I believe active transportation should give people safe, realistic choices by connecting the whole journey, coordinating transportation with growth and infrastructure, and designing a system that works for people of different ages and abilities.
Thank you for raising this. Active transportation comes up frequently, and I think we often talk about it too narrowly.
What actually makes someone feel comfortable leaving their car at home? It is not one bike lane, one improved crossing or one section of new sidewalk. People need to know they can complete the entire trip safely.
I was a bicycle commuter for many years. When I lived in Saanich, I would put my bike on the bus because one stretch of the route was so treacherous that riding it felt like a suicide mission. Most of the trip was manageable, but that did not matter. One dangerous gap made the entire route unusable.
That experience has stayed with me because it demonstrates the problem with treating active transportation as a series of isolated projects. Where does the route begin and end? Does it connect people to schools, businesses, parks and transit? Can a child, senior or person using a mobility device travel safely, or does the design only work for a confident cyclist?
Esquimalt has a good Active Transportation Network Plan. It identifies many of the right priorities, including protected routes, safer intersections, lower speeds and missing sidewalk connections. The challenge now is making sure we do not simply work through a list of projects without considering how they function together.
How people move around Esquimalt is connected to almost every decision we make about growth. Where are we adding housing? What services will people need to reach? Can they walk, cycle or roll there safely? Is transit nearby? Are we coordinating the work with paving, drainage, lighting, utility replacement and tree-canopy planning, or will we have to tear up the same street again later?
The upcoming OCP review gives us an opportunity to work on those issues holistically, which I think is where the answers are hidden that will make the idea of active transportation less contentious. When we decide where growth should happen, we should also be asking whether the transportation network can support it. New development should help complete the surrounding connections. We should also proactively reclaim land along transportation corridors to eliminate vehicle-versus-bike conflicts because there would be enough room for both.
I support continuing to build safer routes, accessible sidewalks, better crossings and stronger connections to schools, parks, businesses and transit. Residents and businesses should have a real say in how those projects are designed. What access issues could a design create? Is there a safer or more practical option? What have we missed?
Asking enough of the right questions can lead to better projects. At the same time, consultation cannot mean reopening the entire question of whether people deserve safe ways to move through their community every time a street is improved.
My commitment is to make active transportation part of the new OCP and growth strategy, prioritize the gaps that prevent people from completing an entire trip safely, coordinate projects properly and report publicly on safety, accessibility, progress, maintenance and cost.
This is not about eliminating vehicles or pretending everyone can make every trip without one. It is about giving people safe and realistic choices. If one dangerous stretch can determine whether someone drives, takes the bus or cycles, I think we should be planning the whole journey. It would have saved me a lot of bus fare back in the day, that’s for sure.
I hope this answers your question. If anything else comes to mind, don’t hesitate to reach out.