Former NPA candidate Sean Bickerton slams Critical Mass

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      A former Non-Partisan Association city council candidate is calling on Critical Mass riders to “declare victory” and reform the controversial month-end bicycle ride in light of recent gains.

      “I saw the point of it when there wasn’t any dedicated bike infrastructure, when there were no protected or separated paths,” Sean Bickerton, an occasional cyclist, told the Straight by phone. “But when we’ve got an integrated network of safe bike paths that are separated, I don’t understand how they can simultaneously insist on the right to take over the entire road infrastructure, tie up the traffic for an hour, endanger emergency vehicles, tie up needed police resources that are scarce, without any coordination, without a permit, without paying any of the policing costs that go with it.”

      For these reasons, Bickerton feels, cyclists should “comply with city regulations and laws like everybody else using the roads has to do”.

      Critical Mass sets off from the Vancouver Art Gallery at 6 p.m. on the last Friday of every month, with the number of participants varying according to the weather and time of year. The ride is often criticized because the route isn’t announced ahead of time, which would help motorists to avoid it, but is arrived at by consensus during the ride.

      Brent Granby, president of the West End Residents Association and an avid cyclist, told the Straight, “A city is never just about the efficient transportation of goods and services; it’s also about celebrating the city itself and the values that we have.”

      Granby, a regular at Critical Mass, disagrees with Bickerton.

      “Fundamentally, I think he just misunderstands what Critical Mass is about,” Granby said. “Like in medieval cities, they would open up the town square and they would have celebrations, and they celebrate being together and they celebrate their values as a society, and that’s what Critical Mass is about as well.”

      He added, “I don’t think it’s too much to ask on the last Friday of the month, and usually we’re only talking about four months in the summertime. It’s a great thing for the city. It’s tourism. It’s like the running of the bulls.”

      Last year, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and police chief Jim Chu called for a predetermined route for the ride in a joint news release ahead of the July 31 event, but the idea was not implemented.

      Comments

      27 Comments

      Mohammed

      Aug 12, 2010 at 6:49am

      If cars can dominate the roads every other day of the week, every month of the year, with no end in sight, I think we can tolerate people taking back the streets with pedal power once a month. If only more people biked on a regular basis! We have far, far too many cars (and SOVs to boot) spewing noxious gases and causing real death and injury to pedestrians and bikers alike on a daily basis.

      Birdy

      Aug 12, 2010 at 7:47am

      "...tie up needed police resources that are scarce, without any coordination, without a permit, without paying any of the policing costs that go with it.”

      Well yeah, that's the method of the progressive/eco-socialist movement. Over-stress and bankrupt the "system" in order to destabilize it enough to FORCE the "change" they've been brainwashed into demanding. The whole bike lane saga is a great example of the progressive bicycommunist's distain for actual democracy, as the silent majority are not at all interested in borrowing more money for redundant bike lanes while cutting essential programs. The vocal minority of lululemon-clad 90 pound bicycultists is over-represented in the media and endlessly pandered to at city hall. This has a lot to do with "grant" money from huge progressive "charities" with billions to give away to these angry little "community organizers" and the politicians and media outlets that enable them.

      miguel

      Aug 12, 2010 at 8:32am

      Yes, Bickerton just doesn't get the point. Bicycles don't block traffic, they ARE traffic.
      Miguel

      spartikus

      Aug 12, 2010 at 9:08am

      The "Town Square" was always in the same place, not moving randomly.

      By all means, have a parade, have a party. Plan the route. You might even get more people, if they knew where to go.

      Ron van der Eerden

      Aug 13, 2010 at 8:37am

      Critical Mass doesn't tie up police resources. The police tie up police resources. We rode for years without them... even some of the biggest rides.
      Critical Mass is unlikely to end any time soon. When cyclists are finally treated with respect and freely given their rightful share of road space (not as an inadequate, unsafe afterthought) then Critical Mass will have fulfilled its role. But by then it will probably have evolved into a much more broadly supported celebration with current critics riding along with us. One day our streets might look a lot like Critical Mass every day.

      Alexwarrior

      Aug 13, 2010 at 3:49pm

      A 'Critical Manners' ride was held last year which rode in the bike lane, stopped at lights, required helmets, pre-announced its route which was developed in collaboration with the VPD, and used proper hand signals when turning and stopping. Maybe time for another one of these? It looked like this:

      <object width="300" height="250"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1tEWo7W8wig?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1tEWo7W8wig?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="300" height="250"></embed></object>

      Chris Van Ihinger

      Aug 13, 2010 at 4:17pm

      In actual fact, Vancouver's Critical Mass support base has long since expanded beyond pedal-pushing, lycra-clad bicyclists. In addition to pedal bicycles, we have been joined by skateboards, unicycles, electric bicycles, electric scooters, tricycles (both pedal and electric), Harley Davidsons (both cop and privately owned), 4-wheel "mobility" scooters, and the occasional Lazy-Boy easy chair. In fact, it appears that just about anything that doesn't require an infernal combustion engine to get around (the abovementioned Harleys excepted) is welcome to join our ride.

      canadianveggie

      Aug 13, 2010 at 4:51pm

      The only bike paths that are physically separated are the seawall, Burrard Bridge, Carrall, and Dunsmuir. Not exactly an integrated network.

      Just a Guy

      Aug 13, 2010 at 6:40pm

      “But when we’ve got an integrated network of safe bike paths that are separated,"

      When will that be? The current separated bike paths would best be described as a patchwork of unconnected routes. Apparently Critical Mass for the time being at least has the support of Bickerton!

      Fern Jeffries

      Aug 14, 2010 at 11:34am

      How brave of Sean Bickerton to criticize the Critical Mass ride. As could be predicted, this has unleashed a torrent of comments from the cyclists in support of their right to flaunt the laws of the land.

      In younger (and healthier days) I too performed various acts of mass civil disobedience, We all understood at the time when we were protesting against the war in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia etc., that we stood a good chance of being arrested. That was the price to be paid for making a statement Chief Constable Chu and the Mayor (himself a Critical Mass alumn) wrote the organization requesting that they obey traffic laws. They got the proverbial finger. Where then is the consequences of their law-breaking??

      Of course,cyclists who break the law are well represented on our City Council. Neither stop signs (Meggs) nor red lights (Robertson) seem to have much of an impression on cyclists in a hurry. Perhaps that is why there is no enforcement. There is clearly no political support for it.

      Frankly, my sympathies are with the working parents trying to get home to their kids on a Friday evening, with emergency vehicles trying to get through, and with the many others my age who, after an hour stalled in traffic simply need a toilet. Let's all cast our votes accordingly. Bravo Sean!!