Squeaky Wheels Get the Grease: Update!

Why Bikes are Best!

The bicycle is the most efficient vehicle ever devised; a human on a bicycle is more efficient (in calories expended per pound and per mile) than a train, truck, airplane, boat, car, motorcycle or jet pack.

Nearly half of all trips in the North America are three miles or less; more than a quarter are less than a mile, distances easily covered by bike while saving you money and getting you fit.

Every mile traveled by bike rather than by car keeps one pound of climate-damaging carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, while reducing cash draining stops at the pump.

Bicycles outnumber automobiles almost two to one worldwide, and their production outpaces cars by three to one.

Of all the trips in the North America, just two-thirds of a percent are made by bicycle.

Only 1 percent of Canadian commuters report bicycling as their usual mode of transportation.

The average car produces about five tons of carbon dioxide per year. In the US, cars were the source of about one-third of global warming pollution in 2005.

If Americans replaced just one in five of their average length car trips by bicycling, each driver would spare the atmosphere more than one ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Collectively, the effect would be comparable to taking 48 million vehicles off the road.

Short car trips are the easiest to replace with a bike trip. Mile for mile, they are also the most polluting.

For each mile of new lane, the materials and machinery used to build a highway release between 1,400 and 2,300 tons of greenhouse gases.

Among major U.S. cities, those with extensive bicycle lanes have three times the rate of bike commuting compared to other cities.

Bike-friendly policies, from traffic calming to car free downtown zones, have boosted cycling rates in five European nations to 10 percent or more of urban trips; one-fifth of all trips in Danish cities are made by bike, and one-third in Dutch cities.

It costs as much as twenty times more to support a passenger mile of automobile traffic compared to one of bicycle traffic.

In the long run, the measures most crucial to getting more people on their feet and on their bikes are those that fight sprawl and encourage dense, livable cities. On average, city dwellers drive a third as much and half as fast as suburbanites.

Source: the "bicycle" chapter of Seven Wonders for a Cool Planet

Feb. 10/2010

Hi Everybody,

Hope you are all well. A few quick updates:

PETITION

The petition is still on a tear: over 3000 of you have now signed it! Help me double or triple it in size before I present it to the Legislature in 20 days. Surely there are 10,000 cyclists in BC who know it’s nonsense to stick a new tax on cycling! Please ask your friends to check it out. The direct link to the petition is http://tinyurl.com/squeakywheels. Email me if you want a hard copy of the petition.

RALLIES

Over 150 people have RSVP’d for the 12pm Wed March 3^rd bike rally at the Legislature. That is fantastic! We’re working on a few surprises for the event: don’t miss out! You can RSVP at the facebook rally event page. Please send an invite out through your network.

Cyclists around the province who can’t make it to Victoria on March 3 have spontaneously begun to organize their own rallies in support!

In Nanaimo, cyclists are meeting at the corner of Comox Road and Terminal Ave, on March 3, at 4pm for a ride and support rally. Their facebook event page is here.

In Vancouver, a number of people are even planning to ride over on mass, catching the 9am ferry. Sidney folks are planning to meet them on route and ride down to Victoria together. Their facebook event page is here.

There is still lots of time for you to organize your own event!

Keep in touch!

Lana

Lana Popham, MLA, Saanich South

250.479.4154

lana.popham.mla@leg.bc.ca

www.saanichsouth.ca

Update

Thank you for visiting squeakywheels.ca! I created this website to bring together cyclists from across BC who wanted to voice their opposition to the government’s decision to impose a new tax on cycling.

For almost thirty years, bikes (and bike expenses like repairs, helmets and locks) have been PST exempt. Why? Because successfive governments agreed it made no sense to tax such a healthy and environmentally-friendly form of transportation.

This rationale has only become stronger over time as we’ve learned more about the benefits of healthy living and the importance of reducing our carbon emissions. The more we can encourage people to ride bikes rather than drive cars, the better it is for everyone. It means less traffic congestion, less wear and tear on our roads and potentially lower health-care costs.

I wonder if the B.C. government can explain how jacking up the price of a bike is going to help make B.C. more sustainable or encourage people to make healthy lifestyle choices. How does this possibly advance B.C.’s Climate Action Plan?

A government that increases taxes on green transportation is traveling in the wrong direction.

I am of the view that we need to create incentives for green transportation and disincentives for more polluting forms of transportation. Standing up for cyclists as an Opposition MLA is one way that I can help keep the pressure on.

While we were unsuccessful in stopping the government from imposing the HST (on bicycles) we were part of a larger movement that has successfully kept alive the opposition to the HST.

Cyclists continue to argue that tax increases on green transportation options - like cycling - are a mistake. We are calling for provincial policy changes which will create incentives for people to choose greener ways to travel.

I will continue to make these arguments in and outside of the BC Legislature and I welcome your input and support.

Lana Popham

MLA Saanich South

lana.popham.mla@leg.bc.ca

Squeaky Wheels Get the Grease

Here's the bike rally route, 11am-1pm, Thurs 7 July 2011

Rally at the Legislature

Lana Popham's Twitter Feed

Why Bikes are Best!

The petition is now closed.

Check out the Petition Comments

Update!

Update