Vancouver bike sharing by the numbers: An infographic
"Get on your bikes and ride!"
– Freddy Mercury
Courtesy of the Mayor's Office, here's an infographic displaying some of the Vancouver bike share details in pictorial form.
If you're looking for a "What about the helmet law?" item, you'll find it part-way down. The infographic then says nothing one way or the other if City Hall is lobbying Victoria for an exception; only touting the as-yet-to-be-developed helmet dispenser machines.
Also, the graphic suggests that taxpayers are not on the hook if the Alta-Bixi public bike share (PBS) program in Vancouver fails. In any event, bike share enthusiasts are hoping for more of a Paris experience (6 trips per bike per day), and less of a Brisbane experience (0.3 trips per bike per day).
The infographic touts a massive uptick in bicycle trips among women, nearly double the overall trend since 2008.
The centrepiece of the infographic is a cost comparison between maintaining the PBS program, installing new parking meters, and rebuilding sidewalks. None of these costs will entirely replace one other, of course.
In the big picture, however, all three are dwarfed by the overall city expenditures towards roads and transportation in 2013.
A healthy bikeshare program would ease transit crowding on non-rainy days and make city-centre driving less congested for those who remain in their cars.