2302 replies to this topic

[DustMagnet]

Ok, so are employees of Victoria Pedicab Company allowed to offer their services without wearing helmets?

 

Judging by the photos on their website, I'd say yes.  Also, their clientele don't need helmets.  There's likely some exception because a pedicap isn't strictly a bicycle for the purposes of the helmet law, or they're just Ubering their way through it.

[Victoria Watcher]

yes. there is a provincial exemption for pedicab operators.

[DustMagnet]

^ Indeed.

http://www.bclaws.ca...statreg/261_96/

 

You can also be exempt for religious or medical reasons, or if you are under 12 on a trike (or quadracycle).

[mbjj]

Are bicycles allowed to take up an entire car parking spot? Yesterday I was helping my daughter move some planters into her apt so she can grow some veg, and there is a limited amount of angled street parking. Was just going to pull into one and had to stop suddenly due to bike parked there. As a result, had to go around the block and park much farther away, then lug the planters. I'm sure someone driving faster than myself would have crashed right over it.

[Mike K.]

You can move the bike. They are not supposed to be left in vehicle parking spots and that was someone's way of being funny.

[spanky123]

Not sure this is the right place but just in case...

Guy just walks out of GIANT bike store with stolen bike....

https://www.vicnews....-bicycle-store/

 

Probably happens every day unfortunately.

[DustMagnet]

Well bicycles are stolen every day, and people shoplift everyday, but I'm not sure that people shoplift bicycles everyday...

[Danma]

Yeah, I know the guys at Giant and that... is not that common. Pretty brazen of him to just walk out. They got the bike back but the guy got away.

[Mike K.]

He only needed it to get away.

[sebberry]

Maybe if we want to promote greater bike ownership/ridership, we need to socialize it.  Free bikes if you qualify for subsidized housing - should help keep bike theft to a minimum if that's discouraging anyone from riding.

[DustMagnet]

Maybe if we want to promote greater bike ownership/ridership, we need to socialize it.  Free bikes if you qualify for subsidized housing - should help keep bike theft to a minimum if that's discouraging anyone from riding.

 

Could spend that Sunday parking money on this experiment instead.

[LJ]

We talked about licensing bikes but what about this Project 529 whereby you can register your bike and have a much better chance of getting it returned if stolen.

 

Granville Island used to have the highest bike theft rate in the city until they registered bikes and provided a bike valet service. This is kinda like we were discussing earlier, a fenced in area with an attendant who staples a receipt to your bike then they put in a bike rack. You don't get your bike back until you show that your receipt and the bike match.

 

Seems a pretty simple concept. They do it for free on Granville island but I think you could pay a few bucks which would cover the attendants costs.

[Cassidy]

With the Wharf Street bike lanes now well underway, we're approaching close to $10 million dollars spent on bike lanes to date in the City of Victoria ... and we're not done yet, with millions more yet to be spent.

 

And there's still no secure place to park a bike downtown, making all those lanes, and all that money spent quite useless for anybody planning on parking or stopping downtown.

I guess they're handy if you're transiting through town on your bike, but completely pointless if you're going downtown shopping, riding to work, or stopping for a bite to eat.

 

All this in one of the bike theft capitals of Canada. All the COV and VicPD can offer you is a lame registration service designed to try and get your bike back to you after it's been stolen.

 

Leaving bike lanes in Victoria exposed as a big SJW focused scam, with no real effort to deal with the issues affecting those who might wish to try commuting on a bike to work.

Edited by Cassidy, 02 June 2019 - 05:52 AM.

[tedward]

And there's still no secure place to park a bike downtown

 

Not being a bike guy, I don't understand the problem. 

There are plenty of bike racks and more being built every day it seems. When I see pictures of places like Amsterdam there are massive bike racks. What more do people need?

That said, I did notice that a secure lock-up was built into the Johnson St side of The Atrium. If there is a market for secure lock-ups surely they will be provided. I cannot see developers NOT putting them in if people want them. The CoV council certainly isn't gong to oppose the inclusion of bike parking are they?

[Jackerbie]

Not being a bike guy, I don't understand the problem. 

There are plenty of bike racks and more being built every day it seems. When I see pictures of places like Amsterdam there are massive bike racks. What more do people need?

That said, I did notice that a secure lock-up was built into the Johnson St side of The Atrium. If there is a market for secure lock-ups surely they will be provided. I cannot see developers NOT putting them in if people want them. The CoV council certainly isn't gong to oppose the inclusion of bike parking are they?

 

Secure bike parking is generally required (in new construction) for residents and employees. The issue is that a significant part of the market doesn't have access to these secure spots, namely those people working in older buildings and those people who are visiting (ex. customers, clients, etc.). Bike racks are great, but theft is an issue, especially given the growing number of e-bikes on the road.

 

Hopefully the private market responds to this need.

[DustMagnet]

Not being a bike guy, I don't understand the problem. 

 

Imagine that your car was light enough to pick up and walk off with.  And people did this.  Every day.

[lanforod]

The number of e-bikes lately seems to be exploding! I'm seeing them every day now. Need to get mine running again...

[DustMagnet]

^ Insert lithium-ion joke here.

[Mike K.]

Although to be honest, secure bicycle parking compounds are also regularly compromised. Once inside a locked compound a thief has all the time in the world (relatively) to break a lock and choose the most expensive bike.

[Cassidy]

The one bike, in one locked “box” model that works for the rest of the world seems to do the job?

They have them at the Mctavish road transit exchange, so it’s not like they’re a mystery item.

Just takes the political will, and of course has to be pursued out of a real interest in solving the issue of bike theft, not just some SKW exercise in expanding ones political visibility beyond the local scene.