GC 2020
657 results found
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relax bike restrictions on skytrain
Allowing bikes on the skytrain during rush hours will encourage people to use transit & their bikes as a viable means of transport. The trains are crowded but a possible solution would be to make the last car of each train seatless making way more room for bicycles and passengers at the same time.
21 votesOutside City jurisdiction. It would be nice to relax these restrictions, but they do serve a purpose — relaxing them is only feasible when and where there is sufficient capacity on transit vehicles. Providing more abundant and more secure bicyle parking at transit hubs will play a bigger part in cycle-transit integration.
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Expand the Current Blue Box Recycling Program and Offer it to Local Businesses
In many of my former workplaces, there has been little to no recycling of plastics, metals, glass and other recyclable materials for there was no collection program in place. Businesses should be required to pay to sign up for a blue box program that is connected to the residential one, and they could receive greater fee rebates the more recyclable materials they divert from the landfills.
21 votes -
Create an interconnected urban ecosystem across the City
Imagine a continuous canopy and healthy forest ecosystem spanning across the entire City.
21 votes -
Bylaw that required planting flowering trees/shrubs
In all parks and for all buildings that incorporate plants, there should be a bylaw that limits plant choices to those that flower, this is an improtant step to keeping our native bee populations heathly, without bees out entire way of life is compromised, I know that many people here have suggested planting but what we plant is also important, plant bushes and trees that add to the entire ecology, fruiting trees or nut trees and natural bushes like salmon berry will help sustain our wild bees.
21 votes -
Bike subsidies for low income individuals and families.
It's not always cheap to get a good bike, especially if you have a large household or want to use it for more than just cruising. Having subsidies would encourage more people to take that first step to leaving the car behind.
20 votesThis is a laudable idea, but one that is challenging for the city to undertake. It may be more appropriately handled at a provincial or federal level. The cost of bikes pales in comparison to the cost of cars, so other solutions that increase opportunities for affordable housing nearer people’s places of work will make it easier for residents to give up at least one family car and invest those significant savings in other modes of transportation.
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Compost, compost, COMPOST!
Encourage people to compost!!!!! Send out info to people and they will build it! And rainwater cachement systems are GREAT too.
20 votes -
Reuse centres in every neighbourhood and at Waste Disposal Sites and Transfer Stations
Hornby Island does it, so can we! The idea is simple - create a designated place for people to drop off useful items for other people to take home, for free. Yes, it requires a little bit of management to make sure our community spaces don't get over run with old computers, but this can be a great way for people to get stuff they need, and to reduce waste going to landfill.
Fernwood, in Victoria, has a little gazebo in their neighbourhood square to drop stuff off. Montreal has the legendary ongoing, city wide, garage sale. And Hornby Island…
20 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan includes an action to develop reuse centres.
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Hire a respected Permaculture teacher to train city staff
example, http://patternliteracy.com/
During most courses a piece of land will be cultivated. Offer land. Pay a teacher. Educate.
Offer a Permaculture course open to the public, tuition and admission offered by project/essay/proposal.
Like the course just started at UBC, www.landfood.ubc.ca/ubcfarm/pdcad2010SMALL.pdf
20 votes -
Improve sewage treatment
Currently, the treatment plants of Iona and Lions Gate are only primary and yet to be upgraded. Secondary treatment is the Canadian standard for cities, and when Vancouver reaches that we'll just be average. A Greenest City would have tertiary treatment of its sewage, and should be a primary goal. Innovative technologies should be explored and developed in Vancouver on a larger scale to set an example, and to market to other cities globally. One example is a Solar Aquatics system (http://www.ecological-engineering.com/solaraquatics.html), as demonstrated in Bear River, Nova Scotia.
20 votes -
Plasma Arc Waste Disposal
Plasma Arc Waste Disposal (or Gasification) is a method of waste disposal used for its capability of recycling nearly every material that is put into it.
Using clean electrical arcs, the GVRD could decompose any waste into its component elements. Carbon Dioxide would decompose into Carbon and Oxygen; plastics would decompose into Hydrogen, Carbon, and other base elements contained within; and organic wastes like food would decompose into Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, Nitrogen, among numerous other elements.
Metals and alloys can be separated into each component metal, allowing quicker and easier reuse and refabrication.
"Plasma gasification is also used for specialized…
20 votes -
Grants for passive houses and buildings
The term Passive house (Passivhaus in German) refers to the rigorous, voluntary, Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint.[1] It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.[2][3] A similar standard, MINERGIE-P, is used in Switzerland.[4] The standard is not confined only to residential properties; several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard.
20 votesThe draft Greenest City Action Plan includes strategies to make energy efficient new buildings more affordable through fee-bates, code relaxations and financial tools.
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Awnings
Encourage Awnings - Connected dry cover improve pedestrian traffic in a rainy city. @ More bus shelters that really shelter.
20 votesWeather protection will be highlighted as an important design consideration for the pedestrian realm. Many parts of the city (e.g. most of the downtown, most commercial areas) already include design guidelines for weather protection and design guidelines (including requirements for awnings). However, there may be more opportunities to encourage existing buildings to add awnings (and similar weather protection) through renovation and building facade improvement programs.
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Make waste a waste of money
Metro Vancouver is on the right track by increasing the cost of garbage disposal. Businesses listen when they are affected in areas that they understand, rising costs and decreasing profits. If recycling is cheaper than waste disposal there will be real incentive to recycle.
20 votes -
Stop tar sand exports through the port of Vancouver
Vancouver cannot pretend to be a green capital when it is actively moving to become a major oil export centre. How will the city look when a major oil spill occurs in the Burrard inlet? Worse still, do we have any contingency plans if such an event occurs? Who will pay for the cleanup?
20 votes -
19 votes
Great idea, but perhaps it should go even further: the goal should be to make walking, cycling, and transit even sexier than driving!
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Municipal Control of Blanket Speed Limits
Limit motor vehicle speeds in the metro core to 40 km/h.
Place a 30 km/h speed limit on all local residential and collector streets.
Speed reduction is essential to ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.19 votesThis is a policy direction that was adopted in the 1997 Transportation Plan. Staff have since been in discussion with provincial officials about legislative changes to support municipal control over blanket speed limits. Unfortunately those changes have not yet been adopted by the province.
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Create a Separated Bike Lane on Commercial Drive
Commercial Drive is a destination shopping street in Vancouver's east side. It is already a popular route for cyclists, but there is currently no cycling facility provided.
The current route network lacks sufficient safe links to shopping destinations. A new separated bike route on Commercial Drive would address this issue and encourage new cyclists. As cyclist traffic increases, local businesses could also benefit from new the new street traffic.
19 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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New streetcar lines to revitalize commercial activity on arterials
Streetcar lines bring development money to streets that need investment. The City should partner with the private sector and TransLink to add streetcar lines as a way kickstart commercial activity and bring pedestrian life back to arterial streets.
Prime candidates: Hastings St from downtown into Burnaby, Powell St, Prior/Venables, Kingsway, E Broadway, Nanaimo, Renfrew19 votes -
99 B-Line along Broadway to use Trolley Buses via an express trolley wire, similiar to Hastings St.
Installing a second set of "express" trolley wires along Broadway similiar to the express wires on Hastings St, would allow the 99 -B-Line, to use zero emmision articulated trolley buses. Currently using trolleys would be no better than the regular "9" service. Express wires would allow the buses to pass each other and would allow the "99" service to run express without conflicting with the local "9" service.
19 votesTransLink is currently leading a study to determine the best approach to deliver high-capacity, fast, frequent, and reliable rapid transit for the Broadway Corridor from Commercial Drive to UBC. A number of technologies and alignment options are being considered, including rail rapid transit (e.g. SkyTrain), surface light rail transit, and bus rapid transit. Electric-powered trolleys are included as part of the bus options.
The City of Vancouver is directly involved as a partner agency in the study. In April 2010, City Council endorsed ten principles to guide City input into this process ( http://vancouver/ubcline/principles ).
Visit http://vancouver.ca/ubcline to learn more about this work, including upcoming public engagement events.
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rain water toilets
rainwater can be collected from eco-roofs or rain gutters use in toilets.
19 votesHas been approved on project by project basis.
