The city should have explored more options along Broadway such as allowing bicycles to share the sidewalk, or paint a line on the sidewalk giving some space to bikes which is found on the sea wall.

[@nicthedoor]

@@nathanjang2414 I mean, we can get into semantics but a bike lane is a portion of a road with striping, signage and pavement markings. As laid out in the video the majority of blocks do not meet that criteria. 10th has bike lanes but 10th isn't a bike lane. To your point. Yes, that is what I would like to see. 4 car lanes and a designated bike lane on either side slightly grade separated between peds and autos.

[@nathanjang2414]

I understand that 10th Avenue is a bikeway,, I even said so myself. However when you said the description of a bike lane, 10th Ave fits most if not all of the criteria. There are bike signs and pavement markings although worn out along the street.

[@theepimountainbiker6551]

🤣 when your excuse to not build a bike lane is a road next to it already has 1 but you went and built a road next to a place that already had a road 🤣

[@bikebudha01]

Bike lanes are overrated... I mean... most of the footage in this video shows hundreds of bikes getting along just fine... Way to disprove your own point while trying to make it...

[@justaboutbean]

I understand your point that people can use the roads as they are, but it's always better to not risk getting run over by a car. Bike lanes also minimize traffic slowdowns by keeping bikes out of the road.

[@bikebudha01]

@@justaboutbean everything you said isn't true. Bikes don't slow down traffic. I've been riding in traffice, and driving in traffice for decades. I've never slowed anyone down, nor been slowed down wether driving or biking...

[@JimMelanson]

You woke hippies will never overcome cars. Cars are awesome. I love going for drives.

[@nicthedoor]

You should take a look over your shoulder...you might see the point you missed.

[@JimMelanson]

@@nicthedoorHahaha that was pretty clever! I actually really enjoy your content. I disagree with a fair bit of it but always like hearing reasonable perspectives from different view points.

[@Splenda257]

You don't need a bike lane to ride a bicycle on a street.

[@nicthedoor]

how to tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me.

[@alex2143]

No, but bad or nonexistent bike infrastructure kills cyclists. And conversely, good bike infrastructure induces more people to ride a bike, which benefits everyone.

[@rdevries3852]

Speaking as someone from the Netherlands, which has (at the risk of sounding overly nationalistic) probably the best bicycle infrastructure in the world; you're right, you don't _need_ a bike lane. You should really _want_ good bicycle infrastructure though. Good bicycle infrastructure makes riding a bicycle vastly safer, significantly faster and much more comfortable. And when cycling is safer, faster and more enjoyable, people will actually do it, which (as alex2143 already mentioned) benefits everyone. Some people _can't_ drive and good cycling (and pedestrian) infrastructure gives these people a far greater degree of mobility and independence than they would otherwise have. Others may simply not want to drive, but are effectively forced to, because there isn't really a viable alternative. And the people who _do_ want to drive? Well, they're better off too. Even stationary (i.e. parked) a car takes up about as much space as a dozen bicycles. A moving car takes up even more space, with the relative amount of space required for safe operation increasing with speed. Which is to say, if you can get even just a relatively small percentage of people out of their cars and onto a bicycle, you create a _lot_ of extra space on the road, significantly reducing congestion and making driving a much safer and more enjoyable experience. Additional benefits of quality bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure include; better air quality, more exercise, less noise pollution, lower maintenance costs, more social interaction, increased commercial revenue and just plainly more pleasant surroundings.

[@nicthedoor]

@@rdevries3852 Well said 👏