GC 2020
171 results found
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Close downtown to traffic like London, expand Park & Ride to compensate
If Downtown were a car-free zone on weekdays, like London, and if Park&Ride were more available including parking getting a free transit daypass more people would use it, and there'd be less cars driving around downtown.
92 votesSome interesting ideas here.
First, a bit of clarification: London doesn’t prohibit cars from entering the city centre; rather it imposes a fee to discourage their use. This is commonly called congestion charging and it can serve multiple purposes: first, it reduces motor vehicle congestion so that the people who really need to drive (e.g. goods movement, taxis, and essential service vehicles) can get around without getting stuck in gridlock; second, it provides a potential revenue source which can be directed to support improvements to more sustainable modes (public transit, active transportation).
Congestion pricing is an interesting idea for Vancouver — both as a means to reduce congestion and to generate revenue to improve transit service. It might make more sense to think about it at the regional (rather than city centre or municipal) level, though, given that it would affect travel patterns across the metropolitan area. It would also…
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Unbundle parking and housing costs
Many people assume parking is free or inexpensive since it is usually included in the cost of housing. In reality, it is a significant hidden cost -- by some estimates, the cost of a single residential parking space can be $40,000 to $50,000 or even greater. People are more likely to own a car and to drive if they've already paid for a parking space.
Vancouver should explore policies that separate (or 'unbundle') the cost of parking from the cost of housing. This gives home-owners or renters an opportunity to pay for housing without paying for attached parking, increasing both…
176 votesThe City has supported projects that have voluntarily unbundled parking (e.g. Spectrum), and is actively working to gain authority to require unbundling in new development — this requires changes to Provincial legislation. In 2008, the City proposed the Unbundled Parking Resolution to give BC municipalities the authority to require unbundling in new development. This was passed by the Union of BC Municipalities. Provincial response to date: The Ministry of Community Development will review the proposal and refer the issue to the Development Finance Review Committee for discussion.
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Reduce speed limit to 30 kph within downtown core
In terms of street capacity, 30-39 kph is the optimal speed range. As well, pedestrians hit at 48 kph are are NINE times more likely to die than if struck at 32 kph. Streets will function better and be safer for pedestrians at lower speeds.
2 votes -
Reduce funding for car-friendly infrastructure
There are two sides to encouraging more people to leave their cars at home (or not buy one in the first place): 1) make alternative modes of transportation cheap and efficient 2) make driving more inconvenient and costly. I suggest that the city of Vancouver set a goal of progressively decreasing the percentage of the budget set aside for expanding and maintaining roadways for automobiles. The money that is saved should go directly towards affordable housing near the city center, better transit, and more bike paths. Once more people have switched to alternative modes of transit, existing roadways could be…
5 votes -
Congestion Pricing Downtown
Price motor vehicles entering the metropolitan core. Congestion pricing will reduce the number of motor vehicle converging on the Downtown every morning, and will make lane re-allocations and pedestrianised streets an easier process due to reduced demand for road space.
54 votesThe City supports the idea of road / congestion pricing, and bridge tolls are one possible implementation. A regional (as opposed to a downtown or city) approach might work best, given travel behaviour, patterns of movement, and jurisdictional issues. This lies outside City jurisdiction, so our role is limited to advocacy; changes to Provincial legislation are required.
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Work with surrounding cities and Translink to improve commuter transportation
Commuting to and from Vancouver is a huge source of pollution, gas consumption and energy waste. It's great if Vancouver does a lot of smaller things to make it a greener city, but if the issue of commuter waste is not addressed, then calling itself the greenest city might be a little fluffy. Commuting is not going to go away - how could it be better? By using existing rail lines for commuter trains. Building skytrain service further out into the Valley and White Rock. Organize carpool companies that will match commuter needs. We must get the cars with single…
42 votes -
Car-free Sundays for Stanley Park in the summer
Far more pedestrians and cyclists use Stanley Park in the summertime than drivers. Sundays should be car-free.
5 votes -
Put turnstiles into all sky train and Canada Line stations - collect easy revenue for Translink
Many more people than we realize are using sky train lines without paying. Meanwhile Translink is short the funding they need to expand the transit network and enhance existing service. This seems like an easy step to increase revenue, and would possibly reduce costs by not requiring Translink staff to be checking tickets on trains.
12 votesTransLink jurisdiction. TransLink is planning to instile turnstiles in stations in the very near future, with smart card technology coming to the region by 2013.
http://www.translink.ca/en/Be-Part-of-the-Plan/Projects/Electronic-Fare-Cards.aspx
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Prioritize cycling infrastructure and policy
Vancouver will not convince anyone of being the 'greenest' city without a huge modal shift towards cycling, walking, and public transit.
Cycling infrastructure is already improving (e.g., new Dunsmuir two-way bike lane), but policy needs to improve (e.g., a transportation hierarchy, with pedestrians followed by cyclists at the top).
Also, we will NEVER get the general population cycling daily without repealing mandatory helmet legislation. It just won't happen -- it's too inconvenient.
73 votes -
Pedestrianised Streets
Make the following streets pedestrianised:
Granville St--in the zone dedicated for transit use. Transit can remain on its current routing along Seymour and Howe. (Issue a refund to Translink for their contribution to the redesign)
South of Smithe, re-allocate two lanes for cycling (four motor vehicle lanes is overtly excessive).
South of Nelson, remove the car parking on the sidewalk! That has to be the ***** design imaginable. That space should be for pedestrians, not for perching motor vehicles. This is effectively creating a 6-lane arterial on Granville.Gastown, and;
Robson--from Granville St., west to Jervis St.
47 votesThe Rediscover Granville program was a big success in 2009, and the City will be looking to continue and build upon this work in future years. More broadly, the draft Greenest City plan will include directions to explore pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority streets in the downtown core. Potential locations will be identified at a later date (e.g. as part of the transportation plan update).
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/currentplanning/granvilleredesign/rediscover/
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46 votes
Requires support from the provincial and federal governments. The draft Greenest City plan will advocate for new sources of funding for improved transit (e.g. congestion pricing, vehicle levies).
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Create a separated bike lane along Kingsway
It is an incredibly direct route leading from Broadway corridor to Burnaby, but currently has far too many lanes of car traffic to feel good cycling along it.
37 votesThe city’s new 10-year cycling program master plan will soon be in development, and hopefully completed within the next year. A big part of the work ahead is to identify where separated bike lanes might be appropriate.
Lessons learned from the downtown trial will be an important input into the plan. The results so far support evidence elsewhere that separated bike lanes are a great way to make cycling more attractive on busy streets.
For more information, visit http://vancouver.ca/cycling .
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City of Vancouver should divest itself of Easypark
Vancouver is makes it too cheap to park one's car downtown. A maximum charge of $10.50 per day at city-owned Easypark lots doesn't discourage those with vehicles from driving, especially families. And as a non-profit, Easypark doesn't help the City's finances.
Sell the lots and use the funds for greener initiatives.
4 votes -
A complete, interconnected network of completely car-free, safe bicycle routes.
We've made a start, but more people would feel safe enough to cycle in Vancouver if all routes separated bicycles from motorised traffic and connected safely with one another. Imagine if you could ride anywhere in the city as safely as on Dunsmuir Street.
25 votesThanks for sharing this idea!
The city’s new 10-year cycling program master plan will soon be in development, and hopefully completed within the next year.
A big part of the work ahead is to identify the complete cycling network, and the type of facility that is most appropriate and/or feasible for different routes. In some cases (e.g. busy arterial routes), separated lanes might be the best approach; in other cases (e.g. lower car volume neighbourhood streets), enhanced traffic calming and/or further reducing car access might be more appropriate. Travis cited some great examples in the Netherlands where cars are ‘guests’ that are allowed in, but do not dominate.
In all cases, the goal should be to make routes that feel safe to all potential cyclists, including beginners, children, and seniors.
For more information, visit http://vancouver.ca/cycling
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Increase residential density to achieve efficient land use and high walking/cycling/transit mobility
Our high dependence on gasoline for transportation is largely due to our lifestyle of single-family dwellings. When density is increased, we would be reducing long-distance commutes and automatically encouraging people to walk and bike. Public transportation would also see more riders and be used more effectively. Higher residential density also means more efficient land use. The greenest city would need to protect its forests and restrict the area of urban development. This density is best accomplished by zoning schemes that discourage single-family dwellings and encourage mixed-use high-density developments. Ideally, there would be one day when some of our low density…
32 votesAs the City reviews land use policy and development bylaws through Community, Central Area, and City-Wide planning programs, opportunities for increased residential density (particularly in walkable neighbourhoods with good transit connections) are actively pursued (in balance with concerns for neighbourhood character and community involvement in city building decisions at the neighbourhood level).
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Covered bike racks like these from San Francisco (South Park) #bikearc http://ow.ly/i/2AC9
Covered bike racks to keep people's seats dry during the rainy season would increase accessibility and make it more attractive to ride through the winter. This design isn't perfect but it gives you an idea of what we could do.
15 votesThe City supports this idea, and is starting to look at opportunities to implement it.
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Pedestrian countdown signals
Burnaby has introduced many of these on city streets, while Vancouver still has very few. Especially at pedestrian controlled intersections it is important to know how long the wait will be (and whether the button is working or not).
3 votesCity crews installed its first pedestrian countdown signal at Main and Hastings earlier this year, and could install more if this trial is successful.
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Sidewalks for walking, not advertising
Advertising boards and sandwich boards impede pedestrian flow and are unsafe for those with visual impairments. Stricter policing of sidewalk use is needed.
4 votes -
Introduce shared streets
Granville Island is the closest thing we have in Vancouver to a shared street, where pedestrians, bikes, and cars are free to mix at low speeds. Side streets in Yaletown, Gastown, and other areas would benefit from this concept. New Road in Brighton is but one of many examples.
5 votesThe Draft Greenest City Action plan will include directions to explore pedestrian-only and pedestrian-priority streets in the downtown core. Potential locations will be identified at a later date (e.g. as part of the transportation plan update).
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Reduce or eliminate one-way streets
The City has already done a great job in converting some one-way streets in Yaletown and Gastown to two-way. On one-way streets, vehicle speeds are higher, neighbourhood accessibility is reduced, gasoline is wasted, and pedestrian traffic is discouraged. It's time to convert some additional one-way streets.
4 votes
