Substantial support exists for motorists and cyclists in Vancouver, but comparatively little for pedestrians, say local advocates. Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, Stephanie Routh (left) directs a widely supported pedestrian organization that has operated for 18 years.

Credit: Doug Shanks

NEWS: Are we there yet?

As Vancouver’s monthly Critical Mass bike ride wound its way through the city last Friday (July 31), the hundreds of cyclists taking part in the controversial cycling-advocacy event elicited mixed reactions from motorists — even though the ride was, according to police, more peaceful than it has been in the past. Carfuls of young people honked their horns and leaned out of windows to cheer on the passing spectacle, and firefighters waved at the crowd of cyclists as it stopped to let their truck pass. On the other hand, a group of men voiced their opposition by yelling a long “Fuck you!” to the cyclists from their Yaletown balcony, which overlooked Critical Mass as it crossed the Granville Bridge. Later, on the Burrard Bridge, one man held out a stiff middle finger for the length of his drive into Kitsilano.

Meanwhile, on street corners and at bus stops, another battle brewed quietly: Pedestrians, some throwing their hands up in frustration, were caught in a sea of bikes and cars, the braver ones among them wildly darting into the bike traffic in a dicey attempt to cross the street.

The hundreds of cyclists who turned out for Critical Mass, coupled with recently announced efforts on the part of the mayor and the police to work with organizers to improve the safety of the event, demonstrated the strength of Vancouver’s bike culture. Pedestrians, however, seem to continually fly under the sustainable-transportation radar, despite their number-one spot on the hierarchy of the City of Vancouver’s Downtown Transportation Plan, which prioritizes pedestrians first, cyclists second, transit third, and motorists last. In the midst of a Burrard Bridge lane trial that has relegated pedestrians to one sidewalk on the west side of the bridge, and the City of Vancouver’s efforts to ‘green up’ the city with its Greenest City Action Team, pedestrians seem to have gotten lost in the shuffle. So says Anthony Perl, director of Simon Fraser University’s Urban Studies program, whose suggestion that Vancouver hire a pedestrian advocate has garnered widespread media attention of late.

“[The City of Vancouver] has a Bicycle Advisory Committee, so why not somebody for pedestrians, especially since pedestrians are supposed to come first under the Downtown Transportation Plan?” says West End Residents Association (WERA) spokesperson Terry Lavender. “People who are walking are still traffic; they’re still trying to get to their destination. But if you treat them as an obstacle and not part of the traffic flow, they tend to be ignored.”

Other cities, though, have ably demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be that way. In nearby Portland, Oregon, the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition (WPC) has been operating for 18 years. The group — largely volunteer-run until recently, when it received a grant through Oregon’s Northwest Health Foundation — has a board of directors that consists of people who work with the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, on Mayor Sam Adams’s transportation cabinet, and for TriMet, Portland’s public-transit agency. “We kind of have a really profound knowledge pool,” Stephanie Routh modestly tells WE when reached on her cellphone as she walks through the Portland streets. Routh is the new 33-year-old director of the WPC, her most recent community role to follow years of involvement with SHIFT (a Portland bike advocacy group) and Carfree Portland. “What we’ve been doing is to make sure that pedestrians’ needs are expressed and prioritized in policy and in projects that come up that affect people’s mobility,” she says.

One of the main objectives of the WPC is to demonstrate that all transportation modes are choices, particularly as cities densify and walking becomes more of a valid transportation choice, rather than just a form of recreation. “Pedestrian and cycling advocates are not trying to get people out of their cars and get them to set them on fire,” Routh explains. “They’re just trying to get them out of [their cars] a little more often, and make it less an imperative.”

Despite considerable gains in the realm of bike advocacy (Portland was ranked one of the world’s top 10 bicycling cities in the July issue of Travel and Leisure magazine), pedestrians are still underdogs, Routh says. “Bicycling has the artifact to rally around; it has the accessory of the bicycle... It has an industry, it has a look and feel, it has a culture, and it has an experience that’s very singular and unique to it.”

But pedestrianism comes with a blessing and a curse, she continues. “Everyone is a pedestrian, and therefore, no one is a pedestrian. That’s one challenge: to get people to identify as pedestrians.”

Back in Vancouver, Bev Ballantyne has been working on improving the public profile of pedestrians for years. She co-founded Putting Pedestrians First in 1998 with former COPE councillor Anne Roberts and another colleague who has since moved out of the city. But despite her long-standing advocacy on the issue, she hasn’t seen much in the way of change. “It’s a lot cheaper to build communities around pedestrians than it is around cars, but the powers that be absolutely refuse to accept that. The Burrard Bridge is a primary example of that,” she says. “We can’t seem to convince people that ensuring infrastructure, safety, and convenience for pedestrians is an economically smart thing to do. And I’m constantly dumbstruck by this lack of recognition.”

Putting Pedestrians First, unlike Portland’s WPC, is small, and does not have a strong influence over how the City develops transportation policy — and that’s a missed opportunity, says Ballantyne, especially given the City’s mandate. “[The City of Vancouver]’s mandate is land use and regulation, and you can do an awful lot with [that]. You can make a livable space. You create livability through transportation design.”

Livability is the name of the game for the Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN), an advocacy group that examines many aspects of public space including transportation, security, public art, and urban design. As for the suggestion that Vancouver should hire a pedestrian advocate, VPSN director Andrew Pask sees the ideal pedestrian-advocacy role as one that involves a group rather than an individual, functioning similarly to the City’s arm’s-length Bicycle Advisory Committee.

“Our ultimate preference would be to see the importance of pedestrian-focused planning entrenched within all elements of civic activity, including relevant [City] departments such as engineering, planning, social development, and entities such as the Planning Commission and Urban Design Panel,” Pask says. “Sidewalks are often too narrow, streets too wide, bike lanes too few and disconnected, and public transit often crowded and unavailable.”

“If Vancouver does want to become the greenest city in North America, it will need to take major strides to make this city more safe and friendly for pedestrians,” adds Karen Parusel, the VPSN’s transportation coordinator. “Walking is, after all, the most accessible mode of transportation. It’s free, it’s easy, and is good for you and your community, and it should be valued appropriately.”

For his part, WERA’s Terry Lavender says a vibrant pedestrian environment in Vancouver’s West End is one of the best features of his neighbourhood. “Pedestrian life makes a city more vital because when people are at a walking pace, you are in contact with your fellow human beings,” he says. “If everybody’s in their cars, or even if everybody’s on their bicycles, you’re going at high speeds. You’re not making eye contact with people, and there is no chance for those random encounters that add so much to the life of the city.”